My husband and I decided to splurge on the most expensive restaurant in Atlanta: the Dining Room. I was pretty shocked when I saw the prices, but a few glasses of wine put my mind at ease. The food is divine. That's a fact. But what I really loved about the Dining Room was the staff. They appear so stuffy, but the many members of our serving team all had senses of humor. They knew we weren't on expense accounts like many of the restaurant's patrons. They took good care of us without smothering.

It's a fixed price menu. Choose an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert. You get lots of little treats in between, a dab of sorbet here, a special tiny dessert there. The plates are beautifully garnished, and the portions are mercifully small. It isn't Longhorn Steaks. You savor every bite.

I doubt we'll eat here again. We're regular people who don't have the means to drop more than $400 on dinner very often. But we had a wonderful, unforgettable evening that was worth the price. My feeling is, if you're going to go all out, do it right. If you live in Atlanta, that means the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead.