ElizabethT
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This made me laugh. Tonight we are having French food in an Italian restaurant in Tokyo. Should be interesting!
Best or memorable travel meals
- Thread starter misterantsypants
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This made me laugh. Tonight we are having French food in an Italian restaurant in Tokyo. Should be interesting!
The Cosmic Avenger
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Midpack already mentioned my most memorable restaurant in Chicago, Frontera Grill; I still dream about the queso fundido with chorizo and the mezcal margarita 10 years later. And personally, I'm a Giordano's and Portillo's fan myself, but Due was good, too.
There's also:
There's also:
- Estiatorio Milos in NYC (seafood)
- Cebicheria del Mar in SF (Peruvian, mostly seafood)
- Rasika in Washington, DC (Indian)
- poisson cru made fresh on our cruise ship on the South Pacific
- Nuit Blanche, a tiny little inn in Bruges, where daily the owner cooked for us and served us in his (painting) studio
- our meals at Aamann's (smørrebrød) and Kødbyens Fiskebar (fancy seafood), both in Copenhagen
- lobster enchilada at Tequila Sunrise in Todos Santos, MX
- the lobstah at Five Islands Lobster Co. in ME
- the robata at Emeril's Tchoup Chop in Orlando (surprisingly)
W2R
Moderator Emeritus
When I was a teenager, a friend of my father's took us to dinner at the Tour d'Argent. Every aspect of that experience was memorable.
And yes, I had the duck.
And yes, I had the duck.
Souschef
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We wre married on the Island of Santorini, and after taking a tour after the ceremony we were getting hungry
[FONT="]We told our driver we wanted to go to a place where she ate, not some tourist trap. She took us to a restaurant named Gallini, where they do not allow either coaches or minivans! It was filled with Greek families, and real Greek music playing in the background.[/FONT]
[FONT="]There were tables set out on the beach, and Kathy just loved it! [/FONT]
[FONT="] [FONT="]The driver suggested we try the tomato croquettes, which were excellent, and we ordered a fish plate and a liter of local wine. The fish plate arrived, and had red snapper, sea bream, and calamari on it. I was totally impressed with the way Kathy boned the fish. She explained her father taught her to do it at a young age![/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]We told our driver we wanted to go to a place where she ate, not some tourist trap. She took us to a restaurant named Gallini, where they do not allow either coaches or minivans! It was filled with Greek families, and real Greek music playing in the background.[/FONT]
[FONT="]There were tables set out on the beach, and Kathy just loved it! [/FONT]
[FONT="] [FONT="]The driver suggested we try the tomato croquettes, which were excellent, and we ordered a fish plate and a liter of local wine. The fish plate arrived, and had red snapper, sea bream, and calamari on it. I was totally impressed with the way Kathy boned the fish. She explained her father taught her to do it at a young age![/FONT]
[/FONT]
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Dtail
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Really nice setting. Your love for your wife comes across on your posts.
marko
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Best meal ever? So many on the corporate dime.
Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mainz, Burford UK, SFO, Seoul, Monaco, some little hut slope side at 2AM in the Austrian Alps, Antipasto table in Sulmona Italy, the skier's buffet in Deer Valley....
Best: Funny, it was 13 years ago yesterday, October 18, 2005.
DW and I were living in Paris. I had just gotten word a few days earlier that I would not be part of the new acquiring company and would be gone by December.
We went out to a little sidewalk cafe in our neighborhood around noon and ordered a cheese plate and a pitcher of wine. More cheese and charcuterie and more wine. A baguette. We sat there for four hours watching the world go by, chatting about our next chapter.
THE best day of my life.
Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mainz, Burford UK, SFO, Seoul, Monaco, some little hut slope side at 2AM in the Austrian Alps, Antipasto table in Sulmona Italy, the skier's buffet in Deer Valley....
Best: Funny, it was 13 years ago yesterday, October 18, 2005.
DW and I were living in Paris. I had just gotten word a few days earlier that I would not be part of the new acquiring company and would be gone by December.
We went out to a little sidewalk cafe in our neighborhood around noon and ordered a cheese plate and a pitcher of wine. More cheese and charcuterie and more wine. A baguette. We sat there for four hours watching the world go by, chatting about our next chapter.
THE best day of my life.
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Souschef
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Thank you so much for your kind thoughts. Attached is the picture of our wedding
As a backstory, we were both widowed at the same time, then were blessed to have found each other some time later.
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Dtail
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I remember that picture post. Very nice.
HFWR
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
The best (and largest) on-the-half shell oysters I’ve ever had were from Silky O’Sullivan’s, on Beale Street in Memphis. Nice surprise!
Sunny
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Thanks! It was very memorable for both of us, and we talk about going back. Btw, the beach was El Matador, not El Dorado. El Dorado was the resort we were married at, so a bit of a mistype. You may not be doing the beach but thought I’d make sure and make the correction.
That whole trip was a great trip. My wife reminded me we also really liked the fish tacos someplace by Monterey right on the scenic pacific coast highway, and all the way up in Shelter Cove (a different trip) we stayed at the Tides Inn (again, with waves crashing at our feet). The restaurant next door was also great views and great fish.
I wish you well if you move forward with your plans, can’t imagine you’d regret the location.
Europe's best hot chocolate:
Paris - Angelina's Salon de The.
They sell the mix so I purchased several packages and brought them home.
World's best hot chocolate:
My place - Angelina's mix with my addition of a bump of Frangelico hazelnut liqueur.
Better than s3x.
Paris - Angelina's Salon de The.
They sell the mix so I purchased several packages and brought them home.
World's best hot chocolate:
My place - Angelina's mix with my addition of a bump of Frangelico hazelnut liqueur.
Better than s3x.
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misterantsypants
Recycles dryer sheets
For those looking for a nice retirement playground this location is awesome.
I have to say I live in food heaven every day. LA (in my opinion) has it all best burgers, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, and high quality Italian, seafood, BBQ, etc.
And within 3-4 blocks of my rented condo I can eat any of those foods at really cool little upscale dives.
I live right at the end of Manhattan Beach in the white building HERE.
Looks like me (but not) at Sloopy's with a vodka and tonic over crushed ice or maybe water.
Check out the other JOINTS.
Oh, best part is all the locals know each other and are very politely friendly, when acquaintances walk past and spot me they know an ice cold beer or tank Margarita is gonna be offered, great little community.
I have to say I live in food heaven every day. LA (in my opinion) has it all best burgers, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, and high quality Italian, seafood, BBQ, etc.
And within 3-4 blocks of my rented condo I can eat any of those foods at really cool little upscale dives.
I live right at the end of Manhattan Beach in the white building HERE.
Looks like me (but not) at Sloopy's with a vodka and tonic over crushed ice or maybe water.
Check out the other JOINTS.
Oh, best part is all the locals know each other and are very politely friendly, when acquaintances walk past and spot me they know an ice cold beer or tank Margarita is gonna be offered, great little community.
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I had a quite memorable meal on my honeymoon in a restaurant on the Ile de Paris. The stone walls and ceiling were mostly covered in red velvet and a small window from our dining room had a view of Notre Dame bathed in moonlight (more like gleaming from harsh spotlights, but a guy can pretend).
Don’t recall what DW ordered, but I had fish. I presume bass, since the waiter called it “bah” and not poisson. Delicious and a lovely evening.
Don’t recall what DW ordered, but I had fish. I presume bass, since the waiter called it “bah” and not poisson. Delicious and a lovely evening.
Mr._Graybeard
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Seafood buffet at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan about 25 years ago. Amazing array of shellfish.
Dinner at La Bastide do Moustiers in in the medieval French village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. Fine Provencal dining at an inn run by chef Alain Ducasse. I'm a driving enthusiast, so we followed it up the next day by touring the Verdon Gorge, the Grand Canyon of France.
Again, that was about 20 years ago. We've got to get out more!
Dinner at La Bastide do Moustiers in in the medieval French village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. Fine Provencal dining at an inn run by chef Alain Ducasse. I'm a driving enthusiast, so we followed it up the next day by touring the Verdon Gorge, the Grand Canyon of France.
Again, that was about 20 years ago. We've got to get out more!
Golden sunsets
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Oh DH and I have had so many memorable meals while travelling. We have found that the ambiance, as someone mentioned above, is what made most of these places unbeatable. Some were more expensive than others. We have such fun reminiscing about these experiences.
Michelin starred Hostellerie L'Abbaye de la Celle, run by Alain Ducasse in Brignoles France - sitting outside eating 3 hours meals alfresco until late in the evening(circa 2000). people actually arrived by helicopter to eat at this restaurant.
San Souci restaurant on 17th St in DC near the White House - circa 1970's and 80's. Absolutely top notch French in an incredible atmosphere. I swear there were 5 wait staff devoted to each table. Frequent citings of the political illuminati of the time.
Sienna Italy - hole in the wall just off the Piazza del Campo. Amazing primi of pasta - men served a different pasta than the women. No choice in that fact - what an odd but delicious custom. 2002
Lunch in Livada Greece on the way to Delphi. The absolute best greek salad particularly the tomatoes, that I have ever eaten, served on a piazza on a hazy hot day. Idyllic. 1978.
Antonio Di Palmas in Rome next to the original Al Fredo's, which we luckily walked out of as it was a tourist trap and serendipitously landed next door at a very small restaurant where no one spoke English and we spoke no Italian. Antonio took care of us, choosing each of our courses for us while pinching my cheek saying "Belisimo" Also 1978
Drinks and tapas on the less touristy side of Mykonos, watching the sun set while sticking our toes in the sand, drinking Ouzo and eating the best olives ever. Also 1978.
The Girl and the Fig - 2013 in Sonoma, CA.
Nod to Audrey - Chez Juliette - Nice France three weeks ago. We too had several great meals, mostly in Vieux Nice.
Such delightful memories.
Michelin starred Hostellerie L'Abbaye de la Celle, run by Alain Ducasse in Brignoles France - sitting outside eating 3 hours meals alfresco until late in the evening(circa 2000). people actually arrived by helicopter to eat at this restaurant.
San Souci restaurant on 17th St in DC near the White House - circa 1970's and 80's. Absolutely top notch French in an incredible atmosphere. I swear there were 5 wait staff devoted to each table. Frequent citings of the political illuminati of the time.
Sienna Italy - hole in the wall just off the Piazza del Campo. Amazing primi of pasta - men served a different pasta than the women. No choice in that fact - what an odd but delicious custom. 2002
Lunch in Livada Greece on the way to Delphi. The absolute best greek salad particularly the tomatoes, that I have ever eaten, served on a piazza on a hazy hot day. Idyllic. 1978.
Antonio Di Palmas in Rome next to the original Al Fredo's, which we luckily walked out of as it was a tourist trap and serendipitously landed next door at a very small restaurant where no one spoke English and we spoke no Italian. Antonio took care of us, choosing each of our courses for us while pinching my cheek saying "Belisimo" Also 1978
Drinks and tapas on the less touristy side of Mykonos, watching the sun set while sticking our toes in the sand, drinking Ouzo and eating the best olives ever. Also 1978.
The Girl and the Fig - 2013 in Sonoma, CA.
Nod to Audrey - Chez Juliette - Nice France three weeks ago. We too had several great meals, mostly in Vieux Nice.
Such delightful memories.
The Cosmic Avenger
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Oh! I forgot one -- The Inn at Little Washington. Even with all the hype, we were still surprised at how wonderful it was. The inn itself was OK, not really worth the price, but the restaurant certainly is worth it. Definitely worth a milestone anniversary splurge, and then stay at another area inn, there are plenty of great ones. Heck, the Inn at Vaucluse Spring is less than an hour away, and the accommodations are wonderful, and the food is almost as good! I probably should have included that on my list, too.
Bestwifeever
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Other than most hotel breakfasts, I think every meal we've had while traveling has been amazing. The ingredients are freshly prepared and usually from nearby suppliers/farms/mills, the dishes are served immediately, and we appreciate the ambience and experience more because we are focused on the present and not on the everyday stuff at our house that we need to do. And we're usually in a good mood and it extends to the meals. Plus no one ever picks a restaurant they don't expect to be good.
The best meals we've ever had have been when the waiter either tells us what to order or the chef decides. On our last trip the waiter gave us a flat "no" when the first of our party to order asked for a chicken caesar salad off the menu. He said the chef would cook for us and the waiter guaranteed we would be happy. We were.
And the most enjoyment we got from travel meals was vicariously as our kids ate nutella crepes in Paris when they were little. They thought they had died and gone to heaven.
The best meals we've ever had have been when the waiter either tells us what to order or the chef decides. On our last trip the waiter gave us a flat "no" when the first of our party to order asked for a chicken caesar salad off the menu. He said the chef would cook for us and the waiter guaranteed we would be happy. We were.
And the most enjoyment we got from travel meals was vicariously as our kids ate nutella crepes in Paris when they were little. They thought they had died and gone to heaven.
Bamaman
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
You should have gone for Silky's big drink called The Diver. It is a gallon paint can 3/4 filled up with ice and a big handful of fruit on top. Then they pour a bunch of various liquors in it and finish filling it up with white wine. The can says The Diver is guaranteed to make you go down. And they're right.
Bamaman
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
30 years of traveling on Megacorp's credit card will give you many great memories.
But one of our best meals ever was at the Nashville Maggiano's Little Italy. They have an Italian Family Meal for 4 or more where the courses just keep coming until you start ordering seconds. The trick is to ask for a little more, and later they'll give you take out containers with enough food for two more meals (for two).
Their food was much better than anything I ever had in my 10 trips to Italy.
But one of our best meals ever was at the Nashville Maggiano's Little Italy. They have an Italian Family Meal for 4 or more where the courses just keep coming until you start ordering seconds. The trick is to ask for a little more, and later they'll give you take out containers with enough food for two more meals (for two).
Their food was much better than anything I ever had in my 10 trips to Italy.
Ronstar
Moderator Emeritus
I don’t know which one is the best, but we have had a lot of memorable travel meals.
Cafe sole - Key West. In a little old house, but great food.
Latitudes - Key West. Tables on the beach on sunset key.
Union oyster house - Boston. Oldest continuously operating restaurant in US.
Mastro’s Ocean Club, Scottsdale, az. The butter cake.
Trillium Cafe, Mendocino, Ca.
DW says Cutters in Seattle for the Copper River salmon
Cafe sole - Key West. In a little old house, but great food.
Latitudes - Key West. Tables on the beach on sunset key.
Union oyster house - Boston. Oldest continuously operating restaurant in US.
Mastro’s Ocean Club, Scottsdale, az. The butter cake.
Trillium Cafe, Mendocino, Ca.
DW says Cutters in Seattle for the Copper River salmon
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I have had many expensive meals on the corporate dime, but none of those are anywhere close to the most memorable. Paying a lot to a place with a super reputation yields an excellent result, as expected. Nothing real memorable about that. And you're with cow-orkers, which, in itself, isn't always bad, but you didn't pick them as your friends.
What makes a memorable travel meal to me is when you stumble into awesome with awesome people (or that one special person).
On my first trip to Europe in about 1986 I met with BMW engineers in Munich. After business was completed I dropped our sales engineer at the airport and he let me keep his rental car for the weekend. I drove to Garmish-Partenkirchen and stayed at the 16th century Posthotel. Driving on the Autobahn for the first time I got to max out the little BMW 320 at 210 kph (130 mph) only to get passed by a Lamborghini going at least 170 mph! After a day of skiing on the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak, I had dinner in the Posthotel. Venison medallions, roasted vegetables (beets among other good things), good German beer and an after dinner schnaps.
I also went to the Hohenschwangau & Neuschwanstein Castles. Crazy Ludwig only furnished a few rooms prior to his death. He spent so much building Neuschwanstein and other projects that he nearly bankrupt Bavaria and the locals took him out for a boat ride and dropped him off in the middle of the lake. Overall a very memorable trip and I made a point every time I traveled on business to spend at least a weekend sightseeing everywhere I went. My only regret was being alone I had no one to talk to or share it with.
I also went to the Hohenschwangau & Neuschwanstein Castles. Crazy Ludwig only furnished a few rooms prior to his death. He spent so much building Neuschwanstein and other projects that he nearly bankrupt Bavaria and the locals took him out for a boat ride and dropped him off in the middle of the lake. Overall a very memorable trip and I made a point every time I traveled on business to spend at least a weekend sightseeing everywhere I went. My only regret was being alone I had no one to talk to or share it with.
Since retiring 10 yrs ago, DH and I travel to eat. Since we live in the San Francisco Bay Area, we travel a regular circuit around NorCA, revisiting favs and trying new places. We travel midweek, staying 3-5 days. On average we visit 240+ restaurants/yr, all price points.
We've had many terrific meals, but I'll confine this to restaurants still in existence. Turnover is rampant here, so anyone reading this in 2 yrs can assume that at least one of the places listed no longer exists or worse, has a new chef, LOL.
I should note that altho we don't care what we spend, my DH really doesn't care for what he calls "frou-frou" food (with a couple of exceptions). He likes to say I'm the gourmet and he's the gourmand; but he holds a degree in hotel and restaurant mgmt, so he's extremely picky about service.
You will not find most, if any, of these restaurants on a "Best of" list. These are our personal favorites, all of which we have visited multiple times. This is exceptional food and top-notch service, yet not the highest prices. I'm a very good cook (my mother was a cooking instructor and owned a cookwares store) and I love cooking, but these are restaurants that surpass what I can or am willing to do.
1) Sake 107/Petaluma CA. Chef/owner Eiji Ando’s home prefecture of Aichi in central Japan has the only two producers of hatcho miso, which is miso aged for up to two years. It is a dark brown, not beige/red/white, with a richer, deeply intense flavor. It gives a flavor to his dishes unlike any other. His owari sauce for the pork katsu is amazing, far superior to the usual harsh Worcestershire-based sauce of other versions.
His sashimi selection is kept small so that only the freshest is offered. We were especially impressed by the mana gatsuo, Japanese star butterfish which has a much better texture and flavor than the Pacific (CA) or Atlantic varieties. The umi masu, ocean trout, and hotate, Hokkaido scallops, are also favs. The sake tastings are very fine, with all the waitstaff well-trained in the many different sakes offered. The Dewansansan is especially good with a meal, a semi-dry with a wonderful floral bouquet.
Auberge du Soleil Restaurant @Auberge du Soleil Resort/Rutherford, CA. It's one of those cliches that if a restaurant has a view, it has mediocre food. It's almost always true, too. Auberge du Soleil is a rare exception. Set halfway up a hill and looking west towards the Mayacamas Mountains that divide the Napa Valley and Sonoma County, the hotel's restaurant has a nice dining room, but the real attraction is the narrow outdoor patio that snakes across the hotel's entire width. Make a reservation in advance and you'll likely score a table along the front (of the 13x we've visited in the last 10 yrs, 11x we've had a prime seating).
On a sunny day - which here can be in February as easily as August - there is nothing more quintessentially Californian than sitting on Auberge's patio, drinking champagne and eating lunch. And don't miss dessert - pastry chef Paul Lemieux has been at Auberge even longer than execchef Robert Curry, and his desserts are like California sunshine: light, delicate, never oversweet.
Aubergine at L'Auberge Carmel/Carmel by the Sea, CA. L'Auberge is a Relais & Chateaux hotel, as is Auberge du Soleil. Aubergine, however, is tiny in comparison to its sibling AdS restaurant. Barely 12 tables, its prix fixe menu is a bargain in comparison to many SFBA restaurants. Service and presentation are top-notch, as good or better than many 2- and 3-star Michelin-rated SFBA restaurants. AdS is sybaritically relaxing; Aubergine feels luxurious and decadent at a bargain price.
Michael Warring/Vallejo, CA. Never heard of Vallejo? Not surprising. It's a lower-end suburban community in-between Berkeley and Napa, just over the Carquinez Bridge. Also, this restaurant is located inside a teeny-tiny strip mall that itself hides inside a rural housing development beside a golf course.
Not only are you not going to see any walk-ins in this restaurant, I can guarantee you your GPS will send you in exactly the opposite direction once you drive through the gated entrance to the development. I just had our GPS updated in September and it STILL tried to send me the wrong way - "Turn left". No, you stupid little machine, the restaurant is to the RIGHT!
Once you finally find it, MW is a small, prix-fixe, reservation only restaurant that is run by chef Michael Warring and his wife Allie. It's only open Wed-Sun, dinner only, because they have a young kid and want a real life. It is spare and modern inside, with a Zen-like simplicity. It matches the food because Michael does Modernist-style (yes, he hates the word but it's still the best description) food. He keeps it real - there are no silly gels bouncing everywhere or foams on every plate. The food is clean, precise without fussiness, and delectable.
His brioche is absolutely killer, and I say that as someone who travels around NorCA eating bread from Bouchon, Tartine, Acme, Firebrand, Village, Semifreddi, and other artisanal boulangeries (bread is a passion here in NorCA - it goes along with the housemade charcuterie that's everywhere too). It is a four-course meal, full of subtle flavors, light but satisfying. There is passion and creativity in every bite. Michael does the cooking, Allie does the wine and most of the serving. The two of them are very happy doing what they love. There are no cookbooks or plans to "expand the empire", thank goodness.
Because of where MW is located and the restricted hours, the price /pp is absolutely crazy, especially in the sky-high SFBA. In 10 yrs he's raised his price.....$10. It has gone from $59/pp to $69/pp. IMHO you will not get finer food anywhere, even if you visit Benu, Saison or Atelier Crenn (these are the Big 3 in NorCA; not French Laundry, Chez Panisse, or even Manresa, altho Single Thread is coming up fast).
Last but certainly not least:
Belotti Ristorange et Bottega/Oakland CA. Michele Belotti is from Bergamo Italy (not Milan, as often assumed, altho he cooked in Milan). This is Northern Italy, not Southern, so the cuisine is influenced towards French/Austrian than Sicilian/Mediterranean. His Agnolotti are exquisite. His pasta dough uses twice the amount of egg yolks as usual, so it has a supple chew. The flour is from Italy, which still produces the best hard wheat flour.
But it's the sauce that stands out - straight from classic French cooking. Michele makes his own glace de viande. Everyone knows what a demi-glace is - well, the glace de viande is a demi-glace reduced by another 50%. It takes a variety of beef cuts and three days to make. A teaspoonful of this with melted cultured butter blended into it is divine.
I can tell you there is no French restaurant in NorCA, possibly all of CA, that makes its own glace de viande any longer. It is screamingly expensive and time-consuming, and I personally think Michele's a little nuts for still doing it. Although DH and I are properly grateful, since he's only 10 min from our home [smile].
And his tortino! Totally turns your idea of creamed spinach upside-down. This is a silky puree, souffled with a still-flowing quail's egg yolk hidden in the center. Wrapped in wilted spinach leaves and unmolded, with black truffles shaved generously over the bowl, it is beauty to the eye and heaven on the tongue. We have friends who hate creamed spinach, but flipped over this dish.
An insider's tip- not a restaurant, but a bakery:
Monterey/Carmel is one of our favorite areas, but it is one of the most expensive of all. Superb weather, glorious scenery, people with $$$$$. Yes, this is where Clint Eastwood lives and was in fact, mayor of Carmel for a number of years. Big French-American community down here. Family ranches, farms, and wineries abound.
Parker-Lusseau Bakery/Monterey CA. Three modest locations in Monterey, but altho most go to the Hartnell St. shop (it's cuter and stays open later), we go to the source: Munras St. is the original and where all the patisserie is baked. M. Lusseau is a master patissier and far surpasses the overrated Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery/Napa, or newcomer Arsicault Bakery/SF.
These are the fragile, delicate Parisian-style croissants, becoming increasingly rare even in France (where sadly, big-corporate pre-baked goods are making huge inroads into the restaurant culture). The PL croissants are the classic 27-layer folded pastry, made with French cultured butter. They are neither glazed with sugar nor loaded with excess salt. If you pull the crust off one end, you can unravel the paper-thin dough layers like a spool of thread - I have pulled a PL croissant out to two feet long before I tore it off and ate it.
They are so buttery, they are the only croissants we eat plain, no butter or jam. Take a bite of a plain PL croissant and you'll taste sweet butter, not salt. After eating one of these, you realize what is sold as "croissants" elsewhere, are mostly just a few folds of brioche dough, with cheap butter and even cheaper flour.
Despite PL having the same rating as other French bakeries in Monterey, don't be fooled. We've visited ALL of them, and none are even half as good as Parker-Lusseau. PL is not cheap, but they are no more expensive than any of the other better quality NorCA bakeries/patisseries (they are, in fact, the exact same price as Bouchon Bakery; we compared them earlier this year).
++++
People have asked us why, with the time and income we have, why we don't fly to exotic destinations. Our answer is simple:
We spent 35 yrs working in the San Francisco Bay Area. So we only spent limited time in Napa, Sonoma, Monterey, Tahoe, et. al. - mostly weekends, occasionally a long 3-day weekend. And really, when you're tired, who wants to get in the car and fight weekend/holiday traffic?
So a few decades ago we started spending long weekends at home - we lived in San Francisco at the time - and discovered the delights of playing tourist in our own backyard. We could even go downtown and (gasp!) find parking, because locals were off skiing or visiting family in other states.
When we retired, I told my DH that we had never had time to explore NorCA on weekdays. "This is an area where people come from all over the world to visit, and feel lucky just to spend five or six days here. They never get to see anything besides the usual "top 10 tourist attractions". Why don't we do a bunch of weekday driving trips and really explore the West Coast?"
My DH was all for it. We've had so much fun exploring odd corners of our area that we never knew existed. Even friends who have lived and explored their home area for 20 yrs are surprised when we tell them about places they never realized were literally 'just down the road'.
Traveling weekdays and in off-season, it's amazing how few people are around. We drove the entire length of the Redwood Highway, and I think over 2 days time we maybe saw ONE other car traveling south, as we were. We would stop and hike through the trees, and there wasn't anyone else around.
We occasionally take longer travels around the West. I love the PNW (I have family there and Seattle is an amazing city to visit). Had a fabulous time in New Mexico with an amateur historian as our guide that was an incredible 'insider's look' into that unique history and culture.
There are still so many places to go yet, LOL - and foods to eat!
We've had many terrific meals, but I'll confine this to restaurants still in existence. Turnover is rampant here, so anyone reading this in 2 yrs can assume that at least one of the places listed no longer exists or worse, has a new chef, LOL.
I should note that altho we don't care what we spend, my DH really doesn't care for what he calls "frou-frou" food (with a couple of exceptions). He likes to say I'm the gourmet and he's the gourmand; but he holds a degree in hotel and restaurant mgmt, so he's extremely picky about service.
You will not find most, if any, of these restaurants on a "Best of" list. These are our personal favorites, all of which we have visited multiple times. This is exceptional food and top-notch service, yet not the highest prices. I'm a very good cook (my mother was a cooking instructor and owned a cookwares store) and I love cooking, but these are restaurants that surpass what I can or am willing to do.
1) Sake 107/Petaluma CA. Chef/owner Eiji Ando’s home prefecture of Aichi in central Japan has the only two producers of hatcho miso, which is miso aged for up to two years. It is a dark brown, not beige/red/white, with a richer, deeply intense flavor. It gives a flavor to his dishes unlike any other. His owari sauce for the pork katsu is amazing, far superior to the usual harsh Worcestershire-based sauce of other versions.
His sashimi selection is kept small so that only the freshest is offered. We were especially impressed by the mana gatsuo, Japanese star butterfish which has a much better texture and flavor than the Pacific (CA) or Atlantic varieties. The umi masu, ocean trout, and hotate, Hokkaido scallops, are also favs. The sake tastings are very fine, with all the waitstaff well-trained in the many different sakes offered. The Dewansansan is especially good with a meal, a semi-dry with a wonderful floral bouquet.
Auberge du Soleil Restaurant @Auberge du Soleil Resort/Rutherford, CA. It's one of those cliches that if a restaurant has a view, it has mediocre food. It's almost always true, too. Auberge du Soleil is a rare exception. Set halfway up a hill and looking west towards the Mayacamas Mountains that divide the Napa Valley and Sonoma County, the hotel's restaurant has a nice dining room, but the real attraction is the narrow outdoor patio that snakes across the hotel's entire width. Make a reservation in advance and you'll likely score a table along the front (of the 13x we've visited in the last 10 yrs, 11x we've had a prime seating).
On a sunny day - which here can be in February as easily as August - there is nothing more quintessentially Californian than sitting on Auberge's patio, drinking champagne and eating lunch. And don't miss dessert - pastry chef Paul Lemieux has been at Auberge even longer than execchef Robert Curry, and his desserts are like California sunshine: light, delicate, never oversweet.
Aubergine at L'Auberge Carmel/Carmel by the Sea, CA. L'Auberge is a Relais & Chateaux hotel, as is Auberge du Soleil. Aubergine, however, is tiny in comparison to its sibling AdS restaurant. Barely 12 tables, its prix fixe menu is a bargain in comparison to many SFBA restaurants. Service and presentation are top-notch, as good or better than many 2- and 3-star Michelin-rated SFBA restaurants. AdS is sybaritically relaxing; Aubergine feels luxurious and decadent at a bargain price.
Michael Warring/Vallejo, CA. Never heard of Vallejo? Not surprising. It's a lower-end suburban community in-between Berkeley and Napa, just over the Carquinez Bridge. Also, this restaurant is located inside a teeny-tiny strip mall that itself hides inside a rural housing development beside a golf course.
Not only are you not going to see any walk-ins in this restaurant, I can guarantee you your GPS will send you in exactly the opposite direction once you drive through the gated entrance to the development. I just had our GPS updated in September and it STILL tried to send me the wrong way - "Turn left". No, you stupid little machine, the restaurant is to the RIGHT!
Once you finally find it, MW is a small, prix-fixe, reservation only restaurant that is run by chef Michael Warring and his wife Allie. It's only open Wed-Sun, dinner only, because they have a young kid and want a real life. It is spare and modern inside, with a Zen-like simplicity. It matches the food because Michael does Modernist-style (yes, he hates the word but it's still the best description) food. He keeps it real - there are no silly gels bouncing everywhere or foams on every plate. The food is clean, precise without fussiness, and delectable.
His brioche is absolutely killer, and I say that as someone who travels around NorCA eating bread from Bouchon, Tartine, Acme, Firebrand, Village, Semifreddi, and other artisanal boulangeries (bread is a passion here in NorCA - it goes along with the housemade charcuterie that's everywhere too). It is a four-course meal, full of subtle flavors, light but satisfying. There is passion and creativity in every bite. Michael does the cooking, Allie does the wine and most of the serving. The two of them are very happy doing what they love. There are no cookbooks or plans to "expand the empire", thank goodness.
Because of where MW is located and the restricted hours, the price /pp is absolutely crazy, especially in the sky-high SFBA. In 10 yrs he's raised his price.....$10. It has gone from $59/pp to $69/pp. IMHO you will not get finer food anywhere, even if you visit Benu, Saison or Atelier Crenn (these are the Big 3 in NorCA; not French Laundry, Chez Panisse, or even Manresa, altho Single Thread is coming up fast).
Last but certainly not least:
Belotti Ristorange et Bottega/Oakland CA. Michele Belotti is from Bergamo Italy (not Milan, as often assumed, altho he cooked in Milan). This is Northern Italy, not Southern, so the cuisine is influenced towards French/Austrian than Sicilian/Mediterranean. His Agnolotti are exquisite. His pasta dough uses twice the amount of egg yolks as usual, so it has a supple chew. The flour is from Italy, which still produces the best hard wheat flour.
But it's the sauce that stands out - straight from classic French cooking. Michele makes his own glace de viande. Everyone knows what a demi-glace is - well, the glace de viande is a demi-glace reduced by another 50%. It takes a variety of beef cuts and three days to make. A teaspoonful of this with melted cultured butter blended into it is divine.
I can tell you there is no French restaurant in NorCA, possibly all of CA, that makes its own glace de viande any longer. It is screamingly expensive and time-consuming, and I personally think Michele's a little nuts for still doing it. Although DH and I are properly grateful, since he's only 10 min from our home [smile].
And his tortino! Totally turns your idea of creamed spinach upside-down. This is a silky puree, souffled with a still-flowing quail's egg yolk hidden in the center. Wrapped in wilted spinach leaves and unmolded, with black truffles shaved generously over the bowl, it is beauty to the eye and heaven on the tongue. We have friends who hate creamed spinach, but flipped over this dish.
An insider's tip- not a restaurant, but a bakery:
Monterey/Carmel is one of our favorite areas, but it is one of the most expensive of all. Superb weather, glorious scenery, people with $$$$$. Yes, this is where Clint Eastwood lives and was in fact, mayor of Carmel for a number of years. Big French-American community down here. Family ranches, farms, and wineries abound.
Parker-Lusseau Bakery/Monterey CA. Three modest locations in Monterey, but altho most go to the Hartnell St. shop (it's cuter and stays open later), we go to the source: Munras St. is the original and where all the patisserie is baked. M. Lusseau is a master patissier and far surpasses the overrated Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery/Napa, or newcomer Arsicault Bakery/SF.
These are the fragile, delicate Parisian-style croissants, becoming increasingly rare even in France (where sadly, big-corporate pre-baked goods are making huge inroads into the restaurant culture). The PL croissants are the classic 27-layer folded pastry, made with French cultured butter. They are neither glazed with sugar nor loaded with excess salt. If you pull the crust off one end, you can unravel the paper-thin dough layers like a spool of thread - I have pulled a PL croissant out to two feet long before I tore it off and ate it.
They are so buttery, they are the only croissants we eat plain, no butter or jam. Take a bite of a plain PL croissant and you'll taste sweet butter, not salt. After eating one of these, you realize what is sold as "croissants" elsewhere, are mostly just a few folds of brioche dough, with cheap butter and even cheaper flour.
Despite PL having the same rating as other French bakeries in Monterey, don't be fooled. We've visited ALL of them, and none are even half as good as Parker-Lusseau. PL is not cheap, but they are no more expensive than any of the other better quality NorCA bakeries/patisseries (they are, in fact, the exact same price as Bouchon Bakery; we compared them earlier this year).
++++
People have asked us why, with the time and income we have, why we don't fly to exotic destinations. Our answer is simple:
We spent 35 yrs working in the San Francisco Bay Area. So we only spent limited time in Napa, Sonoma, Monterey, Tahoe, et. al. - mostly weekends, occasionally a long 3-day weekend. And really, when you're tired, who wants to get in the car and fight weekend/holiday traffic?
So a few decades ago we started spending long weekends at home - we lived in San Francisco at the time - and discovered the delights of playing tourist in our own backyard. We could even go downtown and (gasp!) find parking, because locals were off skiing or visiting family in other states.
When we retired, I told my DH that we had never had time to explore NorCA on weekdays. "This is an area where people come from all over the world to visit, and feel lucky just to spend five or six days here. They never get to see anything besides the usual "top 10 tourist attractions". Why don't we do a bunch of weekday driving trips and really explore the West Coast?"
My DH was all for it. We've had so much fun exploring odd corners of our area that we never knew existed. Even friends who have lived and explored their home area for 20 yrs are surprised when we tell them about places they never realized were literally 'just down the road'.
Traveling weekdays and in off-season, it's amazing how few people are around. We drove the entire length of the Redwood Highway, and I think over 2 days time we maybe saw ONE other car traveling south, as we were. We would stop and hike through the trees, and there wasn't anyone else around.
We occasionally take longer travels around the West. I love the PNW (I have family there and Seattle is an amazing city to visit). Had a fabulous time in New Mexico with an amateur historian as our guide that was an incredible 'insider's look' into that unique history and culture.
There are still so many places to go yet, LOL - and foods to eat!
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Big Island, 13,000 feet at the top of Mauna Kea in our rental car watching the sun set. Meat/cheese platter and a pre mixed alcoholic drink from costco.
Ive been to michelin star rated restaurants...ive also been to holes in the wall where I had just as much mouth pleasure as I did at the higher end restaurants. Finding amazing tasting food isnt difficult...finding something that tastes good with the perfect setting/location...thats what's memorable to me.
Ive been to michelin star rated restaurants...ive also been to holes in the wall where I had just as much mouth pleasure as I did at the higher end restaurants. Finding amazing tasting food isnt difficult...finding something that tastes good with the perfect setting/location...thats what's memorable to me.
Embarrassed to admit but my memory is foggy on this. Took my mom to see Neuschwanstein Castle and stayed in a small hotel overlooking Ludwig’s other castle. It was Octoberfest and local beer had 8%, we went to restaurant and of all things ordered pizza, had a couple of beers but the pizza was awesome, very spicy. Next morning saw a bus out front got on and the men in the obvious private tour bus sprang up to give us their seats. We were aghast at our mistake but it was obvious we were welcome. Later the group passed by us on the Marienbrucke bridge and all said hello. Fun to be the Griswalds.
