The Best Meal of Your Life...

[wilewil]

The very good steak cooked over charcoal by an Army mess cook at Oakland Army Terminal. About half an hour before I got out of the Army.

[My Confusing Horoscope]

It's so interesting, reading through this thread, to note how many of the best meals were in foreign countries, or at least far from home.  What is is about being cut loose from everyday reality that makes food taste so good?  And then the other category seems to be nostalgia meals, those that remind us of how things used to be, before they got so complicated.  It's fascinating.

I was wondering the same thing!

I'm sure I can't single out my best meal ever but I had a few memorable ones in Germany when visiting a girlfriend in Tubingen. I appreciated it when she took me to a place for pizza, something familiar to me, and it turned out to be the best pizza I have ever had in my life! Something about the cheese. It was a ham and egg pizza, and I still remember it.

Then she took me home to Unlingen in the Schwabish area to meet her parents and I really appreciated the hospitality. Her mom was a super cook making everything from scratch on a wood burning stove. She made the most delicious soup, hasenpfeffer, and spaetzle, then topped it off later in the afternoon with several cakes, including a Black Forest Cherry cake.

That's a bit about meals in far away places. Don't get me started on nostalgia meals! I am a Cajun now living in the Washington D.C. area, so my nostalgia meals involve some good stuff.

Edited August 20, 2004 by My Confusing Horoscope (log)

[NulloModo]

My sophomore year in college I scraped together all of what little money I had to visit a girl I was completely in love with at the time who was going to college in Providence. We bummed around the town a bit and decided spur of the moment to hop on a greyhound bus to Boston.

Without any kind of plan we wandered around Boston, experiencing things randomly as directed by the (very talkative) taxi drivers and by nightfall ended up in front of a nice seafood place (whose name escapes me, but hey, my mind wasn't on where we were eating). We wandered in, woefully underdressed, but for some reason were still treated very well by the staff. We dined upon what the waiter described as 'the Rolls-Royce of fish' (which later turned out to be Dover Sole, much to the chagrine of my empty bank account, three cheers for Amex at this point) but it was still worth it. The atmosphere, being hundreds of miles from home without a plan, any idea what was going to happen next, and the perfect company and view of the Boston skyline lit up at night all just combined for a stellar end to a crazy day and the beginning of a perfect evening.

[gariotin]

Was invited to Crete as a guest of a trade association to promote the "Mediterranean diet". A week of unbelievable meals - rice cooked w/sheeps's milk, freshly harvested snails, incredible fish and octopus. One day we were invited to visit the olive groves of a family producer whose oil we sell. (Divina, if anyone cares - y can get it at WF and other specialty stores around the country.)

When we got there, at 9:00 in the morning, the grandfather was at the still, making Raki, their distilled rocket-fuel drink from grape detritus. Of course, we had to imbibe, with fresh-cracked walnuts and sweet cakes. As we rode up to the olive groves to see the harvest, we passed a drunk porcupine who had been drinking the run-off from the still. After watching the harvest and pressing, we got to hold fresh bread under the spigots of new, green oil and nibble them with glasses of fruity white wine. After this incredible day, they brought us to a large home where all the wives in the family had been cooking for us for days. A lamb was turning over a fire as we arrived and the most amazing meal of my life followed - all hand-made Greek specialties like spanikopita, various meze, salads, succulant lamb - and accompanied by local musicians. At the end, we were compelled to dance with these wonderful new friends. I never sell a case of this oil without thinking of the gracious hosts of my most amazing meal ever!

[NulloModo]

Oh, I almost forgot:

Eating a kebab of some variety outdoors in Leicester Square in London, after seeing the final performance of Rent before it packed up to move on to somewhere else.... that was simply wonderful as well.

[Bond Girl]

It would be a tie between inside the kitchen of Oceana and a restaurant called Indochine in Hanoi Vietnam.

The former was an experience to see how a great ktchen and chef worked and to actually tasted one of the best prepared dinners culinary-wise. The other was a wonderful blend of the exquisite vietnamese food and the wonderful company of my best friend.

[tanabutler]

This is a hard one for me...I've been to two dozen Outstanding in the Field farm dinners, for starters. Not that they were all perfect, not in the least. (Five or six were, absolutely.)

But if I had to pick just one meal, it would have to be "one evening." Last October, my chef friend, Betsy, and I had a food evening that was kind of like "Lucy and Ethel Eat New York." We had 7 PM reservations at Blue Hill; chefs Dan Barber and Michael Anthony were to be the guest chefs at the farm dinner the following day (up at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Sleepy Hollow). But before that, Suvir Saran had invited me to meet him at Amma for "a glass of wine and an appetizer."

We had arrived at 5 PM, and Suvir had been called away on a family emergency. "One appetizer" turned into eight or nine plates of the most exquisite dishes that Betsy, her daughter, and I had ever tasted. It was a parade of food from the Amma kitchen (and the mighty hands of chef Hemant Mathur) that started to look like a Crosby-Hope "On the Road to India" comedy. We kept saying, "We've got dinner reservations at Blue Hill," but they were undeterred. And we were overjoyed, honestly. Such amazing service and even more amazing food.

We trundled to the subway, got downtown, and said good-bye to her daughter. "How are we going to EAT anything?" I asked. "We'll make room," she said, wisely.

We arrived at Blue Hill. I told the hostess, "We were just kidnapped and forced to eat eight or nine of the best appetizers we've ever had and we're not all that hungry." She responded, "Oh, chef will be so disappointed. He's been looking forward to your visit!"

Betsy, ever the diplomat, said, "Well, maybe he could just make smaller servings." So yes, fifteen or twenty of the "smaller servings" later, and we quit. Retired. Resigned. Died happy.

I consider it one of the most fortunate evenings of my life: to dine with Betsy and to dine at both Amma and Blue Hill, in complete care of two talented and heartful chefs, in one of the greatest cities in the world.

Close second is lunch at Hosteria Il Carroccio in Siena. Ice cold weather, the day before Easter, and every molecule of food was a revelation. It's where I had my Italian epiphany. (Divina Cucina, an eGulleteer who teaches cooking in Italy, says it's one of her favorite places in Siena.)

[KatieLoeb]

Tana:

It seems we share two traits in our best meals.

The Italy thing.

And the Amma thing.

Another marvelous meal that is in my top three (in addition to my Italian epiphany I posted upthread and my one dinner at French Laundry) was my meal at Amma. In addition to the truly awe inspiring food, was the graciousness of the staff. I can say with complete confidence that I've never enjoyed such hospitable service anywhere in the world. My friends that were with me that evening, as well as another eGullet NY Forum host that was kind enough to join us will attest to that fact. It was a phenomenal dinner by all accounts.

[tanabutler]

Sistah Katie!

I actually think I haven't had the best meal of my life yet. I thought about it a lot last night.

[KatieLoeb]

Sistah Katie!

I actually think I haven't had the best meal of my life yet. I thought about it a lot last night.

The presumption is that it's the best meal so far.

If we had nothing left to aspire to, what fun would that be?

[Mabelline]

I recall one Sunday Supper with both of my grams, and I was informed this only happened twice. One was Native American, married to my German Step-Granpa. The other was 1/2 English, 1/2 Native, and of a very Eastern chilly reserve.We ate a meal of very excellent foods, on the farm, and at the end of the meal, dandelion wine was brought out. I do not really recall the end of the evening, but it seemed to have something to do with my Step-Granpa asking my mom's mama to become one of his wives.I just wish I could have seen that.

As any Native would tell you---eh, this happens.

[Kevin72]

Probably the single best, turning point meal of my life was at a Chinese restaurant in Houston. My parents, brother and I had been to a wedding and had gotten precious little to eat. We left and on a lark went to this restaurant which we had always enjoyed. It was New Year's Eve however and they initially expressed concern since it was reservation-only. They had been booked, but a family of four had just cancelled and they let us in. It was a Chef's Menu that night and while we did make a now-regrettable request for substitutions, they happily complied. It was the first time I had ever had a multi-course meal beyond appetizer/main course: two apps, a soup, a rice dish, two or three main courses, and desserts. A true revelation in cooking and eating for me. I went time and again afterward but it was never equaled or even hinted at, much to my dismay.

A second would be a classic case of the company being the whole of the meal, on my graduation from graduate school in Georgia. My parents and girlfriend went to an Italian restaurant in Atlanta. The food was nothing mind-blowing but it was just a great time, stretching leisurely over many hours, truly one of my happiest memories.

Three of the best of my life were, expectedly, in Italy on my honeymoon with the very same girlfriend from the Atlanta meal. The highlight of those three though would be Villa Gaidello, a farmstead bed and breakfast outside of Bologna. Heightening the experience was that we were staying in their guest house "just a ten minute walk" down the road from the dining hall. When we set out it was pitch black, got lost, and wound up taking the car route to the main house rather than the walking path. An hour later, cold, a little wet frm the light drizzle, and more than a little frazzled, we arrived. The hostess was mortified when we explained to her what had happened and profusely apologized throughout the meal (no comps though, not that it was expected ). Anyways it was a six-course affair, all of it made on-site. House-cured meats, bottles of wine made for them, hand-made tortelli in broth, tortelloni in butter in sage, platters of roasted game birds and rabbit, fried zucchini, and two different dessert plates.

[SeaGal]

Oh, I almost forgot:

Eating a kebab of some variety outdoors in Leicester Square in London, after seeing the final performance of Rent before it packed up to move on to somewhere else.... that was simply wonderful as well.

Oh, that's funny! My husband and I were at that same performance. He still has the T-shirt he bought that night.

Small world (or is it big eG?!)

Jan

[bloviatrix]

My two best food experiences were in Venice. Looking back, I can't say that the food was that outstanding, but it was the setting in which we experienced it and what brings back the memories.

Our hotel was located on the Bacino Orseolo, right behind Saint Mark's Square. The dining room overlooked the bacino, which is essentially a parking lot for gondola. Each morning we would go down for breakfast. They had the most amazing coffee in the world, and what made it even better was the milk the came with it was served heated so the temperature wouldn't drop. And the biscuits were light and lemony. We would sit at our table and look out at the gondoliere preparing for the day and just feel transported. No cup of coffee has ever tasted as good.

Then one day we stopped to buy some produce at the market by the Rialto bridge. It was late May and already the fruit was looking ripe and lucious. We picked up some strawberries and nectarines found a fountain with potable water to rinse the fruit and made ourselves comfortable watching the hubbub of the market. Watching the little old ladies bargain with the salespeople was so much fun -- despite not understanding Italian we were able to follow every negotiation..

As for a formal meal, that would be my dinner at Le Grand Vefour. I went with one of my girlfriends -- it was her dad's treat for her 22nd birthday. We were completely out of our league, but the waitstaff treated us like royalty. And the chocolate souffle is still the best I've ever eaten.

[Carrot Top]

OK I'll confess. I started this thread just to get some real good stories. And boy, was it ever a success.

Each of these is a gleaming little jewel in its own way, and I've read each with a satisfied sigh, as I am sure many other readers have.

I could not think of what the best meal of my life was.

I do know what the best 'food experience' of my life was, but it was not a meal. It was riding my bike at seven years old, with a new 'transistor radio' hanging on the handlebars, sometime around 1963, eating cotton candy which had been bought at the local Mom and Pop store. It was ultimate joy.

Other times have been my first taste of homemade bread with good cheddar cheese, the first roast beef sandwich from a New York Jewish Deli, steak at Peter Lugers, a carpaccio of salmon at le Bernadin, a pile of three sorts of caviar at Petrossians with champagne to slurp along, and a marvel of a ripe Reblochon bought on a market street in Paris.

But it all pales compared to this meal: A tomato salad. It goes without saying that the tomato must be perfect and from a good garden. A hint of red onion so very finely slivered...olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Good crusty bread warmed, to wipe the plate.

It should be eaten in bed, surrounded by books, with the TV set on low, showing Law and Order.

I considered whether this meal would be better experienced in that state that happens once in a rare while...the state of marital bliss.

But then decided...no! This meal is best if you can sit smack dab in the middle of the bed while you can freely rumple the covers whichever way you please.

Wear a t-shirt, and feel free to drip a bit of yummy stuff on it. It adds to the experience.

Ahhhhh...heaven. That, is the closest I can imagine, to the best meal of my life.

Edited August 29, 2004 by Carrot Top (log)

[fifi]

I am not sure that these meals are the absolutely most memorable, but they were pretty memorable. I think it was the challenge of creating good food with limited resources and trying to creatively "use things up" before we vacated Kauai for the next island. It was a lot of fun, we had some dynamite picnic lunches and the whole experience added immeasurably to our trip.

Cooking in Kauai

[snowangel]

The best meals for me have been at The Cabin. Be they meals of food for the tummy, tastebuds, or soul.

[ghostrider]

Sitting on the banks of Lake Trasimeno, dangling my feet in the water on an achingly beautiful Umbrian summer day. Eating fresh fruit, bread, cheese and local meat products and drinking some cheap local wine that was purchased from a little store on the side of the road between the olive groves, orchards and vineyards that seemed to be all you could see for miles. Glorious and an absolute epiphany. Certain smells and tastes make those images flood back to me. Smells/tastes like ITALY.

Oh yes. We've had a couple dozen lunches like that over the years. Smells/tastes like Italy indeed.

For the purpose of this thread, though, I'd have to point to a decidedly average pizza at a waterfront cafe on the Guidecca Canal in Venice at sunset. The food scarcely mattered, of course; the visuals, the boats plying back & forth, the changing sunset colors on that wonderful Palladian church across the water, the glowing clouds overhead, were everything that evening.

Sustenance for the body, a feast for the soul. I still wouldn't trade that for the best meal that Harry's Bar or anyplace else there can serve.

And I could talk about many better meals I've had, in terms of the food, in many places over the years. But in terms of the overall experience, sometimes the ambience carries the day.

[snowangel]

And I could talk about many better meals I've had, in terms of the food, in many places over the years. But in terms of the overall experience, sometimes the ambience carries the day.

My thoughts, exactly!

[Pan]

My dinner at the Li Family Restaurant in Beijing about a week and a half ago might have been the best meal of my life. Stay tuned to the China Forum for an upcoming report on it. [Edit: Here's the report.]

Edited August 31, 2004 by Pan (log)

[tsquare]

And I could talk about many better meals I've had, in terms of the food,  in many places over the years.  But in terms of the overall experience, sometimes the ambience carries the day.

My thoughts, exactly!

or the company?

[ghostrider]

And I could talk about many better meals I've had, in terms of the food,  in many places over the years.  But in terms of the overall experience, sometimes the ambience carries the day.

My thoughts, exactly!

or the company?

OK, if I could take the best group of people I've dined with, find the chef that was at a nondescript trattoria on an out-of-the-way piazza in Venice 10 yrs ago (2 years later she/she had moved on, as I expected), and put them all into that decidedly average pizza joint on the Guidecca waterfront for an evening - THAT would be nirvana!

[misstenacity]

"Best" meal, in terms of new experiences and chef talent:

Lola, in Dallas, on a business trip. Used up 2 days' worth of per diem for that 10 course tasting menu; it was my first time having such a thing. First oyster on the half, and generally a great experience. I even took a cab to/from the location so I could drink more than 1 glass of wine with dinner and be safe. :-) The one drawback: I was alone. I did not receive inferior service, but definitely something is missing when you cannot share the experience.

"Best" meal(s), in terms of overall enjoyment, have always been with friends, whether at restaurants or at homes.

In no particular order:

- Cooking demonstration classes at Graze

- 3 Parties I've catered for friends, spending all day cooking for them and basking in that "mission accomplished" glow during the festivities.

- Several dinners with friends and with family, again at Graze.

- Breakfast early in the AM with my brothers at The Frontier.

- Breakfasts that I've cooked for my household on lazy Sunday mornings, from bacon & eggs to slow-cooked Irish oats.

- Dinner get togethers with friends, at their houses or mine.

Yum.

Miss Tenacity

Tenacious Flog

[Carrot Top]

Hmmm. Well, you know...I've realized for some time now that I am definitely odd...but am I the only person who has truly enjoyed a meal in solitude...communing only with the tastes?! Ouch.

It might be that during the meals that I have enjoyed in company with friends or family my intent to ensure that either the food or the ambiance or whatever was just so 'right' (gosh, I dunno who put me in charge...it's always been a mystery...) that that particular attitude disallowed that the best meals were in company.

Certainly the atmosphere is fuller with people around...but just to taste and enjoy...for me solo can be better. And not having to get dressed up and sit in odd chairs that are sometimes uncomfortable is better too.

Fussy, huh?

But at least I'm a cheap date it seems!

[fresh_a]

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