What in the name of Katharine Graham has happened to Beltway high society? According to this New York Times article, DC swells are throwing parties where they force their guests to consume food that hails from--you better sit down--Costco.

Actually, the Times story displays a wonderful ignorance regarding Costco and what it brings to the table, as it were. As most people know, Costco is a wholesale shopping “club.” Few people know, however, what “club” means in this context.

If you pay Costco's membership dues, you get to buy stuff "at cost;" Costco's profits are limited to its membership dues. In other words, the company doesn’t make any profit on the products it sells. This business model requires an unusual amount of discipline. Markups are limited to cover only operating expenses. Costco, unlike retail stores, doesn't sell its products at the highest price the market will bear. This is the main reason why you can find some amazing bargains there.

Costco's business model has attracted consumers from every end of the economic spectrum. The chain's constituency is not limited to put-upon housefraus looking to save a few bucks on paper towels or seeking a great price on sixteen pounds of nutmeg. Value appeals to everyone. A couple of years ago, I interviewed Costco's former CFO for a book project I was contemplating, and he glowed when he spoke of the upscale demographics of Costco's clientèle. Costco also sells some very pricey products; it's currently the world’s largest diamond dealer.

So what of these DC parties where Costco is supplying the grub? Costco offers high quality. You can go to a Costco butcher and get Niman Ranch prime beef, just like the best stuff that better butcher shops carry. (The best butchers carry dry-aged prime beef, but that’s for special occasions.) For what it's worth, you can't get prime beef at most Whole Foods markets.

None of this means that the DC party-makers doing their prep work at Costco will be springing for the good stuff. Nevertheless, neocon overlord Richard Perle manages to find some nice product there. “I just bought chanterelles there the other day,” Perle stated, “and they often have fresh shiitake mushrooms.”

But as we all know, when the Grey Lady latches onto a narrative it sticks with it, regardless of what the facts show:

Catering by Costco is a style statement, like drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

“Reverse chic is a very powerful phenomenon in status-oriented circles,” said David Kamp, the author of “The United States of Arugula” (Broadway, 2006), a book about the American fine-food revolution. “I think Costco is the same thing. It gets discovered.”

Chanterelles indicate reverse chic? Who knew?