Now, Petrossian is making pressed caviar from farmed California transmontanus, or white sturgeon. It looks like shoe polish and is spreadable, with an intense flavor. A slick of the spread works on toast with some fromage blanc.

Petrossian has also started making little cubes of pressed caviar and packing it in jars of oil. They can decorate canapés, left, or deviled eggs, or be tossed with pasta. The oil also takes on flavor and can be used for seasoning.

According to The NPD Group's ReCount data released Wednesday, the total number of U.S. restaurants declined 0.3 percent, or by 1,652 restaurants, to 578,353 locations in the fall of 2009, compared with the fall of 2008. ReCount tracks commercial restaurant locations twice a year, in the spring and fall.

Restaurant closures were more severe in the spring of 2009, when the total number of U.S. restaurants fell 1 percent from a year earlier, reflecting the loss of more than 4,000 eateries.

Kraft may sell at least $4 billion of notes due in 3.25, 6, 10 and 30 years, said a person familiar with the offering who declined to be identified because terms aren't set. The Northfield, Illinois-based company won the approval of Cadbury’s shareholders for the 11.7 billion pound ($18.6 billion) acquisition on Feb. 2.

Kraft is marketing its debt as yields on investment-grade corporate bonds rose to 4.623 percent on average yesterday, the highest level since Jan. 13. Investors concerned about the strength of the U.S. economy may favor the foodmaker's debt because its businesses aren't highly susceptible to recession, said William Larkin, who helps manage $500 million at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Massachusetts.

"The food business is less economically sensitive, so it's the perfect play in this kind of marketplace," Larkin said. "Could banks have another leg down? It's possible, if unlikely. Will Kraft be around in 10 years? It's very likely."

The global shipment volume of wine made in California dropped by 1.6 percent, to 236 million cases, according to 11 months of data and December estimates from Jon Fredrikson, who heads the wine research firm in Woodside, California.

Shipments to the U.K. plunged 36 percent because of the recession, high taxes, rising duties on imports and the drop in the value of the pound, which boosted California wine prices, Fredrikson said today in a telephone interview. Shipments in the U.S. fell 0.4 percent. Revenue for California wineries, whose biggest product is Chardonnay, probably fell more than shipment volumes as shoppers sought out cheaper bottles, he said.

"Today, frugality is hip," said Fredrikson, who hasn't yet estimated 2009 revenue for the industry. "There's a lot of heartburn going on among industry planners."

The Dimsum with Caviar, will entice even the most reluctant palate, while the Dimsum with soup, can actually be drunk with a straw first! The Peking duck gently cooking in the open kitchen oven will tempt the guest with its aromas. Six grain noodles, cumin lamb, steamed sea bass in chilly mustard sauce are some of the other additions to the menu.

A true Sichuan meal is always accompanied with tea that is perfectly paired with the foods. The Golden Dragon offers around 8 different varieties of the teas in the menu. To make the meal truly exclusive the Golden Dragon will serves its meals in Narumi crockery, with gold brush strokes and will encourage guests to use delicate ivory and wooden chopsticks with hints of embedded oyster shell.

The 10-hour sale yesterday of more than 800 lots tallied HK$52.9 million, beating host Sotheby's own forecast of HK$40 million. Bidders at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel drank glasses of Louis Roederer Blanc de Blanc 2003 and Haut Brion 1998 as they competed with online bidders for choice items, such as twin 1.5-liter bottles of Chateau Petrus 1982 that fetched HK$435,600, against the lot's top estimate of HK$130,000. Estimates don't include commission.

As economies such as China show signs of inflation while the government increases spending to sustain growth, some buyers are converting their currency into assets such as fine wine to protect their wealth, said Agnes Hon, a private-equity investor and wine collector who bought several lots at the sale. Others buy simply to enjoy their purchases, said Kevin Ching, Sotheby's Asia chief executive. That's especially true of mainland Chinese buyers, who won at least a quarter of the bids at the auction, he said in a telephone interview.

Hershey Co. abandoned a plan to bid for Cadbury Plc after the U.K. confectioner accepted Kraft Foods Inc.'s 11.9 billion-pound ($19.2 billion) offer.

Hershey doesn't intend to make an offer, the company, based in the Pennsylvania town of the same name, said in a statement today. The decision not to consider an offer was made at a Jan. 20 board meeting, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kraft said Jan. 19 that its cash-and-stock offer for Cadbury won the U.K. candy company’s approval, after Hershey's board had spent months debating whether to bid and on what terms. U.K. takeover regulators gave Hershey until Jan. 25 to announce a bid or back out.

"It was always going to be a long shot for Hershey to get all their ducks in a row for a bid, and even if they put one together, they were up against a much larger suitor in Kraft," B. Craig Hutson, a corporate bond analyst for Gimme Credit in Chicago, said yesterday.