The dates of the wine and the brandy suggest to me that the dinner in question is happening in the 1920s (just possibly the 1930s); everything is massively expensive either inherently or because it's out of season (and the fact that he complains about the cost of the asparagus suggests he's doing it to impress) but the meal isn't structured* - it's just "Let's have what's expensive"; you gave the cost of the asparagus in sterling, so it can't be the Great Gatsby, so I'm going for a self-made (possibly war profiteer) man who probably ends up as the victim in a Golden Age detective story.
*That is, it follows the formal pattern of cold hors d'oeuvres, soup, fish, main, vegetables, pudding, savoury but everything in each category is the top of the range item it could possibly be in that category, without considering that while lobster newburg would be fab on itself, would it really go well after turtle soup?
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Date: 2016-01-14 07:55 am (UTC)*That is, it follows the formal pattern of cold hors d'oeuvres, soup, fish, main, vegetables, pudding, savoury but everything in each category is the top of the range item it could possibly be in that category, without considering that while lobster newburg would be fab on itself, would it really go well after turtle soup?