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Best Restaurants Visited in 2005

S scbeermanMember
Let's have some fun with this one. Hopefully, when everyone is through, we will all have a list of great new places to try. I am not the chef that most are on this board, but one of my passions is eating at great restaurants.

My criteria is simple, list the best restaurants that you visited for the first time in 2005. My list is:

1) Ansons - Charleston, SC great lowcountry cuisine

2) Larkspur - Vail, CO elegant varied menu with great wine list, my first Leonetti there

3) Kali's Court - Baltimore, MD another diverse menu with great seafood offerings

4) Milwaukee Club - Milwaukee, WI private club, had a paired dinner here

5) Picasso - Las Vegas, NV elegant French

6) Bartilottas - Las Vegas, NV new Wynn's resort, I have previous thread on my "lifetime experience" there

7) Lacroix - Philadelphia, PA award winning French cuisne

8) Estia - Philadelphia, PA as good as Greek food (I'm a Greek) in my life

9) Ocean Room Sanctuary - Kiawah Island, SC as good as anywhere in Charleston in an incredible hotel

I was very blessed to be able to go to all of these great places. I would love to get some new suggestions from all of you.
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bmanbmanMember
Given my limited 2005 travel, and limited budget when I travelled, I can offer only a short list:

In London, Rules continues to be a must-visit for anyone fond of game cooked in traditional English style. Pearl in the Renaissance Chancery Court was also good and good value, and offered wines by the glass of a quality perhaps never before seen (i.e second growth bordeaux).

My best meal of 2005 though was here in Ottawa, at Beckta, a new-ish place opened by a former sommelier at Café Boulud and Danny Meyer's Eleven Madison Park. The fact that it is one of the fedw places in town that allows BYO just makes the food that much tastier, for some reason....
mneeley490mneeley490Member
My suggestion for people visiting the Woodinville wine area (Ch. Ste. Michelle, DeLille, Columbia, Matthews, etc.):
If you can't immediately get into the Herbfarm or the Barking Frog, head 1/4 mile east to Purple Wine Bar & Cafe. My wife and I celebrated our last anniversary there. The food is great, much less expensive than the former two, and the wine selection is extensive. They even offer flights to go with your meal, and different wine specials each night.
R rex66Member
Michael Mina--SF
Picasso--LV
Ruths Chris--LV

Michael Mina here in LV is great, but SF is better...
Picasso really stood out when we went there this year. Mix was really good, too, but SO expensive. Not worth the $$, IMO.
Ruths Chris is still my favorite for steak...but Fleming's, craftsteak, Prime and Nine are all phenomenal as well.
R rex66Member
quote:
Originally posted by Rex66:
Michael Mina--SF
Picasso--LV
Ruths Chris--LV

Michael Mina here in LV is great, but SF is better...
Picasso really stood out when we went there this year. Mix was really good, too, but SO expensive. Not worth the $$, IMO.
Ruths Chris is still my favorite for steak...but Fleming's, craftsteak, Prime and Nine are all phenomenal as well.

Didn't read the thread carefully...best restaurant been to for the first time...
hands down, Michael Mina--SF.
C curves123Member
Molino's - Bonita Springs, FL
Estiatorio Milos - NYC
Pazzo - Naples, FL (just took me 6 months to locate a case of the wine we had there)
Flemings - Chandler, AZ (great steak followed by a $20 glass of Port)
Norma's - NYC - best breakfast ever (better than Brennan's in New Orleans)

This is my first post. Have been reading all your stuff for awhile, but am a real novice. Just wondering if I have enough time left to try all the wines that beckon me.
steve8steve8Member
I may have to edit this post a couple of times as some of the names come back to me. Right off the top of my head;

Trattoria Stefano - Sheboygan, WI (no, I'm not kidding)
Le Jolifou - Montreal
Draelion - Dallas
Veni Vidi Vici - Atlanta
Il Localino - Atlanta
Bistro Pastis - Vancouver
Ristorante Piemontese - Stresa, Italy
Last edited by steve8
S squirreljamMember
Two that come to mind because they were just last week: La Rotonde at the Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne, and La Terrasse at the Victoria-Jungfrau in Interlaken, both in Switzerland (you really can't beat fine dining in Europe).

Kind of off the beaten track, but - the dining room at Vomo Island Resort, Fiji. The chef is an expat Aussie, and does a phenomenal job. Highly recommended for anyone looking for an island holiday.

Bouchon in Yountville kicked a$$, but didn't quite mend the heartbreak from having to cancel the reservation at the Laundry (b/c wife couldn't travel unexpectedly and I WASN'T taking my clients).
M mattachMember
with the birth of our son this year, we have been very limited eating out outside of the NW this year...as such, my best meals (outside our home of couse) would prob look something like this:

Earth & Ocean (Seattle)
Canlis (Seattle)
Harvest Vine (Seattle)
Lampreia (Seattle)
Joel Palmer House (Oregon)
Red Hills Provincial Dining (Oregon)
Kalypso (Oregon)
mneeley490mneeley490Member
quote:
Originally posted by mattach:
with the birth of our son this year, we have been very limited eating out outside of the NW this year...as such, my best meals (outside our home of couse) would prob look something like this:

Earth & Ocean (Seattle)
Canlis (Seattle)
Harvest Vine (Seattle)
Lampreia (Seattle)
Joel Palmer House (Oregon)
Red Hills Provincial Dining (Oregon)
Kalypso (Oregon)


Gee, mattach. I wish I could find a way to "limit" myself to those places. Wink
M mattachMember
quote:
Originally posted by mneeley490:
quote:
Originally posted by mattach:
with the birth of our son this year, we have been very limited eating out outside of the NW this year...as such, my best meals (outside our home of couse) would prob look something like this:

Earth & Ocean (Seattle)
Canlis (Seattle)
Harvest Vine (Seattle)
Lampreia (Seattle)
Joel Palmer House (Oregon)
Red Hills Provincial Dining (Oregon)
Kalypso (Oregon)


Gee, mattach. I wish I could find a way to "limit" myself to those places. Wink


mneeley - it seems impressive at first glance, until you realize that everything else has been take out Thai and Pizza Wink
T tomnycMember
#1 - Gary Danko - San Francisco
#2 - Sierra Mar - Big Sur
#3 - Nobu - Vegas

Gary Danko was the 2nd best meal I have ever had...and it was almost #1. Get the tasting menu w/wine pairings.

(Best meal I have ever had was the 9 course omikasa menu at Morimoto in Philly)

Sierra Mar is as beautiful a restaurant as you can get, with a monster wine list, but the food was merely very good and not top level, like Danko.

Nobu had fabulous food, but was way too crowded and loud to be a truly great experience.
C cavegirlMember
New restaurants in 2005:
Enoteca Pinchiorri...Florence, Italy
Evo's...Venice, Italy
Le Tre Vasselle...Torgiano, Italy
n.v....Napa
Press...St. Helena
Michael Mina...S.F.
5th Floor...S.F.
My favorite repeat offender restaurants:
La Toque...Rutherford
French Laundry...Yountville
Tommy Toys...S.F.
Tomassos...S.F.
Coles Chop House...Napa
Angele...Napa
Barrels and Beasts Dinners at Del Dotto Winery
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