Still Around:

1. French Laundry

2. Aruns in Chicago

3. La Sponda at Le Sirenuse in Positano [also a top 3 all time vacation spot]

No longer with us:

1. Moulin de Mougin in the Roger Verge days (early 90s)

2. Charlie Trotter's

Random Ag said:

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Gramery Tavern (NYC) - tasting menu and fabulous service. Oh and an anonymous patron picked up our champagne tab and then our entire tab when they found out we we're celebrating my husband was cancer free

Aramburu (Buenos Aires) - 19 courses for an extremely reasonable price

Edit: Restaurant Iso (Niigata Japan) - French Japanese amazingness

Have eaten at a lot of other great restaurants in NYC, Napa, SF, and Chicago but those 3 were the top

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Nice!

This is pertinent to my interest. I'll be in Bali next month. You remember the name?

I already posted but I'll add dinner on the patio at Folklore in Chicago. Beautiful June evening and had a veal T-bone with red chimichurri. A truly amazing meal.

The wife and I are going to Per Se the Saturday after Valentine's Day. Really looking forward to it.

Haven't made it to all the fancy high end spots listed here, he'll havent even heard of many of them but one unique experience that I always enjoyed was Sunday brunch at the Broadmoor when I was living in the springs.
Also never ate there myself but had coworkers rave about the Penrose Room as well.

Jock 07 said:

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Haven't made it to all the fancy high end spots listed here, he'll havent even heard of many of them but one unique experience that I always enjoyed was Sunday brunch at the Broadmoor when I was living in the springs.
Also never ate there myself but had coworkers rave about the Penrose Room as well.

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We've eaten at the Penrose Room. We felt the experience of being there and going through the elaborate presentation was more of a highlight than the food but it was really cool.

A client took me and several co-workers to Scarpetta's in Las Vegas. He reserved a private room overlooking the Bellagio fountains and it also had a window to view the kitchen at work.

The next night, the same client took us to SW Steakhouse. Yes, it was a fantastic trip.

On a different note, my wife and I watched the sunset as we enjoyed steamed crab on the roof deck of Locust Point Steamers in Baltimore. Pretty amazing.

My selection doesn't have the pedigree of most of the places on this list, but I've had meal that stands out amongst them all.

Mark's in Houston (RIP), had an awesome birthday dinner there. Food was awesome, surrounded by good friends, an awesome evening. Was bummed when they closed up, wasn't around much longer after this meal. I still remember that meal, wasn't married yet, no kids, had a social life. Now I'm just happy if we can eat a meal in peace and my kid isn't a total disaster.

Golden Boy Pizza in the North Beach area in San Francisco. Off the charts.

Wish I could, but would probably ruin the memory anyways.

Plenty of great choices though.

For me....

1. Geronimo's in Santa Fe. The entire meal was an experience. The elk steak was beyond awesome. Pate was incredible as well.

2. The Apple Tree in Taos. The meal was fantastic, don't remember what I had - just remember the experience.

3. The Lodge at Castle Hills in SA, had a large group and several courses paired with appropriate wines. Just an all around great experience.

Fall92 said:

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1. Petrus (London)
2. Jules Verne (Paris)
3. Bouchon (Napa)

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Really? I was so unimpressed by Jules Verne, it was almost disappointing. I did enjoy Bouchon, but not enough to be in my top 3.

Top 3 restaurant experiences/memorable/amazing food/whatever

1) Le Chev're d'or - Eze, France. Words can't begin to describe this experience. From the climb up to the hotel, to the views over the coast line between Nice and Monaco, the food was simply incredible, and the service, I have never had better.
https://instagr.am/p/BkTdtYRhOE1

2) The French Laundry - Yountville, CA. I mean what else can you say? It's the French Laundry, the oysters and pearls, the wine pairing, the service, the kitchen tour, it is all simply incredible. And the shortbread cookies... I crave them.

3) Allred's Restaurant - Telluride, CO. This one is on this list because of the experience, not the food. The restaurant is at the top of the gondola in Telluride, and we were at the Chef's Table. While the views are incredible, the Chef took a liking to us and just stood around and bull****ted the entire time with us while pairing wines and getting us sloshed. It was just such a memorable experience that will never be forgotten.

Runner Up:

4) Jordan Winery hosted Dinner at Valette - Healdsburg, CA.
https://instagr.am/p/BicgPTWh4ca

ILikeTacos said:

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Fall92 said:

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1. Petrus (London)
2. Jules Verne (Paris)
3. Bouchon (Napa)

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Really? I was so unimpressed by Jules Verne, it was almost disappointing. I did enjoy Bouchon, but not enough to be in my top 3.

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Had a great 6 course lunch there with my wife. The food was outstanding and probably the best view of any place I've ever eaten. A place in Athens with a view of the Parthenon is the only one that compares.

A couple of my favorites:

It hasn't been mentioned here, and I'm sure that there will be plenty of arguing about this, but Franklins. Yeah. That Franklins. It's fun to hate on by the foodies and synics, but I've eaten up and down Daniel Vaughn's list and he is still far and above anything I've had on there. It's a really cool experience to eat something made by someone who has absolutely perfected their craft.

Fried Chicken/ Greens at the Old Country Store in Lorman, MS. Went based on my brother telling me he saw Alton Brown talking about it on the cooking channel and how it was the best fried chicken he's ever had. I ALWAYS view hipsters/chef's/northerners opinions on Southern Food through a large lens of skepticism, but I'll be damned if this wasn't the best Fried Chicken and greens I've ever had. This place is absolutely the place that wannabes and overly hipster southern chefs tell people they grew up eating. This is the real deal Southern soul food, and it's the best I've ever had.

I grew up in Dallas hating seafood because I had no idea it wasn't supposed to taste like fish. My first trip fishing with my college roommate, who was from Corpus, we caught redfish and within a half hour of them being caught they were being blackened in a cast iron pan in the driveway of his beach house over a crawfish burner. To this day I've never had a better piece of fish in my life. It was perfect.

TresPuertas said:

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A couple of my favorites:

It hasn't been mentioned here, and I'm sure that there will be plenty of arguing about this, but Franklins. Yeah. That Franklins. It's fun to hate on by the foodies and synics, but I've eaten up and down Daniel Vaughn's list and he is still far and above anything I've had on there. It's a really cool experience to eat something made by someone who has absolutely perfected their craft.

Fried Chicken/ Greens at the Old Country Store in Lorman, MS. Went based on my brother telling me he saw Alton Brown talking about it on the cooking channel and how it was the best fried chicken he's ever had. I ALWAYS view hipsters/chef's/northerners opinions on Southern Food through a large lens of skepticism, but I'll be damned if this wasn't the best Fried Chicken and greens I've ever had. This place is absolutely the place that wannabes and overly hipster southern chefs tell people they grew up eating. This is the real deal Southern soul food, and it's the best I've ever had.

I grew up in Dallas hating seafood because I had no idea it wasn't supposed to taste like fish. My first trip fishing with my college roommate, who was from Corpus, we caught redfish and within a half hour of them being caught they were being blackened in a cast iron pan in the driveway of his beach house over a crawfish burner. To this day I've never had a better piece of fish in my life. It was perfect.

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Similar experience with ceviche. Did an off shore fishing trip in Mexico. Guys cleaned and "cooked" (with lime) our fish immediately and prepared ceviche. My god it was good.

Tickets- Barcelona
[url=https://flic.kr/p/haMjQX][/url]

ILikeTacos said:

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Fall92 said:

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1. Petrus (London)
2. Jules Verne (Paris)
3. Bouchon (Napa)

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Really? I was so unimpressed by Jules Verne, it was almost disappointing. I did enjoy Bouchon, but not enough to be in my top 3.

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I could buy that. I put Jules Verne on my list because the question was about top 3 "experiences". It was very good, but if I sat down and ranked by food quality/presentation it would be closer to number 10 than number 1. But we went at dusk and had a table by the window, hard to beat that experience.

Headed to Barcelona in September. Any other recommendations?

Ballpark cost on your dinner at Tickets?

1. Minibar in DC - 27 perfect courses. Sat at the counter watching and talking to the chefs all night, back when there were just six seats in the place.

2. O Ya in Boston. Got the omekase menu, again at the counter. Every bite was perfection.

3. Alinea - amazing experience. This was actually a tough call but I give it the edge over Blackbird in Chicago.

Hon Mention: Abantal in Sevilla. Tiny place, only 5 or 6 table. We sat next to several folks from the Game of Thrones cast. Food and service was wonderful, but seeing Lannisters dining with Starks was quite a distraction..

CyclingAg82 said:

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For me....
3. The Lodge at Castle Hills in SA, had a large group and several courses paired with appropriate wines. Just an all around great experience.

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My (eventual) wife and I had our first big dinner together there, and that's where I proposed. It was a really amazing place, especially for San Antonio.

Producers_96 said:

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CyclingAg82 said:

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For me....
3. The Lodge at Castle Hills in SA, had a large group and several courses paired with appropriate wines. Just an all around great experience.

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My (eventual) wife and I had our first big dinner together there, and that's where I proposed. It was a really amazing place, especially for San Antonio.

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Were these separate dining experiences or did you just know so fast you took a chance

Separate, but I knew where it was headed the first time we went.

We did the 17 course selection and just let the chef choose our selections. Some drinks, dessert and tip it came out to around 400 as far as other restaurants we just ate at any small place that looked good. Was not disappointed at any place we stopped at.

DonaldFDraper said:

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Headed to Barcelona in September. Any other recommendations?

Ballpark cost on your dinner at Tickets?

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https://www.theworlds50best.com/The-List-2018/11-20/Disfrutar.html
https://www.yelp.com/biz/disfrutar-barcelona

Disfrutar in Barcelona. This place was insane.