Top 3 will be hard to do because of so many factors: the location, the people you're with, and of course, the food. For this exercise, I'm going to concentrate on food and exclude many special meals that hold a special place in my heart (not that the below don't share that with other meals, but here the food/experience reigned supreme)
here we go with the countdown:
3. Lotus of Siam - I never knew Thai could be this good. And it isn't expensive. At all. I mean, it is when you order a 40 year old bottle of Reisling but the food itself isn't expensive!
2. "Next" in Chicago. This is Alinea's sister restaurant that changes concepts every 3-4 months. I've been to Alinea (after the experience at Next) and I'd actually consider this a tie but the reason I'm choosing Next is that for this meal, the meal was based on Alinea's first ten years of service. So it in a sense, it was Alinea that night. The Black Truffle Explosion course, which was black truffle juice inside a ravioli, was the most memorable single bite of food I'd ever had. And then it was gone. One bite of pure bliss never to be served to me again...until I bought the Alinea cookbook and made it at home. If I lived in Chicago, I'd get Next season tickets. Hell, I might do it anyways and just fly up for dinners!
1. French Laundry. An easy and predictable pick, but well earned. I've been several times but the first trip was my favorite. I had planned on going for my 40th birthday but had recently been diagnosed with a heart condition and moved the trip up a few years...just in case. The staff, the food, the ambiance, and the friends we were with made it over the top special. The way every detail is thought out amazes me. It's a symphony of food and service. And it was my first experience with white truffles. We had just sat down when the waiter brought them to another table and opened the box. The aroma filled the room and I knew right then, costs be damned, I'm getting that dish!!!
