Best Restaurant Meals
If we were to keep tabs on the cost of the dinners, then the Highlight would definitely be either Thierry Blouet or Las Ventanas. However, as good as those were, I don't think they were the best of the year. Of course they had their highlights.
At Thierry Blouet's I had one hell of an Escolar, one of the best fish dishes I've ever had. The cheese plate, although tiny, was really creative (and It was kindly given to us as a comp). The dish at Las Ventanas that stuck the most wasn't definitely the best of the night, and while it was good, it was definitely not mind-blowing. Again, for full disclosure, I must say that we got complimentary glasses of Danzantes mezcal, apparently to make it up for not having the cheese dish I had ordered.
Probably the best meal this year was at Frida!. Chef Antonio DeLivier's flagship restaurant at the Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach. It's really sad that it doesn't have a website, but that was the one dinner where all but one courses were incredibly delicious. I didn't love the dessert. A really close second, or even maybe tie, were the meals I had at Pangea. Those three were also great, but I think that the extremely refined service at Frida! made for a superior experience.
At Thierry Blouet's I had one hell of an Escolar, one of the best fish dishes I've ever had. The cheese plate, although tiny, was really creative (and It was kindly given to us as a comp). The dish at Las Ventanas that stuck the most wasn't definitely the best of the night, and while it was good, it was definitely not mind-blowing. Again, for full disclosure, I must say that we got complimentary glasses of Danzantes mezcal, apparently to make it up for not having the cheese dish I had ordered.
Probably the best meal this year was at Frida!. Chef Antonio DeLivier's flagship restaurant at the Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach. It's really sad that it doesn't have a website, but that was the one dinner where all but one courses were incredibly delicious. I didn't love the dessert. A really close second, or even maybe tie, were the meals I had at Pangea. Those three were also great, but I think that the extremely refined service at Frida! made for a superior experience.
Other remarkable meals of 2009:
Nick San Cabo San Lucas
Kitchoan
Aquiles Chavez cooks at La Catarina
Street and Typical Food in Michoacán, La Paz and San Luis
Dishes I enjoyed making this year:
One of my pet peeves is gloating over the food that I make. Thus, this section is not about the dishes that I think were the best, but instead, the ones I had more fun making:
Beef Tartare with Pimentón, Chocolate Sauce
Danablu, Onion Agrodolce over Tesinois
Plancha U8 Shrimp, Oyster Mushroom, Potato, Rouille
Red Snapper, White Beans, Spicy Tomato Stew
Pecan Pain Perdu, Pluots, Blue Cheese Ice Cream
Salt Roasted Red Beets with Chocolate Vinaigrette
Instant Chocolate Cake with Ancho Confit, Blueberry Compote
Sweet Bean "Buñuelo", Chipotle-Piloncillo Sauce, Vanilla Ice Cream
Brown Butter Cake, Spice poached apples, Danablu foam, Vanilla Ice Cream
White Pepper Ice Cream with Strawberry Chutney
Other cool things that happened this year:
The Book
The huge flop at the Cocinero del Año Semifinal (I'll try again this year)
The still unpublished webisode thingy for the guys at ElGusto.tv
Tasted lots of really good wines.
Nick San Cabo San Lucas
Kitchoan
Aquiles Chavez cooks at La Catarina
Street and Typical Food in Michoacán, La Paz and San Luis
Dishes I enjoyed making this year:
One of my pet peeves is gloating over the food that I make. Thus, this section is not about the dishes that I think were the best, but instead, the ones I had more fun making:
Beef Tartare with Pimentón, Chocolate Sauce
Danablu, Onion Agrodolce over Tesinois
Plancha U8 Shrimp, Oyster Mushroom, Potato, Rouille
Red Snapper, White Beans, Spicy Tomato Stew
Pecan Pain Perdu, Pluots, Blue Cheese Ice Cream
Salt Roasted Red Beets with Chocolate Vinaigrette
Instant Chocolate Cake with Ancho Confit, Blueberry Compote
Sweet Bean "Buñuelo", Chipotle-Piloncillo Sauce, Vanilla Ice Cream
Brown Butter Cake, Spice poached apples, Danablu foam, Vanilla Ice Cream
White Pepper Ice Cream with Strawberry Chutney
Other cool things that happened this year:
The Book
The huge flop at the Cocinero del Año Semifinal (I'll try again this year)
The still unpublished webisode thingy for the guys at ElGusto.tv
Tasted lots of really good wines.
Let's just hope this year is as cool or better!
