Your most Memorable (good!) Dining Experience

[DC Sunshine]

As much as we remember our worst dining experiences - and there seem to be quite a few threads reflecting this - what is your BEST experience for a dining experience? Be it a pub, a diner, a cafe, a high class restaurant - or even a friend's house - I reckon we should share them. And *why was it the best - the food, the ambience, the wait staff, the facilities....what made it good for you?

I've had some of my best times in simple country pubs - it's surprising what's out there. There's a local bakery here
where you can get lunch, fully licensed too, which has a great warmth and a simple but surprisingly good menu based on a lot of local produce and it has great staff, we visit at least once a month and look forward to it. And it doesn't pretend to be anything its not - very important I think.

Lets hear from you when you've got a moment.

Cheers!

DC

[shel]

It was the simplest meal, put together with what was found in an almost bare cupboard. We at tinned sardines, saltine crackers, and drank Pisco and Coke while listening to Susana Rinaldi on a cheap boom box. Lucia and I had the most glorious sobremesa that lasted for hours, and it was the first time I'd ever heard Rinaldi sing.

I've been fed by some of the best-known chefs in California, but no meal was as memorable as this one.

Shel

[OregonYeti]

Wife and I went to The Gables in Corvallis, Oregon.

The situation was a lot of the reason it was so memorable. Our twins were 1 and a half years old. We hadn't had time to ourselves in over 6 months, never anything like even a quick lunch.

For my birthday my in-laws watched our kids when we went out to dinner. It was so weird not having to listen for a wah. We had escargot with bread sticks just out of the oven. They make such good escargot, in a butter, herb sauce and a little dry cheese sprinkled on top. I asked for a glass of the house Merlot. Then she got soup and I got salad and we shared. Chicken bisque soup and very fresh greens. Four freshly made dressings to choose from, and big crunchy buttery croutons. My favorite dressing was the herb vinaigrette.

She ordered grilled parmesan halibut with angel hair noodles, with alfredo sauce, and I had filet mignon. Both plates were served with a side of vegetables--sauteed green beans, sweet red peppers, asparagus and a bit of onion, with herbs. We both got the blue cheese mashed potatoes.

We both love chocolate and for dessert we ordered their chocolate-espresso cheesecake to go, because we were too full to have it then.

We walked home, since the restaurant was only 2 blocks away. That was memorable. Time with just her.

[DC Sunshine]

Shel and Yeti - its lovely to have a great memory of a great meal - no matter where or when its found or why it was memorable - there are special reasons to you yourselves for why it was so good. Thank you for sharing.

A simple take away had at home can easily classify as great - if the memory is good - then the experience is worth remembering. Or it can be a fancy meal on the QEII on a cruise- it doesn't matter. If it was good for you - its worth it.

It's lovely to hear something constructive about a dining "experience" - sure there's bad ones, but there's gotta be really good ones out there too

DC

[shel]

While it's understandable that many people often focus on food when it comes to dining, it's also the situation, experience, and the companionship that's just as or more important than the food. I cannot remember the food - except, perhaps, in a general way - with most of the truly wonderful experiences I've had. I remember the people, the conversations, an incident. Those are the things that made the experience truly memorable. I can remember most all the details of an experience more than twenty years ago, but I have no idea what we ate. In fact, to this day, the restaurant owner remembers our party as we literally stayed past closing, enjoying our conversation. And the owner of the place had the good grace not to rush us even though we were there well past 2:00am - long after the place had closed.

Shel

[Whitey Ford]

I've had several great meals at Chez Sophie in Saratoga Springs, NY. (Helped that my dining companion was the daughter in law of the NY Times wine writer) But I've had fantastic meals there without dropping high octane names.

And on Friday I tried a new place, The Owl at Twilight, in Olmsteadville NY.(puny town in the Adirondack Mountains)

I was impressed; I was part of a party of 11. Atmosphere was great; we were seated on the screen porch overlooking the herb garden. Service was tops---two waitesses handled everything with skill. And the food was very good, lobster ceviche, seared scallops for apps, delish arugala salad with grape tomatoes and a few blanched green beans---entrees were good---a fish stew with coconut, lobster, scallops, rack of lamb, rib eye, duck breast, salmon, strip steak. My only complaint was that my duck breast didn't really taste like duck because it was grilled on the same grill as the beef and pork. Interesting sides like purple potatoes. Desserts were good too. Nice touches like little pottery dish with course ground pepper and kosher salt artfully arranged, olive oil decanters on table, roasted garlic served along with butter, excellent bread from a well known local bakery, and this is cool---they have nice soft shawls on the chairs in case you get a little chilly.

Everything was done with care. Best restaurant experience I've had in a few years.

[jigz369]

For the life of me I can't remember the name of the hotel. When you drive into Lake Louise Alberta, you drive up a hill to get to the landing of the lake. When you get to the crest of the hill, there is a boutique hotel on the north side of the road. My lovely wife and I shared an amazing platter of fresh game sausages and hams, served with a variety of bread, fresh sweet salsa and a beautiful plum marmelade. It's making my mouth water just remembering this wonderful experience. Server was very attentive, but never a presence at the table; our glasses were always full, our dirty plates removed before they became bothersome. The bill for our lunch came out to almost $75 and I left $125. My wife was flabbergasted, but I can appreciate immaculate service and did not feel like I had over-tipped for the experience we had shared.

[kuan]

Thanksgiving day, 1990 or 1991, can't remember. Me and my buddies, living in our vans. Parked next to each other so the sliding doors opened and faced each other. Two roast chickens bought at the grocery store, rice cooked over a campstove.

[deltadoc]

Hot pastrami sandwiches with potato salad on the side in Manhattan up the corner from the Holiday Inn on 57th street at the 400 Club.

doc

[chrose]

Our first candlelight Christmas Eve dinner in our first house!

[KYHeirloomer]

It's never the food that makes it memorable. It's the people, and the circumstances.

For me that would be the surprise birthday party we threw my Mom on her 80th. That was the last time the entire family got together except for funerals.

Twelve of us gathered at a polynesian restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Don't ask me what we ate, or what the floor show consisted of. But I can tell you many of the conversations that took place. And still see my youngest using the bamboo napkin holder to impersonate Princess Leah. And, later on, my brother finding a birthday candle that sang happy birthday.

[DC Sunshine]

Our family is like that too - although I'm the only one who lives a plane flight away from the rest - they rarely get together.

My youngest brother finally got engaged to be married (at 40 better late than never I guess!), and I managed to fly over to be at their party. He didn't know, and only my parents and sister knew - the looks on their faces was worth more than all the gold in Fort Knox! I think it made the day even more special (I hope). The party was very informal, a bbq in a local nature reserve, but lots of friends and family and the surprise made it a very special gathering. Got to share news and gossip and be with all my family for the first time in years - it was lovely

[allie]

I can't name just one memorable experience at this particular restaurant as the owners were just awesome! It was a small Chinese place in Warsaw, IN located in a shopping center. We went there frequently on work lunches or even for dinner in the evenings. They had a buffet but you could also order off the menu. Over time, we got to know the owners and they'd always come over and talk to us as well as entertain my daughter (4 at the time) when she was with us. When I was pregnant with my son, I alway wanted something lemon flavored. I told Amy, the owner's wife and she went back and made me a lemon chicken dish that was to die for. After that she'd always ask me if I was in the mood for it and go make it if I was. On Chinese New Year, the family was having dinner in the back corner and Amy came over talking to us. She was telling us about their food and how different it was from the food for the general public. She explained some of the traditions and later came back with plates of their food for us. We always felt very welcome there and I would love to be able to eat at their restaurant again!

[OregonYeti]

I don't know if you would call this "dining" but it was another great one.

I was in training for my work, and there was a call for no heating. It was the coldest morning since I moved here, about 3 below zero Fahrenheit (about -18 Centigrade). My trainer and I had been to this place before and apparently we hadn't solved the problem as we thought we had.

When we went into the house to check out the thermostat, there was a delicious smell of breakfast. My buddy said to the man "I guess we're too late for breakfast". He was just kidding. I had skipped breakfast and that smell made me so hungry.

We went out to the garage to work on the furnace. Even though it was really cold, the sun was shining into the garage and reflecting off the snow too. The man brought out two big bowls of pan-fried potatoes, piping hot. We sure didn't expect that! Man, that really hit the spot. They were the best I've ever had. His wife said the kids didn't want any and she didn't know what to do with them anyway. Of course we gave them a big thank-you.

Well anyway we fixed the furnace right this time. It acted up when we were there, unlike the last time, so we were able to figure it out.

[Jenyfari]

One of the most memorable meals I ever had was in Milan, Italy. We had just arrived and it was late and we didn't want to go wandering the streets so we went upstairs to the hotel restaurant. Well they were packed out but kindly let us in - the only condition was that we had to eat the the same food as the people were being served at the table next to us. They had ordered a set menu.

Well it was just amazing. The food kept coming. They would serve the people at the table and then head on over to us with whatever was left. I can't remember how many courses there were but I ate way too much.

And at the end they only charged us half of what the people at the next table had paid.