2011 in Review: Top Ten Meals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10	Ocean Prime (Dallas, TX) This may have been rated higher (or lower) if I could vividly remember this meal.  But I think it was pretty good.  Plus it introduced me to Penner Ash Pinot Noir.
9	Le Perraudin  (Paris, France) A traditional French meal in a traditional French restaurant.
8	Schweine Janes (Dusseldorf, Germany) Slow roasted pork sandwich.  What more do you need to know?
7	Preist Station Cafe (Groveland, CA) An absolutely gorgeous view of the sunset and cheap bottle of wine to go with some pretty good comfort food.
6	Restaurant in Beilstein Germany I went with the Schnitzel.  It was delicious.  Plus, there was the beautiful view of the Mosel.
5	Wayfare Tavern (San Francisco, CA) After a weekend out basking in the beauty of the Sierra Nevadas, could there be a better way to celebrate than putting Effingham Inlet oysters in your face?
4	Hotel Villa Melsheimer (Reil, Germany) This is more because this may be my favorite day of 2011.  And this is my favorite meal of my favorite day of 2011.  There was a meal earlier in the day (and referenced about) that was tastier.  But for the overall vibe of Zweibelkuchen and Federweisser and 40+ kilometers of biking, nothing could beat this.  And, yes, I still love you Amy.
3	Au Bon Bol (Brussels, Belgium) .Of all the great meal I had in Europe in 2011, this is the one I obsess on.  It could be because I hadn’t eaten, thanks to Lufthansa’s 24 hour Gander delay, a good meal in two days.  It could be because, thanks to paleo, I hadn’t eaten any noodles in over 6 months.  But whatever the reason, the artisan noodles with crispy duck were absolutely sublime.
2	Lucia (Oak Cliff, Texas) The first time I ate at what I now consider my favorite Dallas restaurant I felt like I was in Portland. That’s how good I think this place is.  It takes me to a much better place.   The second time I ate here I surpassed my first experience.  Eat everything here all the time always.
1	Elliot’s Oyster House (Seattle WA) It is impossible to consider any other meal in 2011 as better than this one.  It started off with a dozen pacific oysters, followed by geoduck, crab cakes, a giant serving of more crab and then another dozen pacific oysters.  And all of this on a dock overlooking Puget Sound and drinking a couple of bottles of a delightful Oregon Pinot Noir.

2011 in Review: Top Fifteen Pictures

In reviewing my 2011 pictures two things became obvious to me.  One, I need to take more pictures.  Even though I took almost twice as many pictures as the year before, that was mostly due to taking many more pictures at fewer “picture” opportunities. The second was that there was no obvious best picture of 2011.

In 2009 this was by far the best picture I took of an old couple in a café in Paris.:

In 2010 it was this self explanatory picture:

So, for 2011 I narrowed it down to these fifteen in no particular order.

Top 10 of the 2000s: Movies

I reserve the right to make changes to this list since there are a handful of movie from 2009 that I have yet to see that could potentially make the list.  The list won’t have the usual suspects that you will see on other decade’s end lists.  My list represents movies I liked and meant something to me. 

Oh, and if you don’t have any of these movies, and would like to buy one or two or ten, please follow the link to Amazon so I can buy kibble for Alex and Zoë.
Or maybe you would like some nice shoes or a handbag.

Just sayin.
On with the list….

10. The Hammer – Come on.  I had to put this on my list.  It’s Adam Carolla’s semi-autobiographical movie about a 40 year old carpenter/boxing instructor making a run at the Olympics.

9. Ghost World – An unknown Scarlett Johansson, a nerdy, grown up Thora Birch and an even more nerdy Steve Buscemi.  What else do you need??

8. Idiocracy – Not as funny as it could have been, but very prophetic.  It’s not going to take 500 years to get to the Idiocracy.  It’s already here.

7. Stepbrothers – Maybe just about the funniest movie of 2000s.  There may have been better comedies, but this one had the most yuck yucks.

6. District 9 – Yeah, I know.  I just watched it.  How can I rate it so high?  Admittedly, I may wonder what I was thinking when I do my retrospective in 2015.  But it really is an interesting movie.

5. Borat – My favorite of the Sacha Baron Cohen characters.  Yeah, I lot of the bits are obviously contrived.  And this could have been a funnier movie.  But there’s a lot of good stuff here. 

4. No Country for Old Men – I couldn’t put a Movie list together that did not contain a Coen Brothers movie.  This was their best of this decade.  But I’m not sure it’s as good of a movie as Fargo or Raising Arizona.

3. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King – I had to give The Lord of the Rings some love.  It took me a while to get on board with The Rings, but once I finally gave in to the hype and watched them, I loved them.  I still think the books are a colossal bore, though.

2. Sideways – Yeah, this is where the list starts to get a bit personal and maybe a bit weird.  I can’t explain it, but this movie really connected with me.  The first twenty minutes aren’t that strong.  And it could be that if I watched it right now I might think differently.  But for much of the oughts, this was my favorite movie.

1. Stranger Than Fiction – Will Ferrell’s best movie ever.  Also Queen Latifah’s best movie ever.  Another personal choice, thus I can’t explain why it on my list or why it’s so high.

Top 10 of the 2000s: Shows

10. The Ticket Timewasters @ Plano Convention Center [2008] – Yeah, I’m really grasping for shows.  But I had more than 5 so I had to fill the list out to 10.
9. Jimmy Buffet @ The Coca Cola Superpages Smirnov Starplex.com Ampitheater [2002]  -- Somewhere there are pictures of me in a coconut bikini top.  I must persuade Jamie to destroy those photos if she still has them.
8. Muse/U2 @ The Death Star [2009] – It’s more of an indictment of my lack of show going in this decade that this even makes the list.  Although it is notable for being my one and only visit to Jerry World.  And Muse kicked ass even if they didn’t play Knights of Cydonia.  Hopefully I’ll get to see them when they’re back on St. Patrick’s Day 2010.
7. Mingo Fishtrap @ Jingle Bell Hell Party [2003] – The first time I ever saw these guys and the only good thing about that night besides seeing BIg Gulp as drunk as I’ve ever seen him.
6. Jerry Seinfeld @ Fair Park Music Hall [2004] – The second time I saw him.  He was gold, Jerry, gold!
5. Sorta @ Gezellig [2007] – I put this on the list since this was the last time I saw them before Carter was killed.  I probably had a Maredsous 10 or two that night to make it extra good.
4. Dave Attell @ The Addisson Improv [2004] – No one is better at diffusing a drunken heckler than Dave Attell and he did a great job of putting a drunk woman who thought she was the star in her place.  He must have been hilarious because I was practically pissing my pants laughing despite the pre-show meat coma inducing feast at Fogo de Chao.
3. & 2. Cirque du Soleil “O” @ The Bellagio [2003 & 2006] – So great, I saw it twice.  And it was fabulous (seriously, there’s no straight word for it) both times. It may have been a little better the second time since I knew what to expect.  Plus, I may have spent much of the first half-hour of the first time I saw it thinking “this is amazingly fabulous” and not really paying attention to the details.
1.  Van Morrison @ The Hollywood Bowl [2008] – As previously described here.  Or you can click here and buy the DVD and maybe catch a glimpse of me rocking out.  What?? You can't begrudge a guy trying to make a buck in these hard economic times, can you??

Top 10 of the 2000s: TV Shows

JT finally got a list out before mine. Clearly he has been handicapped by his time in der Dorf.  Also, I really like TV.  It’s one of the my vices I wish I could do something about.  Most of my other vices I’m pretty comfortable with.  With one notable exception, all the shows on the list had at least three seasons.  While great, shows like Chappelle's Show and Flight of the Conchords just don’t have enough episodes to stack up.  And before I get any complaints, not that anyone is reading these lists, I have never seen Mad Men and have seen only the pilot of Breaking Bad.

 

10.  Good Eats – This is probably a surprising entry, but I felt it had to be on my list since there was probably no show I watched more of in the oughts.  Good Eats is a cooking show that masterfully balances information and entertainment.  And it taught me much of what I know about cooking.

9. Survivor – I felt obliged to have at least one reality show on my list since the 2000s was the decade of the reality show.  I hadn’t watched it much the last few years.  So it may seem odd to have it on my list.  But I came back this season; which may be its best.  Go Russell!!

8. The Family Guy – For much of this decade, this was the laugh-out-loud funniest show on TV.  In recent years, as Seth MacFarlane’s empire has expanded, the quality of The Family Guy has gone down.  Still, there is usually at least one fall-off-the-couch moment every episode.

7. Battlestar Galactica - The best show you probably have never watched because of the cheesy name.  A beautifully grimy metaphor for post 9/11 America, BSG never shirked from tackling such controversial subjects like torture, suicide bombers and smoking hot robots.

6. Arrested Development – We' have reached the point in this list where I must lament the early cancelation of a great series.  But to be fair, Arrested Development did have three seasons. What other series would dare to have dialog like this:

Michael: [To GOB, about his new boat] Get rid of “The Seaward.”

Lucille: I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.

5. Firefly – How Fox can keep a crapfest like Til Death on the air season after season but have no patience for an amazing show like Firefly is one of the greatest mysteries of the oughts if not the entire universe.  Firefly was essentially a western set in outer space.  And that description may have been what doomed it.  But it really was more than that.  Hulu should be cycling back to the pilot soon.  So make a new year’s resolution and watch them.

4. The Sopranos – This is the show that started the TV renaissance of the 2000s.  Without the Sopranos there is no Shield, Wire, Lost or Mad Men (which I’ve never watched but people say is good).  I have recently started re-watching season one on Blu-Ray and it still is awesome.  It would have been higher but I felt the last seasons were a bit self indulgent and rambling.  I got the ending and it made sense. But that doesn’t make it satisfying.

3. Lost – Has there ever been a show that has changed so much but still remained great?  Has there ever been a show that has been able to continually introduce new characters year after year that are often more interesting than the character we started out with?  It’s not a perfect show.  The time traveling of early season five did give me a headache.  (oops, is that a spoiler??)  Thank Christ they finally stopped.  And it did seem a bit made-up-as-we-go early on.  But there is no other show I regularly have watching parties for and then spend even more time listening to podcasts about.  I may have a problem.

2. The Shield – So here’s the pitch for the show.  Our main character (Detective Vic Mackey) will do something unspeakably horrible in the first episode and then do more horrible things throughout the series, all the while the home viewer will cheer every time he narrowly escapes what he rationally deserves.  Pretty much every episode induces an ice cream headache and thus seems to last about five minutes.  Of the series on this list that had finales, this one had the most satisfying.

1.  The Wire – This may actually be the best TV show ever.  The more I read about the failings of Dallas city hall and the school district, the more relevant this show becomes.  If you want to know why American cities are failing, watch this show.  It starts out as a relatively by-the-book cop show (Its creators were the creators of the best show of the 90’s, Homicide: Life on the Streets).  Then each season expands it’s stage by adding another failing sector of the city – the docks, city hall, the schools and finally newspapers.

Top 10 of the 2000s: Trips

I'm sure JT's list is going to kick my list's ass. His list will include many exotic locales. But did any of his trips almost involve a beheading?? I think not. Unless it was his own. Or potentially being eaten by bears?

10. SoCal 2008 – This might have rated higher had I not had 10-12 hour work days to contend with as well. Two weeks of southern California getting to listen to my idol Adam Carolla live, all on the company dime. Highlights of the trip included seeing my Stars beat the Ducks, Van Morrison at the Hollywood Bowl and the discovery of Stone's Vertical Epic.

9. Hudson River 2001 – You don't realize how much of US history all took place along the banks of the mighty Hudson until you've driven up and down it. Driving up the west bank and then back down the east back, I kept thinking "OH, that's where that happened!!". Doing it in the fall also made it extra pretty.

8. Calgary 2002 – Some Canadians lured Pokemon and I up there for the Stampede. We never saw much of the Stampede, and by "much" I mean "any". And really, what better way to celebrate the 4^th of July than getting drunk in America's hat?

7. Vegas 2006 – A fabulous meal at Circo and a second viewing of Cirque du Soleil's O make this THE Vegas trip of the 2000s.

6. Mardi Gras 2003 – My last trip to Mardi Gras was the best.

5. California 2000 – Ultimate + Disc Golf + Wine Country + Sushi for the first time == good times. And somehow I mustered enough self control not to chop Sarah head off in Santa Cruz.

4. Walkabout 2008 – This was the Walkabout where it was cemented in my brain that I'm a west coast kind of guy. There's just so much more beauty heading west from Dallas than heading East. Highlights included discovering Rehoboth DE and the Dogfish Head brew pub, pie in Waterbury and all kinds of food in Pittsburgh.

3. Colorado 2003 – For a trip that was thrown together almost the last minute for a Labor Day weekend trip, it turned out pretty awesome. Although it took nearly four years to act on it, this was a huge inspiration for my Walkabouts. Highlights included taking the cogwheel train up Pike's Peak and Silver Jack's in Montrose.

2. Walkabout 2009 – It took me a very long time, but I finally made it to Europe. They sure do talk funny over there. But, man, do they have some good eats. Highlights included the much written about U Fleků, seeing President Obama, Tarte Tatin and floating in the Mediterranean Sea.

1. Walkabout 2007 – I guess most people at one time or another get that bug up their ass to hop in the car and see America. Luckily Nortel and its generous severance package afforded me an opportunity to do just that. Highlights included Seattle, Portland, Yosemite, Joshua Tree, potentially being eaten by bears, lots of halibut and beer – oh the beer.

Top 10 of the 2000s: Dishes

As it was noted earlier, I like to eat. And now that I've enumerated my favorite restaurants of the oughts, today I list the best dishes I had. I suggest you not read this until after you've eaten. Otherwise you may go crazy. I almost did just writing it.

10. Chilequiles @ Cuquita's (Dallas) – I dare anyone to present me a better dish after a night of drinking. Eggs, chorizo and cheese are all natures little brooms that sweep the bad stuff out of your liver. At least that's what I would tell myself. Combine with a queso flameado and you'll be good as new.

9. Coconut Cream Pie @ Capital Grille (Washington DC) – After having consumed some bread, an appetizer and an entire porterhouse with sides, I dug into this fabulous concoctions of coconut and cream and more coconut on a coconut macaroon crust. And, although I felt very much like Mr. Creosote, I would have gladly had another.

8. Gingerbread Pancake Ice Cream @ Amy's Ice Cream (Austin) – Amy's has the best ice cream in the all of the alpha quadrant. And, even though I'm not a big fan of chocolate, I usually get their Belgian Chocolate. But I was recently presented with their holiday special gingerbread pancake ice cream, and I was an immediate convert.

7. Cuban Sandwich @ Jimmy's (Dallas) – There are a lot of good sangwiches to be had at Jimmy's, but the Cuban is the best. It's not only the best sandwich at Jimmy's, it's the best Cuban anywhere. I've tried other Cuban hoping for just a glimpse of the greatest of Jimmy's. Nothing is even close.

6. Tarte Tatin @ La Teriasse (Paris) – After a long day of walking down the Champs-Élysées, feasting on cured meats in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and then more walking around said Eiffel Tower, Vanessa and I were overcome with a powerful hunger for dessert. We randomly found La Teriasse and ordered crêpes and a tarte tatin. Call me shallow, but that fine slice of apple pie is my main motivation for returning to Paris.

5. Duck Three Ways @ Cock & Bull (Dallas) – This was literally stumbled upon during Jason's bachelor party pub crawl. What were the three ways, you ask: duck confit, foie gras and Pâté de foie gras – each preparation better than the next. And, as a side note, their Red Bull Burger is the best in Dallas and maybe anywhere.

4. Pumpkin Ravioli @ Bruschetta's (Pittsburgh) – My first meal in Pittsburgh was easily my best. This is no slight to all of the places we went on our grub crawl, but these little pockets of happiness were amazing. The savory pumpkin filled each peppered pasta ravioli and topped with caramelized onions and pumpkin seeds. Excuse me, I'm going to need a moment.

3. Mussels @ Green Room (Dallas) – I think I've mentioned enough about these that further comment is unnecessary. But the Green Room can't get back fast enough.

2. Vanilla Bean Skewered Foie Gras @ The Mansion on Turtle Creek (Dallas) – If we weren't meant to force feed waterfowl in small cages until their livers almost explode, then why did God make them so tasty. A vanilla bean skewering a plump lightly seared goose liver pretty much describes it completely. Except that it was extra tasty since it was comped by The Mansion's Executive Sous Chef. Hmmm, maybe free should make it #1.

1. Kobe Steak @ York Street (Dallas) – Imagine the most intensely beefy piece of beef you could possibly imagine. Now have it dissolve in your mouth like gossamer cotton candy and leaving you with a powerful need for a cigarette. Now triple that and you come close to the Kobe Steak I had at York Street. Their menu is always changing , so there is maybe a 1% chance of it ever being on the menu on one of my very infrequent visits to York Street. I guess it will be like that passionate weekend with that girl down the shore that you never see again. Christ, I need to stop watching old 80s movies.

Honorable Mentions go out to Truluck's Carrot Cake, hamachi ceviche at Piranha and the Duck Confit at Toulouse.

Top 10 of the 2000s : Bars

I also like to drink. So today I enumerate my Top Ten favorite bars of the 2000s. As with restaurants, these will largely be bars I went to more than once.

10. The Libertine/Lakewood Landing/The Amsterdam Bar/The Cock & Bull/Gezzelig (Dallas) – It was tough to leave them off my list. So I made them all tied for 10. The Mediterranean Plate and Ardennes Salad at The Libertine are two of my favorite dishes at a bar. The Landing is a great neighborhood bar in a great neighborhood. The Amsterdam Bar is a little bit of Austin in the Fair Park area. The Cock & Bull has some of the best food of any bar in Dallas. And oh sweet Gezzelig—the first place I ever enjoyed a Maredsous 10.

9. Club Schmitz (Dallas) – I didn't list this with the cavalcade of Dallas bars since this isn't a hipster bar like the others. This is a genuine dive bar – right down to haggard waitress Flo. Although her name is not really Flo.

8. Coyotes (Calgary) – In the summer of 2002 Pokemon and I went to Calgary for Stampede. We never made it to the actual Stampede. But we did spend a lot of time here. Sadly it's closed now.

7. Opal Divine's Freehouse (Austin) – There was a time when I pretty much went there every time I went to Austin. Good food and their extensive patio is very dog friendly.

6. King's Hardware (Seattle) – Before there was The Barcadia there was King's Hardware. Of all the bars Meesh and I visited on my trip to Seattle, King's stood out. It's in Seattle, so you know they will have good beer. So the Langunitas IPA wasn't a huge surprise. But this was the first bar I ever went to that had Ski Ball. That alone would put King's on the list. But the clincher was, while sitting out on their patio, I heard this, thus making King's an all-time favorite.

5. The Barley House (Dallas) – The only bar I can say I hung out in in each year of the 2000s. It lost a little luster when they were kicked out of their Henderson digs and moved to the SMU area. It's still an almost weekly habit after Wednesday night ultimate.

4. U Fleků (Prague) -- What more do I need to say about this place other than I already wrote here. 500 years of awesomeness. You have to respect a place that two World Wars and Communist oppression couldn't shut down.

3. The Alchemist (Waterbury VT) – There's more to do in Waterbury VT than visit the Ben & Jerry's factory. As a Dallasite, when I hear brewpub I think Two Rows and Humperdinks – neither of which has a beer I would ever purchase outside their establishments. The Alchemist is not a Dallas brewpub. These beers are great all on their own. The food is pretty good here too. But don't even try to order your burger anything pinker than medium-well – the lone flaw in an otherwise perfect establishment.

2. The Old Monk (Dallas) – Except for the #1 entry, there is no bar I spent more time in the oughts. This is the first place I had a Maredsous, a Franziskaner and many other beers. Oh, and it has the best Fish & Chips anywhere. The Monk remains the lone hipster hangout remaining on the recently douchified Henderson Ave.

1. The Blarney Stone (Dallas) – As with the Green Room, the #1 entry on this list has not been around for several years. But for much of the early and mid 2000s, this was ground zero for any and all Ultimate related hijinks. The place was the bar of choice for post Wednesday Night Ultimate beers and for Thursday Night Liver Practice. And who can forget the great Anniversary Parties they would throw every November. OK, well I forget them. An open bar does not lead to vivid memories.

Top 10 of the 2000s : Restaurants

I like to eat.

So I was unable to pick just five Restaurants I enjoyed in the oughts. That would be as ridiculous as choosing my top five favorite things that are hard to choose just five of (sometimes the jokes are hard to come by).

So here are my ten favorite restaurants of the 2000s. Please note, that with only a couple of exceptions, these are places that I dined at on more than one occasion.

10. In-n-Out Burger (California) – What?!?! An overrated fast food place? This list has lost all credibility. Perhaps. But I guess I've bought into the hype. There really is something special here. And if I were honest I would not rate their burgers above those of Whataburger. But In-n-Out was a big part of both of my trips to the west coast. So suck it!

9. Mondo Sushi (San Francisco) – In the summer of 2000 I did something at Mondo Sushi that I had never done before in my life – try sushi. Since this was such a life altering event, it makes the list.

8. The Mansion on Turtle Creek (Dallas) – If I were wealthier, this place may have been higher up on the list. But I'm not rich and I only went there once in the oughts. It may have been one of the top three meals I had this decade, but it can't beat out places I went to multiple times.

7. Cuquita's (Dallas) – Cuquita's would have rated higher if this list had been organized after a long night on Henderson. Seriously, there was no food on this sweet clean Earth that was better at 2am than their queso flameado, chilaquiles and super nachos. A part of me died when it closed.

6. Truluck's (Dallas/Adisson) – I can't really explain why I love this place. Other places do steaks better. Other places do seafood better. But every time I go there I think "Why don't I come here more. I love this place". It's just plain the most comfortable fine dining restaurant around. And maybe it's the carrot cake; the best in the known universe.

5. Morton's (Dallas) – This is my go-to place for great steaks; easily the best porterhouse around. And if you go, you must get the potatoes lyonase and grilled asparagus. Morton's is also enormously relaxed whose staff is always friendly, and welcoming. I also dig on the old school Rat Pack music that plays at a comfortable level.

4. Toulouse (Dallas) – This is a relative newcomer to the list. While I had tried it once earlier in the decade, I have since gone four times this year alone. The item that drew me back was their Green Room Mussels; more on those later. But everything else there is absolutely terrific: duck confit, tarte tatin, plateau charcuterie. My appreciation for this place definitely increased after my trip to France.

3. York St. (Dallas) – Probably the best restaurant in Dallas and certainly the best restaurant I can walk to. York St. is tiny. There are maybe 10 tables. And the menu changes from day to day depending on what Chef Sharon Hage feels like making.

2. Piranha (Arlington/Ft. Worth) – Simply the best sushi in all the land. There was a time in the middle of the decade I would go several times a month and sometimes a couple a times a week. The hamachi ceviche and the For Get About It roll remain some of my favorite dishes ever.

1. Green Room (Dallas) – Of all my friends that left me in the 2000s, this one was one that hurt the most. It was here that I learned to love mussels. With ginger, spinach, shiitakes, jalapenos in a champagne/cream broth when served with some bread were a meal in itself. But this is the fucking Green Room. And that meant Dine Me/ Wine Me; a four course meal selected by the chef with each dish paired perfectly with a glass of wine. With four people at the table means you get to try four different appetizers, four different salads, four different main courses and four different desserts. Oh, and don't forget the wine. Plans have been announced to bring back Green Room in early 2010, so be prepared to see this one show up in my 2010s Top 10 list.