![\"me-50-cent-02\"](\"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/me-50-cent-02-300x200.jpg\" "\\"me-50-cent-02\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Bobby Van’s Steak House<\/a> exudes power. This is not only due to its location in the Wall St. area, or because its 28-day, dry-aged filet mignon is $50, but because it’s literally built inside the 107-year-old bank vault of J.P. Morgan & Co. As you can see behind me, in the picture, above, the wine cellar occupies one of the small safes. (In another room, antique deposit boxes cover all four walls.)<\/p>\n It was the perfect place to meet rapper \/ mogul Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson<\/strong>, above right, whose salary in the previous year was estimated by Forbes<\/em> at $20 million. Ironically, 50’s $75,000-plus-a-day income plots a dramatic fall from the year before, when his $100 million dollar take from the sale of Vitamin Water to Coca-Cola\u2014he owned stock\u2014pushed his annual grab to the astounding sum of $150 mil.<\/p>\n Obviously, Curtis could buy the place. But he was just there talk about Before I Self-Destruct<\/em>, his new album, as part of BET’s continuing Food For Thought: Conversations With…<\/em> series. (The first installment, talking to artist \/ entrepreneur Jay-Z<\/a>, aired in September, and, like this one, also features Hot 97 NY on-air personality Angie Martinez and sportswriter Stephen A. Smith engaging the artist.)<\/p>\n