The best meal I ever had...

[Alice Levitt]

For me, this is a loaded question. Do I say the katsu kare (fried pork curry) that I make on my lazy nights when I crave serious comfort? It certainly is satisfying. Do I say the exquisite avant-garde tasting I had at Sona last year in LA? Is it the huge tapas orgy I shared with my lifelong best friend's family back home in Connecticut?

I don't know! How about you?

[Morganna]

It's really hard for me to pin these sorts of things down.  Memorable meals I've had in the past:

My grandmother's freshly fried blue gills for breakfast in the summer when I was visiting (Grampa fished, and fished, and he always filleted the fish, and we had that morning's catch for breakfast).  This will -always- be with me.

Trattoria Delia in uhm, Sept. 2007.  We had our anniversary there and it was spectacular.  Every detail was perfect.  The service, the complimentary sparkling wine we were given when we arrived.  The hostess knew our name and that our reservation was for our anniversary without having to refer to any list (she clearly takes the time prior to service to memorize the reservations list).  The waitress -knew- about the food, and was able to speak intelligently to us about it without having to run back to the kitchen to get an answer to every question.  The food was just ... glorious.  Every bite was a pleasure.

[JasonFrishman]

Incredibly difficult question.

I wouldn't even know where to begin or what criteria to use:
'best' in terms of atmosphere, company, overall mood, or 'best' regarding only the quality of the food, or 'best' meaning overall package and most memorable...

jeez, even as i write this, more memorable meals pop into my mind!

okay, for now, i'll list two that stand out:

the first was at a restaraunt: Morimoto's in Philadelphia. It was right around the time i was a huge Iron Chef fan (japanese version, of course).  I was in my first year of a doctoral program and as a reward for finishing strongly at the end of the year, I got up very early one saturday, drove to NYC, picked up some friends, and then drove to Philly for a 7:30 reservation at Morimoto's.  We all got the upper level chef's tasting menu (we'd save for a long time for this!) and it ewas phenomenal!  Morimoto even came out to our table and made fresh tofu right in front of us - i was a little starstruck, actually!  They brought us river stones and cooked fresh fish on them right at our table and each and every course was better than the next.  This was about 7 years ago and I still remember most of the menu! It was the first time that I had ever had kobe beef, and it was wonderful.  But, while the food was incredible, the restaraunt was awesom, and I got to meet Iron Chef Japan, the thing that truly puts this meal in top ranking was the energy and company with whom I ate it with.  Good friends/family and wonderful times are absolutely the most important recipe for 'The best meal I ever had...'

the second: It is actually a series of meals.  Each new years eve, a group of my close friends have been getting together for several days of spending time together and making meals.  we've been doing this since about 1992.  Back then, it was a bunch of guys going to Phish shows and eating out of backpacker stoves and in parking lots.  years later, though, many of us have evolved into chefs, food people and serious appreciators of a good meal.  Additionally, this group of crazy guys has now evolved into couples and a gaggle of nutty kids!  So, every year,  all of our meals are wonderful, but,  New Years'  is the best.  Each year we sort of outdo ourselves in terms of intricacy and wonder-fullness.  Except for last year - we rented a clunker of a house (currently looking for a place in vermont to rent for this year - let me know if you know a place...). Every day something else went wrong or broke in the house.  By New Years' Eve day, we had no working fridge/freezer, no working stove/oven and barely any heat in the house.  BUT, BUT there was a wood burning stove in the house as a secondary heat source, so... we build a great fire to warm ourselves, and rigged a huge roast, entire side of salmon, roasted veggies,  fresh salads, and some quick fermented veggies (oh yeah, we had some home brewed maple wine as well!).  Gathered around a wood burning stove, eating a feast and playing with our kids until they fell asleep in front of the fire was as excellent as any of our other gourmet feasts!

so many more, but i've been typing awhile.
would love to hear what other people consider important elements of 'best meals'!
-jason

[Suzanne Podhaizer]

Here are a few:

A dinner at L'Espalier in Boston, circa 2001. The only food item I actually remember is the fig-and-anise bread served from a tray with silver tongs, but it was my first true fine dining experience, and I loved every minute of it.

Barbara Lynch tour, solo, 2006. I was in Boston by myself to check out the PhD program in American Studies at Boston University. My first night there, I went to Chef Barbara Lynch's B&G Oysters. I had 6 oysters of various provenances, but the star of the evening was a plate of tiny scallops with baby Brussels sprouts, pancetta and browned pear butter. Then I crossed the street to Lynch's Butcher Shop, and had a plate of salumi, some red wine and a flight of chocolates. The next day, I ate a nine-course tasting lunch at her fine dining establishment, No. 9 Park. The server recognized me from the previous evening at the Butcher Shop, and gave me a great seat overlooking the Common. The best dishes were escolar crudo with a sesame soy dressing and prune-stuffed gnocchi with foie gras and vin santo sauce. I also received a couple of free dessert wines, which were excellent.

But the best meal ever was my wedding-night dinner at The French Laundry: A few minutes relaxing in the garden, 11 perfect courses, free champagne and dessert wines, excellent service. I'll dig out the menu later and post it.