Poll: Last Restaurant Visit Ever

That's easy. Mille Fleurs in Rancho Santa Fe. Far and away the best food, atmosphere and service I have ever experienced. $$$$!!!

John Ash & Co., Santa Rosa, CA. Holds a very special place for Teri and I as we began our life together, and the food is supurb to boot.

French Laundry. Haven't been yet as I've been saving it for such a special occasion.

Picasso in the Bellagio, Las Vegas. Gaze at the art, drink the lovely wine, and eat the incredible food.

A close second is Citronelle in DC. But it's a second because it doesn't have the art.

Terra in St. Helena, CA. Not that it is the absolute best meal to be had in the world (but it is a damn fine meal, don't get me wrong), but more so for the special memories I already have for the place.

La Cote Basque , NYC

Lutece, where we spent our first wedding anniversary.

Board-o, I'm surprised to see your choice, while I have enjoyed a few meals there I dont think that its that special...Dont mean to be rude or anything just curious as to your reason...they do have a great wine list...The last time I was there I ordered a nice wine, it was decated for me but there was still more than a glass full of wine left in the bottle...I had to ask for the rest to be poured...I hate to say it but I kinda felt that the waiter wanted to keep some for himself...

Breakers, Florentine Room

Great list, great decor, service was 110%

The Inn at Little Washington

Kimber, Since you are in Ohio, come visit Toronto where you will be able to eat out twice because of the exchange rate. Canoe, 360 and Scaramouche offer a nice view and solid food. Have a look at booking into a place called Langdon Hall, a Relais & Chateaux near London, Ontario - which is within driving distance from you. Check their website out at http://www.langdonhall.ca/

If I want to go some place very special I am lucky to have a small super-fantastic restaurant right here in the New Almaden area of San Jose. La Foret is my absolute favorite.

But if I could choose any where in the world, and I've been many places; eaten many fine meals; I would choose Las Vegas and Picasso.

tt, maybe you had a bad waiter. I've never found one at La Cote Basque, The wine list is wonderful and surprisingly fairly priced. The food is always impeccably prepared. The restaurant is also beautiful, quiet, and the tables are well-spaced. It is my favorite restaurant in the world and I have never had a bad experience in all the times we've dined there.

Board-o, you wouldn't happen to own the restaurant?

The French Laundry

Doc

I wish I did. That wine list is to die for!

High-earning houseguests of ours in NYC in 1986 took us to La Cote Basque one night, and we thought the place was great in all respects but one (sadly, we were not drinking wine back then). The strongest memory of the evening was the feeling that the waitstaff were looking down their noses at us, as if they thought that we really didn't belong there. And I showered and put on clean clothes and everything, and my wife looked great! It was probably just us....

If I could only choose one, I think it would have to be Erna's Elderberry House down in Oakhurst, CA.

When I was 15, my grandfater took me out to lunch there and by the end of the meal I had decided that I wanted to goto culinary school.

Four years later I started working there for my externship. Learned more in 3 months there than the first year of school.

The following summer, I went back to work there and learned that this was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

The following year we basically took over the entire dining room and had my grandfather's wake there (which he enjoyed thouroughly).

The food that I have had while dining there and while cooking there is also pretty great.

Hhhmmm just one eh. "Mary Elaine's" at the Phoenician Resort in Ssssssssscottsdale AZ. Why, well, their Lobster Bisque is tops, they always have a sauted foie gras with a carmelized fruit appetizer, their meat entree's are sublime, their wine list is nice, the view is great. But, the service is stellar. If you call and say how you would like your champagne chilled really cold, they ask 'What temperature?', if you ask for something not on the menu, within reason they will do it (called the restaurant the afternoon of the reservation and asked if they would make a beef wellington, 'of course').

For those who chose The French Laundry, at a recent dinner for U.S. food and wine critics in Napa, a visiting chef from Vancouver, Rob Feenie of Lumiere, was the overwhelming winner for all three courses in a taste-off with The French Laundry. I would go to Lumiere for my last dinner, but since the question asked for U.S. restaurants, I would choose Plumpjack in San Fran. We enjoyed our dinner there much better than the next night at Rubicon for about 50% less.

I would like to try La Cote Basque in NYC. I like places that look down their noses at me. Of course, I'm 6'4", so my perspective is slightly off.

Tim

I do not even know if this restaurant even exists anymore. I may spell this wrong, but Le Vert Gallant in NYC was one of the best French style meals I have ever had. I would love to duplicate that experience as my last restaurant experience.

IW

I would pick Green Gables Inn on LBI. My hometown restaurant holds a special place for me. A close second would be French Laundry because I have never been there.

jb

To choose one is almost impossible. I mean first of all, Chicago has many splendid restaurants, and as we live here, some of our fondest memories are from places here (MK, Harvest on Huron, Aubriot, Keefer's, Topolobampo, Le bouchon, Kiki's, Tru, Everest, etc.)

But then again, sometimes the most memorable places are when you have meals at virtually nameless restaurants overseas (one I particularly remember is when we visited friends in London and drove their car onto a chunnel train and had dinner in Calais--wow, the mussels in roquefort sauce were amazing.)

I would have to say, though, the most memorable restaurant we have eaten at of late, was Anisa's in the west village of NYC. The chef is an old classmate of my wife's, and their food is amazing. Should anyone have occasion to dine there, do try the foie gras and soup dumpling, it is out of this world. Great, and unique, wine list.

timcan, I agree on Rubicon. It was very disappointing. We also loved Plumpjack's. The wine list was very fairly priced and the food was excellent.

Cafe D'Medici in Vancouver. Went ther 2x on our honeymoon. Two of the most enjoyable evenings of my life. Great food, very reasonable wine proces, unbelievable service.
A distant second would be our hometown haunt-the Arad Evans Inn in Fayetteville NY.

Impossible to do this.

Citronelle
Inn at Little Washington
French Laundry (never been)
Gary Danko (never been)
Daniel (never been)

We had a great meal, atmospherre, food, service and wine at Postrio in San Francisco about ten years ago, and this would be my choice of places I have been to.

Only two places come to mind.......first would be Fleur de Lys in SF and the other The French Laundry. The French Laundry is wonderful, but the wine list is very expensive, and $50 for corkage is ridiculous. Our favorite is Fleur de Lys....the food is better than ever and we know Hubert Keller and his lovely wife Chantal. We had our 10th anniversary there with a bottle of '61 Mouton and the restaurant was (and is) magic. BTW, I recently put a review of FDL in the dining section under SF dining. OK, maybe I'll add Buerheisel in Strasbourg!

Auberge Bonaparte in Montreal. Lobster Stew in a Vanilla Cream Sauce. Appetizer was Mushroom Ravioli the wine a Bordeaux, Giraud 95. I have sent many people there and they agree...awesome. The rooms are great as well. There are so many good restaurants in Montreal. Auberge Vieux Port is another. Bonjour

http://www.bonaparte.ca

PG, I was just in Montreal and had GREAT meals at S and Globe in Old Montreal -- what a town. We tried to get to Toque but to no avail.

I must say that the smoked meat sandwiches at Schwartz's stole the show for the weekend though -the best I've ever had.

Kimber: We go every 4th of July week to Montreal. Can't get enough of that city. We visit San Fran, Savannah, Charleston S.C. Toronto and other great cities. We like Montreal the best. Four Star restaurants abound. When do you go?

Easy answer. Charlie Trotter's in Chicago. The kitchen table.

we went over labor day weekend and stayed at the continental. went to mondavie wine bar and several little bistros all around old montreal (i can't remember the names!). it was amazing -- we'll definitely be back.

prime las vegas in the bellagio. the best steak ever. not the mention the waiter was better than the show O by cirque de soleil

Charlie Trotter's? It's the single most over-rated restaurant in which I've had the misfortune to dine.

If the US Virgin Islands count in this exercise, then my vote goes to the Equator restaurant at Caneel Bay (St. John, USVI).

Awesome water view, great food, surprising wine list, and constant thoughts of a Caribbean vacation!

Fleurs de Lys is awesome, too. Forgot about that one.

Board-o, a wine buddy of mine is out in Napa this week and he went to Domaine Chandon for dinner. He was very, very, VERY pleased, just FYI...

Inn at Little Washington would be first choice for a special, special occasion.

Aqua, SF, would be second, with Rubicon a close runner-up. I guess some of us have had differing experiences at the latter, but I've been there 5 or 6 times, and found it outstanding.

But if I weren't limited to USA, the restaurant I would most want to go to is Au Crocodile in Strasbourg, Alsace. I've read/heard incredible reports about the food there. The couple of times that I've actually been in the area, we hadn't made our reservations a couple of months in advance, and it seems that they don't get many cancellations, so it remains an elusive dream. I'm determined to eat there within the next couple of years, before there's a significant change in the main kitchen personel.

Glad to hear it, TJ. Did you tell him to sit at one of Susan's tables?