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What was your Best Meal of the Year?

What was your Best Meal of the Year?

Old Nov 25, 2013, 9:46 am
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I'm going with the meal we had at Le Bremner, in Montreal.

Started with their fresh squeezed pre-meal gin cocktail.

Shared 6 oysters

Spicy tomato salad.

Hot lobster sandwich and 63 degree egg

Pimm's butter pancakes.
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Old Nov 26, 2013, 6:38 pm
  #92  
 
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The popovers, roasted corn soup, and fried chicken at Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern in SFO. Close second would be the pumpkin agnolotti and prime filet at Spago's in Vegas.
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Old Nov 27, 2013, 5:01 am
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Berns Steakhouse. Tampa, FL and it is always divine.
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Old Nov 27, 2013, 1:20 pm
  #94  
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roast pork with rice at Yat Lok in Hong Kong. $4. Dominated all the michelin star places I ate at this year.
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Old Nov 27, 2013, 1:23 pm
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Originally Posted by Alpha
Lunch at Le Comptoir du Relais
what did you have? Thats around the corner from my apartment, one of my local favs.
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Old Nov 28, 2013, 10:47 am
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Originally Posted by sky303
To add to the ATL list:

Leon's Full Service
The Spence
I tried Leons the last go around. It's was fine but nothing exciting. Bacon in a Glass was kind of neat though Their drinks are delicious. That being said, the Kimball House in Decatur blew it away for drinks. They were THAT good.

The Spence was up and down.
Service: Great
Food: Uneven

I tried the following:
Smoked Beet Salad - Very good. The beets at K+D were better though.
Pork Terrine - Spectacular.
Lobster Pasta - WAY too salty. So much the waiter pulled it from my table and comped me that dish.

My expectations weren't that high as I'd read some weak reviews but overall, it was an experience that I would say was pleasant. I would return.
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Old Nov 28, 2013, 11:05 am
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Originally Posted by fieldeng
I tried Leons the last go around. It's was fine but nothing exciting. Bacon in a Glass was kind of neat though Their drinks are delicious. That being said, the Kimball House in Decatur blew it away for drinks. They were THAT good.

The Spence was up and down.
Service: Great
Food: Uneven

I tried the following:
Smoked Beet Salad - Very good. The beets at K+D were better though.
Pork Terrine - Spectacular.
Lobster Pasta - WAY too salty. So much the waiter pulled it from my table and comped me that dish.

My expectations weren't that high as I'd read some weak reviews but overall, it was an experience that I would say was pleasant. I would return.
As for Decatur, have you tried the Iberian Pig? Been a while since I've been, but man that place is good. And on Leon's, yeah, can't say it would be my favorite meal of the year ever, but definitely a fun place to go with what's always been for me, awesome service and a reliably tasty menu. The Spence for me was outstanding, but I have heard others not liking it as much as me, so I might have just been lucky. K+D and Gunshow have my top two for the year, aside from a little restaurant I went to on a whim just OUTSIDE the Tsukiji Fish Market. Cheap and delicious, bowl of perfectly seasoned rice topped with fresh toro, egg, wasabi, and some awesome redish-pink sauce, along with much needed unlimited frigid green tea (it was late August), about 500 JPY IIRC.

Last edited by sky303; Nov 28, 2013 at 11:11 am
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Old Nov 28, 2013, 11:25 am
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Iberian Pig is on my list I also want to try Rathbun's legendary Lamb.
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Old Nov 28, 2013, 12:41 pm
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8 course seasonal tasting menu at Craigie on Main in Cambridge, MA. Coupled with two great bottles of wine, had a delightful 4 hour experience there!
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Old Dec 1, 2013, 9:31 am
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Finished my travels for the year, and while I didn't make it to as many starred restaurants as I thought I would, I had a pretty good year. I've had enough beetroot, celeriac, purees, veloutes, compotes, and foam to last a lifetime. Here is how it shook out, Michelin wise:

3 3*s
6 2*s
7 1*s
2 (3 Fork and spoons)
3 (2 F&S)
2 (1 F&S)
1 (Non- Michelin but very special, nonetheless)

Best meal by far during the year: L'Arnsbourg, a 3* in Alsace. The Decouverte menu was nothing short of amazing.
Honorable mention: Osteria Fransecana in Modena, Italy and Auberge du Cheval Blanc in Lembach, France.
Best service: Helene Darroze at the Connaught. I simply can't say enough about what a great experience I had here.
Best sommelier: The incomparable Anja at The Ledbury.
Best a la carte dish: Scallops with cucumber ketchup at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
Best dish (runner up): rock barnacles at Os Moinhos in Portugal. I had never even heard of eating barnacles before. What a delicacy - tastes like the ocean
Honorable mention: the crispy pork belly at Petrus. As far as the food itself, that was probably my best meal in London.

My opinion after all this eating - London has numerous fine French restaurants, but Michelin starred haute cuisine, in France, is simply off the scale. My second opinion - it's time to hit the gym..
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Old Nov 27, 2017, 1:33 pm
  #101  
 
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Originally Posted by Mr. Strong
Nominees so far for 2013....

Les 110 de Taillevent in Paris - enjoyed in January and in March

Les Cocottes by Christian Constant, Paris - a favorite. I was hoping to try Violon d'Ingres the other week but it's closed for renovations.

Cantinetta Antinori in Zrich - another one of my favorites and currently the frontrunner for 2013. Terrific risotto with black truffles, venison medallions with green pepper sauce and sptzli paried with Tignanello and topped off with seriously decadent panna cotta.

Luini, Milan - not really a meal, but on the list simply because the panzerotti are delicious and a best snack.

Ciocolatti Italiani, Milan & Gallipoli - also not really a meal, on the list as best gelato this year. (However, not as good as Vivoli in Florence.)

Looking forward to Eleven Madison Park, NYC later this month.

Disappointments of the Year:

Morimoto, NYC
Nice to see Cantinetta Antinori on your list from a few years ago - have a reservation there for Sat, Dec 16th. Hope it is still just as good!
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Old Nov 28, 2017, 12:54 am
  #102  
 
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This year (2017) my best meals were at Waldhaus Sonnora in Germany, Imago in Rome, Maison Manesse in Zurich, Olivo in Stuttgart, Ente in Wiesbaden, and Antica Cera outside Venice. Here in London I had great meals at Marianne and Alain Ducasse. Had meals at Tantris, Marcus, Murano and Seven Park Place that were all a bit disappointing in one way or another.

Best of the best for me was Imago, just a perfect dining experience from start to finish.
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Old Nov 28, 2017, 2:31 pm
  #103  
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Pulled pork sandwich at Eli's in Cincinnati.

What Eli's does for pulled pork can hardly be described adequately. If BBQ could deserve a Michelin *, this would be the place.
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Old Nov 29, 2017, 8:29 pm
  #104  
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Always nice to see this get a bump.

For me it was at A Single Pebble in Burlington, VT. I grew up outside New York City in a town called Rye. There was a Chinese restaurant there called Hunan Garden that is still the gold standard of Chinese food to me. Sadly, they closed in 2003. I now live in North Carolina where the Chinese food situation is not very good. Back in April I went to A Single Pebble and had two dishes, cold spicy noodles with chicken and duck pancakes that were identical to the food I grew up on. I'd written such things off and having them again was incredible.
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Old Nov 30, 2017, 1:05 am
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Originally Posted by CMK10
Always nice to see this get a bump.

For me it was at A Single Pebble in Burlington, VT. I grew up outside New York City in a town called Rye. There was a Chinese restaurant there called Hunan Garden that is still the gold standard of Chinese food to me. Sadly, they closed in 2003. I now live in North Carolina where the Chinese food situation is not very good. Back in April I went to A Single Pebble and had two dishes, cold spicy noodles with chicken and duck pancakes that were identical to the food I grew up on. I'd written such things off and having them again was incredible.
There used to be a culinary school east of Burlington where the students would serve their meals to the public. I had an absolutely amazing meal there years ago. Google tells me it is now called Cooks but I'm pretty sure that was not the name when I went. I thought it was the New England Culinary Institute. In any event, if you're familiar with Burlington, maybe you've been?
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