Best Restaurants You've Ever Been To

STK in hollywood, everything about the meal was phenomenal.

 

if you narrow it down to STEAK it has to be Jocko's in Nipimo, CA. Located in a small town near Santa Maria the meat is all aged and cooked over a BBQ of white oak coals. It's a hole in the wall, but the steak is world class.

 

Gotta go with a couple of my local (Houston) favorites:

Taste of Texas on I-10 near Gessner - best steak in town with very casual atmosphere

Damian's on Smith St. - off the chain Italian.

 

I was on business in Milan a while back and the VP of Infostrada said ill pick you up for dinner. I thought, no worries.

A couple minutes later I am in a nice alfa romeo heading north of Milan towards the coutryside.

I arrive at a quaint farmhouse, pull down a nice stone driveway and there is a valet there who opens the door.

I thought, this is a little weird for a farmhouse. All along this stone paved driveway was cattle, sheep, and other farm animals.

I sit down in this quaint little dining table, with service for 12.

A chef appears from the kitchen area and tells us what he is cooking us. There was no menu.

I figured, family style, I have done this before.

After Primo Piatti, first plate, I get this massive steak on my plate.

I am impressed by its size, but mostly by its tender freshness. I say to my business associate, this is a good steak.

He leans over and tells me, it should be, it was slaughtered less then 30 minutes ago.

Guilty pleasure I guess, but I will never forget that experience of fresh kill dinner, along the Milan countryside in snow lined December.

 

chinois on main-Santa Monica,California
Harbour 60-Toronto
Brasserie-Tel-Aviv

And of course whatever steak is being barbequed at the cottage and it usually tastes better then all of those places, nothing like a cold beer and a good steak!

 

For those who plan on eating in New Olreans anytime soon, Chef Jon Besh's restaurant has continually beaten every restaurant in the city in the Zagat guide over the past few years. Numerous James Beard awards.

Restaurant August (Chef John Besh)---New Orleans

Went to French Laundry a year and a half ago and was NOT impressed. Nobody at the table was that impressed come to think of it. They pulled out some salt that they claim came from the Badlands in Montana from a geological dig and it dated back to the Jurassic period. lol, dinosaur salt.

Anyway, I enjoyed Picasso at the Bellagio.
River Cafe in NY served a 6 ounce seared Hudson Valley foie gras when I went, so I have to give them props for that appetizer!

Tops in New Orleans are as follows:

Restaurant August (French/Cajun influence)
Parkway Bakery (Best Po-Boys around)
Stella (French Quarter fine dining that often ranks as high or higher in food than any Brennan's restaurant)

Emeril's first restaurant(aptly named "Emeril's") is only a couple of blocks from my building, but the only problem I have with his food is that the sauces can be extremely heavy. Ate there on Valentines day and the food was just ok but the service was terrible. One of his other restaurants here, "Delmonico" is quite solid but I haven't been in probably 7 years. Might be time to give it another shot.

Screw it, all of this talk about Restaurant August has me hungry. Think I'll head there for lunch right now...

 

JAS,
Interesting you say that about FL...my s-daughter and husband didn't rate it that highly either,can't remember exactly the comment but may have been along the line of ''sizzle hotter than the fare''. High expections can affect later impressions. But dino salt,that's spicy.
cheers,
RE

 

The 8 or so courses were fine, but our table agreed that on a scale of 1-100, it was about an 85. And that is a tough 85 to swallow considering it was priced as if it were perfection!

My lunch just now at Restaurant August was better, and I got away for $60. Amazing deal considering that in almost any affluent part of the country he could charge whatever he wants and get it with ease. The meal went as follows:

1. Black Truffle Rissotto sent out from Chef Besh
2. One spicy bloody mary
3. Fried Oysters with blue chees and buttermilk dressing
4. Lacquered sea bass with spicy long beans, lardons, and local figs
5. Complimentary French Pastry/Pistachio Cookies

I managed to snap a couple of blurry pics. Service was impeccable. It was POURING outside when I left so they quickly got me an umbrella, unsolicited, to make sure I made it to my car and just asked that I bring it back next time I come in
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That sounds really good! Where is August? I've never been there.

 

www.rest-august.com

301 Tchoupitoulas....right behind Harrah's and the Windsor Court Hotel.

 

Oh, come on! You're a Kennedy!

Mike in Kuwait

 

Bohanan's - Downtown San Antonio, the best steaks in the city.
Cut - Beverly Hills, steaks are great as well.
Orchids - Honolulu
La Mer - Honolulu as well, both great places.

 

Louie Mueller BBQ - Taylor Tx - Though you have to like your brisket peppered - old indoor basketball court I think.

Casa Picasso - Belize - their tapas would make a meal. Though roasted garlic and Flank Steak made it worth the trip. Small two story house on the lagoon side of San Pedro.

Steve

 

Food pictures anyone? All from Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills.
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What's the bottom dish?

 

I could be wrong, but I think it was Foie Gras with Eel.

 

March in Manhattan. In a home converted to a restaurant. A choice of 5 or 7 courses. The portions are small. They have so many choices you can have a great meal of things you can't usually don't get in one sitting. very elegant and VERY expensive. Wow.

(Join us as Chef Wayne Nish, co-owner of the March Restaurant visits our Chef Club for a very special month. Although well-known as a "New American" chef, and considered among that cuisine’s best practitioners, Nish was never completely at ease with the title. True, his food spoke of America, but even more, it spoke of something closer to home. It said "New York."

And now Nish, too, has decided to say "New York." Both in recognition of what his cooking has always been, and, even more, as a tribute to the city that inspires him, Nish will no longer define his food as "New American Cuisine," but rather as "New York City Cuisine."
More about Wayne Nish)



Our favorite in Aspen is Montanya at the Little Nell. Best wine list in town...which is saying something. A nice quiet restaurant with arms on the chairs...very important. Food is delicious. They change the menu frequently so there are always new things to try. Never disappointed. Expensive but you only live once.

Restaurant with the best view. the Pine Creek Cookhouse in Ashcroft. Spectacular view of the Elk Mountain Range (see my avatar). the food is great. fabulous lamb and the quail salad is to die for. Only bad problem is you have to drive home after adult beverages. We usually go for lunch. All our guests beg to go there. You have to make reservations weeks in advance to get a table. In the winter you have to either take their horse drawn sleigh, snowshoe or cross country ski the last three miles...and you still can't get a reservation for weeks in advance. we don't do the dinner thing very often, but we do lunch everytime we have guests.

Life is good.

 

Not one of those Kennedys. (I don't know if that's good or bad?)

 

The best restaurant in South Florida has got to be Prime 112 on south Beach, FL. its located on 1st and Ocean Drive on the beach. If you guys get a chance to go, try the macaroni and cheese, trust me on this. All of there cuts of steak are phenomenal.

 

Mastro's in Beverly Hills.......

Consistently get great meals there......

Good ambiance, service, prices are even somewhat "normal"

 

I can't even play in this league... yikes!

probably because I'm not in the right tax bracket!

of the great places I've eaten...
The Signature Room - Chi-Town (First time wife and I spent more than $200 on dinner)
Volare - Chi-Town (the experience sticks with me more than the food... although the Arabiatta was AWESOME)
Ruth's Chris - KC (it is what it is, been there..... 3 times?)
Classic Cup - KC (great food, wonderful atmosphere, breakfast/brunch legend)

but the two that I can't shake no matter how hard I try...

1) Lake Street Cafe - Elkhart Lake, WI (WS award winners 8 or 9 years running, impeccable everything, but more to the point... the ability to sit adjacent to John Surtees, Phil Hill, Peter Egan, and a number of other automotive legends where THEY were comfortable enough to make small talk with us. This first time was before Phil Hill had made his parkinson's a public matter, and I was able to help him out of his chair when he faltered. Egan also gave us a heaping load of crap because my brother had ordered the last T-Bone so he was stuck with the Fillet... that experience honestly changed me.)

2) Le Fou Frog - KC (brilliant French dive same midget (literally) hostess for the last 5 years, same wait staff, same everything (except the menu). singly the BEST food I have ever had ANYWHERE. it is simply unreal. in particular, the monkfish... ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh the monkfish. and they always prepare a duck specially for my wife when we go there.

 

I love Prime 112, though I was impressed with DeVito's. I was expecting celebrity fromage until I saw the place. Fantastic experience and THE BEST bolognese evAr. My boy says their mashed potatoes are also the best evAr.

 

Best breakfast in Bedford (Westchester, NY): The Bedford Post on RT. 121. This place is owned by actor Richard Gere, and it's AMAZING. Went there on Sat. and had the brioche French toast with wild berries. Tried some other food as well; such as the banana pancakes and their farm fresh eggs and sausage. Everything about it is phenominal. Also, they have a yoga studio upstairs and the dinner restaurant is opening in a month or so. Check it out!

 

Marc Veyrat, Annecy
Robuchon @Mansion Las Vegas
Robuchon a Gallera@Hotel Lisboa Macau
Michel Bras, Laguiole
Philippe Rochat, Crissier.
etc.

 

Guys, reading these posts has made me hungry.........I'm off to my favourite.......McDonalds