Let them eat steak! Pricey restaurants open even as many choose value menus

A number of pricey restaurants plan to open their doors soon (or already have), despite the deepening recession. The owners have spent millions on these upscale eateries at a time when many Americans are being forced to choose between hamburger and steak.

Among the restaurants that are already in business are the $12 million Union Trust Steakhouse in Philadelphia, which offers a 1.5 ounce Black Pearl cognac for $1,500; and Boston's Sensing, which offers a "recession special" duck entree for $35 and lamb for $42, according to the Wall Street Journal(subscription required). I'm not sure whose recession they're trying to help out, but it's probably not mine, given that my husband and I just ordered the 2-for-1 deal from a local restaurant as our big take-out splurge for the week.