Top Restaurant Meals 2007

[hathor]

I had no idea Las Vegas was a food destination. Clearly, I live in a rock and should get out more often. Who knew? My only memory of Las Vegas was a very booze filled dinner at Ceasar's Palace where the waitresses put your head between their breasts and gave you a temple rub.

Normally they only do the men's head, but I insisted on fair treatment.

I don't know Docsconz, the restaurant can provide the setting, but I don't think they can provide the context.

This is something that I've been giving a lot of thought to...the whole 5 senses approach to dining. But not in a stuffy, temple of food way. This thread is marvelous for for thought, as well as informative.

[docsconz]

I had  no idea Las Vegas was a food destination. Clearly, I live in a rock and should get out more often. Who knew?  My only memory of Las Vegas was a very booze filled dinner at Ceasar's Palace where the waitresses put your head between their breasts and gave you a temple rub.

Normally they only do the men's head, but I insisted on fair treatment.

I don't know Docsconz, the restaurant can provide the setting, but I don't think they can provide the context.

This is something that I've been giving a lot of thought to...the whole 5 senses approach to dining. But not in a stuffy, temple of food way. This thread is marvelous for for thought, as well as informative.

←

I think they can and do provide context to the degree that they make a diner feel special. Very, very few restaurants can do this consistently. elBulli is one of them.

[ulterior epicure]

Thanks, doc - I can always count on your for starting this thread. Here's my contribution for this past year.

[onehsancare]

We had some really good meals this year, at clarklewis in Portland, Simpatica Dining Hall in Portland, Green Leaf in Seattle, Dahlia Lounge in Seattle, but only one meal that really took my breath away: the tasting menu at Rare, in Vancouver, BC in April.

[toddw8877]

Providence in LA

Craft in LA

Campanile in LA

Pizzeria Mozza in LA

Charlie Palmer's Steakhouse in Las Vegas

First Crush in San Francisco

Copley's in Palm Springs

Desert Sage in La Quinta CA

Lucky's in Montecito

Town Hall in San Francisco

I realize that many of these places are not breaking down culinary boundaries, and most are not comparable to others on the these lists, but all have been memorable in on way or the other.

[jsmeeker]

Here is my list in no particular order (it's Vegas heavy, too)

Taddich Grill, San Francisco, CA. Went there after doing a night tour of Alcatraz. It really hit the spot. Perfectly made Manhattan while waiting. This place is "old school" and it's great.

two meals at Abacus, Dallas, TX. The first, I booked the chef's table for a group of out of town friends so we could have their tasting menu. It was great. Everyone enjoyed it. The second was later in the year, this time with a bunch of locals (and one out of towner who went to the first one). This time, I didn't request the chef's table since I thought it would be nice to let people pick and choose off the menu. Well, they seated us at the chef's table anyway. We were there all night for a wonderful, leisurely meal. This was AFTER chef Tre Wilcox got "famous" on "Top Chef". Some people in the party were big fans, and when he stopped by to say hello, they really enjoyed that.

Lola, Cleveland, OH -- Great meal. Michael Symon deserves his Iron Chef status. And if it were not for Michael Ruhlman, I don't think I would have ever experienced it. Also, while it's not a meal, I have to give an Honorable Mention to the Velvet Tango Room in Cleveland for "Best Bar Visit of 2007". (and again, Ruhlman gets credit for this tip off)

Bouchon, Wing Lei, L'Atelier de Joel Rubochon, all in Las Vegas, NV. Good meals with good friends in a city we just love to hang out in. (two visits in 2007)

Context IS important. Also, it doesn't have to be at a fancy, pricey place (even though most of the places on my list fall into that category)

[little ms foodie]

I so agree that a restaurant not need be a Michelin starred attraction to be named your best experiences! A very bland dinner set outside in Kruger National Park listening to the sounds of wild animals on Christmas Eve is definitely on my list!

Others in no particular order include:

Lunch on a gorgeous sunny afternoon of oysters and a bottle of white wine at Hog Island Oysters in San Francisco

Gary Danko, San Francisco

Cochon, New Orleans

Paired cocktail dinner at Commanders Palace in New Orleans hosted by Ti Martin during Tales of the Cocktail

Champagne & Lobsters at Scales & Shells in Newport RI

Le Pigeon in Portland, OR- foie gras profiteroles, need I say more? ha!

Incanto, San Francisco- lots of offal at dinner, not usually our MO- we were brave and it was great!

[nyokie6]

We had so many wonderful meals this year that I also felt like mentioning only those that I find myself thinking of fondly over and over.

SCHWA-it was worth the many phone calls, arriving in Chicago a day earlier than planned,and

carrying our wine on the plane.

ALINEA-our dinner had some missteps, but overall I'm so glad we included it

JEAN-GEORGES-enjoyed lunch in July so much, we went back in Dec.

EMP-when I mentioned that I didn't really like the wine they were going to pair with my dessert, they served an aged port-the best I've ever had

GUY SAVOY-this was my second visit, there will be a third

We're not sure where we will be going this year, maybe Europe again, and I will be reading and appreciating everyone else's favorites and reviews.

Have a Healthy and Tasty 2008

Tobi

[David Ross]

I agree with everyone who has mentioned that context is so important when compiling a list of your top restaurant meals of 2007.

I only listed Guy Savoy, Las Vegas since it was far superior to any of the many restaurants I visited in 2007. However, context played an important role in naming just Guy Savoy.

Just the mere fact that I was at a private dinner at Savoy celebrating the one-year anniversary of the opening of the restaurant vaulted it to the top of my list. And of course with Chef Savoy in the kitchens the food was superb. So for a total restaurant experience in 2007, no other place I visited would be able to come close to duplicating all the elements that came into play that one night at Savoy.

We are all studied critics and reviewing restaurants is such a vast subject I feel like we almost need to break down our lists further into categories like type of cuisine and price range. And this is where context comes into play.

The context of a meal at Guy Savoy is going to be different than the context of a meal at a local Chinese restaurant. That doesn't mean the roast duck I had at The Hong Kong Cafe in Spokane wasn't as good as the dinner at Savoy, just a different context.

The Hong Kong Cafe is a Mom and Pop restaurant run out of a former Dairy Queen. You wouldn't imagine authentic Szechuan cuisine coming out of a fast food kitchen-but the roast duck is delicious-with a deeply lacquered, crispy skin and juicy-fatty meat. They were surprised when I walked in and I ordered off the menu of specialties rather than the daily 'combinations' posted over the order counter. They took great care to chop the duck and wrap it for me to take home. I think they were pleased to serve someone who ordered something more than egg drop soup.

So in 'context' that was probably the top roast duck I had in 2007. Mind you, I ate more than a few roast ducks in 2007, but that was the best. The little cafe in Spokane run out of a former burger joint.

The Hong Kong Cafe couldn't match what Savoy offered, but in the context of Chinese roast duck, they were number one.

[Megan Blocker]

Bar Etats-Unis (New York), February

Momofuku Ssam Bar (New York), February

St. John (London), March

Per Se (New York), April

Bouchon (Yountville), August

Go Fish (St. Helena), August

Telepan (New York), October

Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills), December

Some highbrow, some not so much, all notable.