What's the best meal you've ever eaten??

knottie9c5ed33df4bbd226

lovemyrunnerwandajune6, how do you make crème fraiche? I've been wondering.

JennyColada

LD1970 said:

Our 5th anniversary, at Thomas Keller's NY restaurant, Per Se.  It was too much food to list, but holy shit.

We will probably hit that up when we travel to NYC for our 1st anniversary!

peachy13

My story is going to sound A LOT like Marshall's story in How I Met your Mother (the one where he searches for the best burger he ever had the day he first moved to NYC), but here is mine: I had just graduated college and was moving to NYC for my first big girl job when I was 21. I took a bus from Boston with one suitcase, and was planning to stay in a hostel for my first week of work since I didn't have a place to stay yet, since I knew no one in the city and nothing about the city. I was totally by myself which was scary looking back on it, but at the time I remember being really excited. On the bus route, we stopped in Hartford, CT for about an hour and a half, and I went over to this restaurant called Hot Tomatoes -- which I'm pleased to see is still open 8 years later -- and ordered my dinner: a steak with garlic butter and a hefty pour of red wine. It was SO good that I immediately went back to this memory when I saw this thread. I think I was probably also feeling really independent and grown-up too. 

But also seconding PPs that after a hard hike or backpacking trip, NOTHING beats a beer and burger.

LD1970

@JennyColada, Do!  If you can't make the reservation a month in advance (normally you have to call one month to the day beforehand at noon and keep redialing like we used to for concert tickets when I was a kid), you can show up when they open the doors at 5:30 (I'd get there early to make sure you get in) and wait on line and eat in the salon rather than the main dining room.  Then you're eating on couches with raised coffee tables, and it's incredibly comfy and still an amazing, amazing experience.  I'm still convinced the waitstaff there is psychic.

JennyColada

LD1970 said:

@JennyColada, Do!  If you can't make the reservation a month in advance (normally you have to call one month to the day beforehand at noon and keep redialing like we used to for concert tickets when I was a kid), you can show up when they open the doors at 5:30 (I'd get there early to make sure you get in) and wait on line and eat in the salon rather than the main dining room.  Then you're eating on couches with raised coffee tables, and it's incredibly comfy and still an amazing, amazing experience.  I'm still convinced the waitstaff there is psychic.

Ha. We're good on reservations. We know Chef and Laura.

 

We've eaten at The French Laundry twice (DH has eaten there 5 times), so I imagine that PS is just more of the same, but it will allow DH to mark off having eaten every single one of TK's properties (I'm still missing Bouchon in Vegas! Grrr).

LD1970

Aha, gotcha.  H has been to CA, I never have, but it's on the list!  There's a Bouchon Bakery attached to Per Se, so there's that.  They share a kitchen.  (We ate ALL 15 BREADS - embarrassingly, I had 8 of them & left 7 for H)

(And we got a kitchen tour - good god is it clean!  and silent!)  I just would kill for their stand mixer... although is it still a stand mixer when it's on the floor & five of me would fit in the bowl?  LOL 

JennyColada

LD1970 said:

(And we got a kitchen tour - good god is it clean!  and silent!)  I just would kill for their stand mixer... although is it still a stand mixer when it's on the floor & five of me would fit in the bowl?  LOL 

Totally my favorite part!

With the TFL kitchen renovations, they've moved the kitchen to a temporary space, and put a giant window so that you can watch them from outside the restaurant too. Very cool!

Also, slightly embarrassingly, I was able to list off what all of the chocolate truffle options were. And I totally had them box up one of each flavor for me ALONG with picking some extras to eat at the table.

lovemyrunner

hicoco said:

lovemyrunnerwandajune6, how do you make crème fraiche? I've been wondering.

@hicoco, we did the prohibition tour (which was awesome!) and it was on the tour stops.  An authentic mobster hang out.  I wish I could remember what neighborhood it's in, but I'm not terribly familiar with Chicago.  I want to say Willow Park, but I may be BSC.

JennyColada

@hicoco, not sure how @wandajune6 does it, but here are the recipe that I use:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/homemade-creme-fraiche-recipe.html

MairePoppy

This is it people - plain and simple. Woods Seafood, on the wharf in Plymouth, MA

Yep, my best all time meal was at a fish market and served to me on paper plates. Each little clam was fried to perfection, served with tartar sauce and a lemon wedge. Great view from the porch.

hellosweetie1015

In recent memory? 

FI's a chef. He doesn't cook often, because his schedule is wonky, but a while back made me the absolute best grilled chicken of my LIFE. With purple potato mufungo and a mango scallop ceviche and grilled bacon-wrapped asparagus.

It was the absolute best thing I think I've ever put in my mouth. SO good.

Jells2dot0

I'm SO not a foodie. I'm a pizza kinda gal. I have had amazing meals, mostly consisting of steak (I love a good filet), but the best was when I was finally able to eat Chipotle again after my chemo was done. I wasn't allowed to eat fast food or meats/veggies/fruits that had the potential of being contaminated. So, that eliminated A LOT.

JoanE2012

My most memorable and best meal in recent memory was a homeade pasta dish at a Tuscan farm in Italy.  No pasta will ever compare to that. 

theartistformerlyknownas

Ugh so hard to choose! One of the best would have to be the Guns and Butter pop-up in Detroit. I didn't even know half of what we were eating but it was all so amazing and beautiful. It was featured on Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown" a few days after I was there and since then all of his pop-ups have sold out within minutes so I haven't been able to go back.

jenna8984

It's so hard to chose. The salmon dinner I got in Iceland last month. It was a fine dining place that put some sort of apple/ celery/ white mystery sauce all over it and it was to die for. The salmon just melted in my mouth.

Street souvlaki in Greece. OMG I could not get enough- I even wrapped some and brought it on the plane. Yea fuck your packet of peanuts- I've got pork on a stick, thanks!

@mairepoppy YESSSS. We just had fried clams last weekend (right near our house in central MA). I can't wait to get it on the cape this summer and lobsters. And oysters on the halfshell that my father shucks himself.

wandajune6

hicoco said:

lovemyrunnerwandajune6, how do you make crème fraiche? I've been wondering.

I have no idea. I just buy it. Although I can never find it by me. I usually grab it when I go up north.

ElcaB

One of the best meals I ever had was when I was in MA for my cousins wedding. My brother, SIL, FI, and I all went for a drive one day and wound up at the Chatham Fish Pier & Fish Market. We ordered two lobsters (which we picked out) and a few sides to split. They put everything in takeout boxes on cafeteria trays and we sat on the pier watching seals and eating the best, freshest lobster in the world. 

I still dream about it. 

novella1186

wandajune6 said:

hicoco said:

lovemyrunnerwandajune6, how do you make crème fraiche? I've been wondering.

I have no idea. I just buy it. Although I can never find it by me. I usually grab it when I go up north.

1. Combine 1 cup whipping cream and 2 tablespoons buttermilk in a glass container. Cover and let stand at room temperature (about 70°F) from 8 to 24 hours, or until very thick. Stir well before covering and refrigerate up to 10 days.

climbingsingle

It's a 4 way tie! 

Chef's tasting at Le Bernardin 

Lunch at a little cafe in Saint Paul de Vence (I can't remember the name) 

Lunch at a winery in Tuscany (Casa Emma) 

Dinner at our favorite place in Florence (Osteria I Riffaioli) 

knottie9c5ed33df4bbd226

lovemyrunner,
Wicker Park?? LOL!

JennyColada
novella1186,
thank you for the recipes! I will have to try them. It seems weird to me that
you leave it out!

@wandajune6, any store in particular carry it?

wandajune6

hicoco said:

lovemyrunner,
Wicker Park?? LOL!

JennyColada
novella1186,
thank you for the recipes! I will have to try them. It seems weird to me that
you leave it out!

@wandajune6, any store in particular carry it?

I've gotten it at the River Forest Jewel. I think Trader Joe's sells it too, though I could be wrong.

dolewhipper

chibiyui said:

Victoria and Alberts, Chef Table at Walt Disney World. Fucking Magical. Ten courses, 8 of which had a wine pairing, and everything was spectacular. 

Second best was the Omakase at Taikun in the Ritz on the Grand Cayman Island. Best sushi I've had yet. And we downed a bottle of sake which always helps.

Ugh I can't wait to do the Chef's Table. Even their regular multi course dinner was amazing (and I'd rank #2). 

Best meal hands down was in Verona, Italy. We had a horse steak that was out of this world, and all the other courses were amazing as well. 

ETA: the hawaiian ice in Kona, HI! How could I forget. H and I were there for our HM and I made him drive the 30 minutes to get me one 3 times during our trip lol.

FiancB

Last time we went to Chicago, we stayed at the Omni and they have a restaurant in there called the 676. We had a beer and cheese sampler there one night, a breakfast brunch another day, and for dinner one night I had a pork chop and H had a steak. 

I don't know what voodoo magic they pulled on that pork and steak but it was amazing. We were actually really disappointed in Gibson's, was not impressed at all let alone with the hype and price. 676> Gibsons, hands down. I can make a better steak than Gibson's but not 676. And that was with having a filet mignon at Gibsons and New York Strip at 676, so it was even a lesser cut of meat.

lyndausvi

climbingwife said:

It's a 4 way tie! 

Chef's tasting at Le Bernardin 

Lunch at a little cafe in Saint Paul de Vence (I can't remember the name) 

Lunch at a winery in Tuscany (Casa Emma) 

Dinner at our favorite place in Florence (Osteria I Riffaioli) 

my DH use to work there.  We have a friend who works there (DH got him the job).  Great place.

photokitty

Mrs Wilkes in Savannah. Waited in line for 2 hours, it was worth every second!!

KytchynWitche

I've eaten a lot of amazing food in my life. I'm surrounded by foodies, and SA has some of the best produce in the world. But off the top of my head, there are two meals that come to me.

Boston Bistro (Pretoria, SA) does this sous vide beef rib that is just about the best thing I've ever tasted.

And the lamb shank at The Courtyard Restaurant (Clarens, SA) is phenomenal. Really, everything on their menu is great, but the lamb shank is the best. It's the reason we got married there.

If I were ever on death row, I would have the hardest time choosing a last meal. Seriously. I have no issues with the concept of my own mortality, but get food involved and I'm a mess.

knottie9c5ed33df4bbd226

KytchynWitche, I often think what I would eat for my "last" meal!

hellosweetie1015

KytchynWitche said:

I've eaten a lot of amazing food in my life. I'm surrounded by foodies, and SA has some of the best produce in the world. But off the top of my head, there are two meals that come to me.

Boston Bistro (Pretoria, SA) does this sous vide beef rib that is just about the best thing I've ever tasted.

And the lamb shank at The Courtyard Restaurant (Clarens, SA) is phenomenal. Really, everything on their menu is great, but the lamb shank is the best. It's the reason we got married there.

If I were ever on death row, I would have the hardest time choosing a last meal. Seriously. I have no issues with the concept of my own mortality, but get food involved and I'm a mess.

Just have them bring you one of everything! That's my "last meal plan".