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Clean Plate Charlie

Bobby Gordash Leaves Holy Mackerel

By David Minsky
Clean Plate Charlie

First Look: Amatsu Sushi & Sake

By Sara Ventiera
Clean Plate Charlie

Boca Raton's The Mexican To Reopen As 101 Cantina

By Nicole Danna
Clean Plate Charlie

Free Fondue for Graduates at the Melting Pot

By Sara Ventiera
Clean Plate Charlie

Chef Walks Out at 3rd & 3rd

By Sara Ventiera
Clean Plate Charlie

S3 Restaurant to "Pop" Open This Month

By Sara Ventiera
Clean Plate Charlie

Help Benihana Support St. Jude

By Rebecca Dittmar
Clean Plate Charlie

Poland Bans Frankenfoods: Florida Activists, Reps Move Forward

By Sara Ventiera

Best Not-So-Cheap Thrill

Mar-a-Lago Club

A A A Comments (0) Thursday, May 13 2004

OK, so you aren't on television risking imminent unemployment at the hands of real estate mogul Donald Trump on The Apprentice. That doesn't mean you can't hobnob with "The Donald." If you're willing to put out, that is, and we mean big bucks -- reallybig bucks. For just getting into Mar-a-Lago, Trump's oh-so-exclusive private club in Palm Beach, you'll put out 150 grand. And that doesn't even include the $9,200 annual dues. Trump snapped up the nearly 20 acres that were formerly home to cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband, E.F. Hutton, in 1985, paying a mere $7 million for the 110,000-square-foot, 118-room estate and its contents. Locals feared he might do something vulgar, like divvying it up into smaller parcels or turning it into a casino. Instead, he plunked down another $2 million for a beach and created a haven for the ultrarich (and got an award last year from the Historical Society of Palm Beach County for restoring the property). If you're among them, you'll have access to an expanse of beach, tennis courts, a swimming pool, and a spa. You'll also be expected to live up to the image of a contemporary Palm Beach aristocrat, as in driving the right vehicle (better yet, being driven in it), wearing the right clothes, eating the right food, shelling out for the right charities. The costs? Incalculable. The benefits? Priceless.