I enjoyed Pisces, in Baltimore. Extraordinary crabcakes, and excellent presentation of all courses. Sauces were balanced and paired nicely with each course. The salad was innovative. The wines were quite good. The service was absolute perfection.
Wow…I’m actually a little bit jealous. That and the French Laundry are my dream restaurants.
That might explain it - they recently “remodeled” - It may have been a turning point. Two months ago was my first time there.
I love this town. 37 restaurants on that one 2 mile stretch.
I still haven’t been to them all, amd I’ve been here for 10 years.
I’ve only been to the Fogo de Chao in Dallas. That place is where carnivores go when they die, if they’ve been very, very good. To elaborate, it’s a Brazilian churrascuria, like Texas de Brazil (which Big Bad Voodoo Lou described back in the second post). Each patron has a small card, red on one side and green on the other, in their place setting. When the green side is up, you are presented with an endless stream of sizzling skewers of meat. When the red side is up, you are left alone to enjoy your selections. Then you simply flip the card back over to begin again. To provide some contrast to the flood of meat, various side dishes occasionally appear in the eddies; I only bother with the fried bananas–the other sides are well-prepared, but not tasty enough to compete with the meat for stomach space.
This is a place where you wave away prime rib because you’re waiting for something better to happen by.
Then there’s Mulate’s in New Orleans. High-falutin’ this place ain’t, so Lib and Sofa can relax. Checkered tile floor, metal-frame diner chairs, and exposed beams are the rule. I hear they’ve gotten fancy and added tablecloths since I was there last. It’s a wild contrast to the fancy New Orleans cuisine restaurants you see on TV–New Orleans style and Cajun are not the same thing (though New Orleans style is good, too), and Mulate’s will prove it to you. Don’t be deceived by the faux-Cajun places in other cities; Mulate’s is the real deal, and it will drive your cholesterol up 20 points if you walk by the door.
For me, probably the Whaling Station in Monterey was the best. Great Caesar salad, and really good steaks.
For something a little more local, there’s a place here in Michigan City named Maxine’s, which is an anomoly. Upper scale French restaurant in small town Indiana, with great service and fantastic food. And they know how to make a durn good martini. Happily they’re within walking distance of my house…
I can’t just choose one, so here’s a few:
Yank Sing in San Francisco. If you’ve never had dim sum, better sell that kidney and go here. It’s a huge variety of little dishes, wheeled around the floor until someone grabs a plate, which never takes very long. Bring some friends so you can try more things, and get there early so you can get seated closer to the kitchen. I usually go to the Rincon location; it’s busier and the parking lot totally blows, but they tend to have a wider selection.
Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver is also pretty damn good, and a good deal cheaper. (Not including travel expenses!)
NOLA in New Orleans. Look, I hate Emeril’s show too, but the man is a damn fine chef. The trout on a cedar plank was flaky little bits of heaven.
La Fondue in Saratoga, CA. It’s like kissing the first boy or girl you had a huge crush on when you were a kid. Even the freakin’ salad was amazing, and I was an avowed salad hater. Before Buddha achieved Nirvana, he stopped here to eat. But you might have to sell your other kidney and make some dark pacts besides, as it’s hell getting a reservation.
Does it make it better that my favourite food is probably poutine? French fries covered in cheese curds and gravy, for those who aren’t familiar.
I am taking donations for the Send Lissla Lissar To The French Laundry fund. Everything I’ve read about it makes me drool. There’s also the Open a Real Barbeque Restaurant in Toronto, Dammit, fund.
My favorite ever was probably Bayona in New Orleans. The lamb loin with goat cheese and zinfandel sauce was one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth, and the duck breast in pepper jelly my wife got is its only real contender.
Friday night we ate at Zambra in Asheville, NC; each of the six tapas we split was transcendent, and the service and atmosphere were perfect. Definitely a new favorite, and probably worth the 3 1/2 hour drive just to go.
A small restaurant in St. Truiden, Belguim. It is a local place, open for small parties. The meal we had there was the** best ** I have ever had. Everything was done to perfection. The chef and his wife came out after the meal to chat with us. He said he worked in NYC and couldn’t get the same 'taste’in foods that he could get in the Limburg region of Belgium.
Yeah, it’s worth it. We have a framed, signed Tour tasting menu on the wall at home. We actually flew to Chicago with the main goal being to eat at Alinea… 
All this talk of New Orleans, and no mention of Brigtsen’s? It seems to be a great place. I had the pleasure of meeting Frank Brigtsen last year on Martha’s Vineyard. He gave a cooking demonstration. The proceeds went to Katrina relief.
Charlie Trotter’s, before Charlie joined the anti-foie gras movement and became dead to me. It really was a phenomenal meal; we went with the wine accompaniment, which made things a lot more enjoyable than if we had tried to pick wine on our own.
We’re moving back to Chicago soon, and will be living two blocks from Alinea. We’ll be heading there the first chance we get.
Interesting. I had lunch there two or three years ago when I was staying nearby. The setting is fabulous and I’m sure the rooms would be a great place to stay but I was rather underwhelmed by the food. To the extent that I can’t actually remember what I had, although I do recall that the dessert (which had been raved over in the review I read) was particularly disappointing.
Choosing a favourite restaurant is near-impossible. The best meal I’ve had recently was at Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge in the New Forest - divine and beautifully presented dishes and flawless service, although the decor is a little chintzy for my taste.
The bass and scallops at La Fregate on Guernsey are also pretty darn special.
But sometimes the meals that stick in your mind are totally un-gourmet… eating a Cornish pasty and chips with a pint at the Beach Hut at Watergate Bay at the end of a long, sunny August day’s surfing is pretty high on the list, too. (Sadly, the Beach Hut was a lot better before it was tarted up to the state you see in that photo - it used to be more of a grungy, bare-boards, sand-on-the-floor, hang-out-at-the-bar-with-a-wetsuit-rolled-down-to-your-waist kind of place.)
Y’know, honestly? I feel like Jethro and Granny having dinner with the Drysdales. I don’t know what a lot of the stuff is y’all are talking about. But that’s okay. I don’t envy you. I’m lucky that all around me is the sort of mouth-watering fare that I love most. Or […looking at my belly…] unlucky.
The old Lutece in Manhattan - Au Revoir, Lutece - Gothamist
It was the most beautiful and romantic restaurant I’ve ever been in, and I loved the food as well. My “last supper” before gastric bypass surgery was here; I still remember the little chocolate souffle with “chocolat” inscribed on it in chocolate sauce.
Fond memories.
VCNJ~
I’ve had some of the best meals of my life here: http://www.paramountgrill.com/
I’m looking at their current menu and I don’t see what I ordered last time, but my husband ordered the “pan roasted horseradish rubbed pork tenderloin served over blue cheese polenta with haricot verts, granny smith apple and an apple cider lemon thyme reduction sauce”. I believe mine was duck with some wonderful sweet potato crepe thing. Foodgasm!
We also had an incredible meal at a little French restaurant in Steamboat Springs, Colorado that I unfortunately can’t recall the name of. There were only like five tables in the whole place, and a sort of deli counter off to one side. We asked to speak to the chef in person after that meal; the only time we’ve ever done something like that.
Lib, that’s how I always feel in the “What are you reading?” threads! Actually, most of the time when we go out, I vote we eat at Bahn Thai. Not expensive, and I always get two or three meals out of my one entrée, although I stuff in as much food as I possibly can.
Yvette’s St Martin : A small house converted by the family into a restaurant. Goats wonder by while you dine on gourmet fare. My gf had dined there before, otherwise we would have never found the place. They only serve a few meals each evening. We spent three hours there, and our bill was under $100.
Oh, lordy. I don’t even go in those threads. Imagine the deafening thread-killing thud when I announce that I’m reading Alvin Plantinga.
See, your brow is higher than mine!