Absolutely incorrect. There are lots of rare things. Rarity by itself is nothing. Something good being rare is something. It might not be the best thing in the world, and something perfectly commonplace might be "better" than it. But rarity + good is the combo that generates hype.
I disagree that you can't value variety and novelty while being thrifty. There are a lifetime of recipes using very common ingredients in completely different ways. I would accept that one major part is differing spices which are relatively rare and expensive (at least, if you're trying to emulate a variety of non-Western cuisines and you're in the US).
I think we are both getting a little away from the original topic of what generates "hype" or in other words "excitement"
Take steak (common) and lobster (rarer)
Both are good, and I would rather live in a world without lobster than one without steak. That said, if you asked me what which I wanted for my next meal, I would pick lobster.
This doesn't mean you can't eat good food with variety on a thrifty budget. But even someone doing so might be especially excited to have something expensive that they don't normally have access to.
Yes, and it is nice; worth a taste if you run into it. Overrated imho for the price but nice a few times per lifetime. Make sure though you don't get it in hip, millionaire folk restaurants (which usually have reviews which are not about the food but more about the ambiance and such); in my experience, they put way too much of expensive DOP products (including white & black truffle) on things so people can post pics on twitter 'this is $4k/kilo white truffle'. A plate of pasta where you only see a mountain of white truffle is expensive but not very nice imho (unless you take of most off the truffle). In normal Italian restaurants where they serve this they would put a few slivers so you have a nice subtle dish.
