My Top 25 Restaurant Meals of 2010

This is, of course, a subjective ranking. While great food is the single most important factor, the ranking is a reflection of the overall experience and the significance of that meal to me on a number of levels. The bottom line is that this was an exceptional year of dining for me with a number of meals that would have been top ten in many other years unable to be ranked so high this year. For my number one meal - noma - I am counting both the dinner and the lunch as one extended meal. I decided to not include special, guest chef or one-off dinners on this list, since they are special one-time events, not truly reflective of a specific restaurant or chef doing what he or she typically does. That is not to say, that they wouldn't have been on this list. Special mention goes to these special dinners: noma at Corton; The Alchemy of Taste & Smell Dinner; Aldea with Sam Mason, and Aldea with Pastry Chefs, each of which was simply sensational.

1. noma
2. Town House
3. Stella!
4. Restaurant AOC
5. The Oval Room
6. Providence
7. Roberta's
8. McCrady''s
9. Kiin Kiin
10. Elements
11. Blue Hill at Stone Barns
12. Wolves' Den
13. Coi
14. Urasawa
15. Ubuntu
16. Mathias Dahlgren Matsalen
17. Oaxen Krog
18. minibar
19. Herman
20. Hawk's
21. The Red Hen
22. Sorella
23. Recette
24. Jean-Georges
25. Pizzeria Mozza

The lack of reports on some of these restaurants is an indication of how backed up I am. I will post them as I can. 

Comments

[Tucker Yoder]

John it is an honor to be part of this list we look forward to welcoming you at the Clifton Inn very soon.
Happy New Year
Tucker

[John Sconzo]

Well deserved, Tucker. It was an excellent meal. I look forward to partaking of your talents when back in Charlottesville. I hope to be spending some time there in the future. Your presence makes it that much more exciting.

[Luggagetag.blogspot.com]

I love the yearly list! So want to get to Noma! Bon appetite!

[John Sconzo]

Thanks! You must get there. Next time you go to Scandinavia.