The Best Thing I Ever Ate

Awhile back I mentioned a TV show on the Cooking Channel called “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” that showcases famous chefs talking about the best thing they ever ate at different restaurants. So, I thought, why not share the best things I ever ate with all of you? Let’s start with the main course!

Laurie and I have always loved trying new restaurants and eating our way through some of the best restaurants in all the cities we have visited and lived in over the years. Many of those dinners have been forgettable, but many others have been memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. And in some cases, we enjoyed dishes that proved to be some of the best things we ever ate.

So, I started thinking back to all of the restaurants we have visited over the 24 years we have been married and even some I frequented before Laurie and I met. Turns out, there’s a long list of dishes that rise above all others – the best things we have ever ate! These include appetizers, main courses, and deserts. There are too many to include in a single blog post, so I decided to start a new blog series where I’ll share these fantastic dishes with you every so often. In most cases, the restaurants that served these dishes are still open so you can go and try them yourselves, but in a few cases, they are now sadly closed so you will just have to trust me! To get us started, let’s talk about some of the best main courses I ever ate!

The Veal Parmesan at Becco (New York City)

Tucked on a tree-lined street with row houses just two blocks off of Broadway in the Theater district in NYC is a lovely Italian restaurant owned and operated by the famous chef, Lidia Giuliana Matticchio. This casual eatery is always jam packed with diners – don’t even try to go if you don’t have a reservation. All the pasta is homemade and every night, they showcase three different pastas of the day that you can order as a mid-course before you enjoy your entrée (on the day I wrote this blog, the three pastas of the day were MEZZI RIGATONI with Tomato & Fresh Basil, FETTUCCINE alla Bolognese with Fresh Peas, and Swiss Chard RAVIOLI with Marjoram Butter).

All the pastas are delicious, but nothing beats their Parmigiana di Vitello, a pan-fried breaded veal chop topped with tomato sauce, house made mozzarella, Grana Padano & fresh basil. It’s as big as your head and absolutely delicious! The tomato sauce is slightly spicy, and the veal is cooked to tender perfection with a nice crispy breadcrumb crust. The house-made mozzarella cheese melted on top is the piece de resistance – gooey, creamy, and salty!

The Parmigiana di Vitello at Becco!

The Fried Chicken at Central Michael Richard (Washington DC)

In the early 1990’s, the famous chef Michael Richard opened Citronelle, his first restaurant in Washington DC. It was a high-end restaurant that merited a suit and tie, and the food was amazingly creative and fun as well (think Reuben Sandwich Ravioli and Eggs-ceptional Lemon (a white chocolate filled with a lemon meringue yolk)). Laurie and I ate at Citronelle restaurant twice before it closed down after flooding water caused extensive damage to the place. But before then, he opened Central, a more casual bistro-like eatery but with food just as good as Citronelle.

The Gougères (cheese puffs) are to die for, but even better is their amazing fried chicken. Everything about this dish is perfect – it comes as a boneless chicken breast and chicken thigh, breaded and fried to a deep golden brown. The crispy batter shatters when you bite into it. The chicken is moist and juicy, with nice spice flavors. It’s served with velvety French mashed potatoes, watercress, and homemade Dijon sauce. I’ve tried a lot of fried chicken in my day, but this is the absolute best fried chicken I have ever ate!

Central’s famous fried chicken

Peking Duck at Peking Gourmet Inn (Falls Church, VA)

Located in a non-descript, slightly run-down strip mall off of Rt. 7 in Falls Church, VA, Peking Gourmet Inn is a bit of a tacky restaurant with drop ceiling tiles (many stained), worn oriental carpets, dark red naugahyde chairs, and dim lighting. Excited to visit? Well, you should be, because this hole-in-the-wall serves the best Peking Duck I ever ate! Each $66 duck is masterfully made over the course of many hours, with a beautiful, golden brown lacquered finish and juicy meat inside. The duck is carved table side (it serves 12!), and includes homemade pancakes, hoisin sauce, and spring onions. It’s difficult to stop eating this perfect duck once you get started – prepare yourself to fight with your fellow diners over that last pancake!

Not convinced yet? Well, this restaurant was one of President George Bush’s favorite restaurants in the DC area, and he went there (along with Colin Powell and his son President George W. Bush), along with many other luminaries that call this restaurant one of their favorites as well. So, it draws a crowd of famous people as well! Well worth the visit even with the lack of ambiance!

The Peking Duck at Peking Gourmet Inn

In my next "Best Things I Ever Ate" blog, I'll review some of the best deserts I ever ate. In the meantime, what are some of the best things you ever ate and where did you eat them?!