Best Dining Experience

[GHOSTUSER 361]

1. Le Bec Fin in Philadelphia. Wish it was still open.

2. Le Cirque when it was in the Palace Hotel. 

3. Estiatorio Milos NYC

4. Le Bernardin NYC

Edited January 4, 2019 by Iconoclast Texan

[Johnny Sack 8397]

Anyone ever eaten at Rao's in Harlem?  Be interested to hear about the experience.

[Ollie Slatt 295]

I like the 10+ course tasting menus just like everyone else, but they all kind of run together in my memory to the point that no specific one stands out.  So here are some simpler meals: 

- Cafe Jacqueline in SF:  Tiny restaurant run by an old french woman.  The entire menu is comprised of souffles. 

- Antico Noe in Florence:  Sandwich shop in an alley.  I just remember sitting outside with some friends and eating what had to be the best sandwich of my life.     

- I once finished up an 8 day backpacking trip that included some epic trout fishing.  Body was completely breaking down by the end of the hike.  We get back to the car and I polish off a sleeve of thin mints and a beer.  15 years later it is still lodged in my memory.  Nothing tastes better than good food after a long day of backpacking or hunting.  

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

8 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

This is a hard one to narrow down.  There have been a number of unforgettable experiences.  So let's see what I can come up with.

1.  L'Astrance - Paris - Lived up to all the hype of its 3 Michelin Stars, but definitely not stodgy.  Was inventive and playful, and the wine pairings were superb. (April 2017)

2.  Le Bernardin - New York - Took my mom for Mother's Day.  The food and service were outstanding.  (May 2013)

3.  Pujol - Mexico City - Did the Taco Omakase.  Absolutely stunning.  (November 2018)

4.  La Sagrestia - Rome - This place was so good we went two nights in a row.  Seriously, hands down, amazing.  The owner also sat down and drank wine with us.  (June 2018)

5.  Pavillon Ledoyen - Paris - I went right after Yannick Alleno took it back to 3 Michelin Stars.  It was the first meal I ever had in Paris, so it will always be special.  (November 2016)

6.  Le Chateaubriand/Restaurant Montee - Paris - These are my two favorite restaurants in Paris.  I have been to each twice, and will most likely return again. Both are inventive, stunning, but also relatively low key.  (Le Chateaubriand - November 2016 and July 2018; Restaurant Montee - April 2017 and July 2018).

7.  Cagen - New York - My absolute favorite Omakase in New York.  I have been 2-3 times, and preferred it over Nakazawa.  Getting to sit there and bullshit with the chef and his son after the Omakase was fantastic (Mutiple Times in 2015 and 2016)

8.  Blanca - New York - 4 hour dining experience, which was really well executed.  Met great people and had a great time.  (Sometime in 2015)

9.  Blue Hill at Stone Barns - Tarrytown, NY - Was able to grab a seat at the bar and do the tasting menu.  Needless to say, absolutely stunning. (Sometime in 2015)

10.  Dinner - London - The Meat Fruit took this one of out of Honerable Mention and into the top 10.  The presentation at Dinner was top notch, and everything was very, very good.  (April 2016)

Honerable Mentions

Obelisk - Washington DC

JY's - Colmar, France

BCN - Houston

Oxheart - Houston

St. John's - London

Rules - London

Matsuhisa - Los Angeles

This chick.... this chick knows from good restaurants I think.

[ChiTownDoc 21345]

On 1/4/2019 at 7:46 AM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

This is a hard one to narrow down.  There have been a number of unforgettable experiences.  So let's see what I can come up with.

1.  L'Astrance - Paris - Lived up to all the hype of its 3 Michelin Stars, but definitely not stodgy.  Was inventive and playful, and the wine pairings were superb. (April 2017)

2.  Le Bernardin - New York - Took my mom for Mother's Day.  The food and service were outstanding.  (May 2013)

3.  Pujol - Mexico City - Did the Taco Omakase.  Absolutely stunning.  (November 2018)

Hit Pujol tonight.  Have also done LeBernardin.  I’d flip those two. It was that good.  We did the 6 courses...

Also Mexico City was the biggest surprise in terms how good the food was vs what I expected.  

[Carl Spackler 3614]

1.  Quince (SF)

2.  Providence (LA)

3.  Spago (LA)

 

Honorable mention to the tiny Indonesian place in Amsterdam whose name I was too drunk to recall.

Dishonorable mention to the now-closed Valentino in Santa Monica.

 

[Landomatic 3813]

On 12/31/2018 at 10:39 AM, sidis said:

1. ledoyen in paris

2. eleven madison park in ny

3. da vittorio in brusaporto

4. french laundry in yountville

5. taillevent in paris

6. la pergola in rome in 2014

7. per se in new york

8. lung king heen in hong kong

9. joel robuchon in vegas

10. alinea in chicago

11. alain ducasse in monte carlo

12a. lots of great places

12b. lots of good places

13. lots of solid places

14. lots of shitty places

15. la pergola in rome in 2018

This guy fucks.

[Longhornfan1024 1707]

Went to Blue Hill at Stone Barns this weekend and it lived up to the hype.  It's hard to describe how a meal that starts out with 8 courses of nothing but vegetables can be mind blowing, but the love for food that they have there shines through in the freshness and incredible flavor of the food.  At one point they served us two types of spinach--one from the greenhouse and one from the farm--to show how the different soils and growing environments can change the flavor.  The highlights were the chicken liver mousse with chocolate and the potato gnocchi with ricotta made on the farm using milk from their farm in Massachusetts.  

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19305]

45 minutes ago, Longhornfan1024 said:

Went to Blue Hill at Stone Barns this weekend and it lived up to the hype.  It's hard to describe how a meal that starts out with 8 courses of nothing but vegetables can be mind blowing, but the love for food that they have there shines through in the freshness and incredible flavor of the food.  At one point they served us two types of spinach--one from the greenhouse and one from the farm--to show how the different soils and growing environments can change the flavor.  The highlights were the chicken liver mousse with chocolate and the potato gnocchi with ricotta made on the farm using milk from their farm in Massachusetts.  

I love Blue Hill.  Would love to do a return trip.

[DFWTexEx 279]

1 hour ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I love Blue Hill.  Would love to do a return trip.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns was my pick for this thread.  Hard to describe, but a true "experience" -- not just a meal.

[sidis 10013]

2 hours ago, Longhornfan1024 said:

Went to Blue Hill at Stone Barns this weekend and it lived up to the hype.  It's hard to describe how a meal that starts out with 8 courses of nothing but vegetables can be mind blowing, but the love for food that they have there shines through in the freshness and incredible flavor of the food.  At one point they served us two types of spinach--one from the greenhouse and one from the farm--to show how the different soils and growing environments can change the flavor.  The highlights were the chicken liver mousse with chocolate and the potato gnocchi with ricotta made on the farm using milk from their farm in Massachusetts.  

that is a place i have yet to go for some bizarre reason or another each time i am in the region that i really want to try.  hear it is pretty special.

[Underdog 29161]

Ha.  Just down the road a bit from me and I’ve never heard of it.  

[Lazarus Bocanegra 312]

Thread got me thinking about the 4 hour lunch we had at Criollo in Oaxaca in 2017.  8 courses with mezcal flowing.  Everything was spectacular, from the setting, to the food, to the service.  

https://imgur.com/a/wjtQ9Tc

Edited March 15, 2019 by Lazarus Bocanegra

[Bone3421 716]

Le Cirque in the old spot in midtown
Contrast:
Pho on the street in Ha Noi.. 20000 dong aka 80 cens

Soon as i saw this thread i immediately thought of the bun cha i had in hanoi...