I’m a foodie. According to Wikipedia, a foodie is, “a gourmet, or a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food and alcoholic beverages.” I love to eat, will spend more on a good meal, and am a huge fan of alcoholic beverages. I frequent places like Bitter & Twisted and Citizen Public House for their cocktails… I am not even sure if Bitter & Twisted serve food. Citizen Public House makes a salad to die for… It’s called The Original Chopped Salad. Order it with salmon. Thank me later! Oh, and they make barrel aged cocktails that are out of this world.
Anyway, I digress. There are a lot of great restaurants in the Valley including Mastro’s City Hall, Mastro’s Ocean Club, The Mission, True Food Kitchen and Olive & Ivy Restaurant + Marketplace. There are more, but these are some of my favorites.
These restaurants are good, and you can easily get a reservation for a busy Saturday night. We are actually going to Citizen Public House tonight… Made a reservation without any issues at all. But not all restaurants are like that. Earlier this week I read a blog post about restaurants where it’s hard to get a reservation. The blog post was titled Start Calling Now: The World’s Toughest Restaurant Tables to Book, and while I haven’t had the chance to dine at any of these restaurants yet, I have a personal connection to a few of them. The list is below:
- Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare (Brooklyn, New York)
- El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain)
- The French Laundry (Yountville, California)
- Next (Chicago, Illinois)
- Sukiyabashi Jiro (Tokyo, Japan)
- Noma (Copenhagen)
- Tickets (Barcelona, Spain)
- Schwa (Chicago, Illinois)
- Talula’s Table (Kennett Square, Pennsylvania)
I’ve not heard of all of these, but like I said, I have a few connections to these places. Like The French Laundry. This restaurant is located in Yountville, California, near Napa Valley. The restaurant sits in a building that is 115 years old, and they have a two month waiting list. Anthony Bordain calls it, “the best restaurant in the world.” I’ve been to Napa a few times, but have never been here. But I used to work at Total Wine & More. Susan, one of the managers, has been here. Her boyfriend works here… He’s a chef at The French Laundry. I know, right? He is a Sommelier, and got a job offer last year. Pretty cool, and maybe, if I ever make my way here, I hope to meet him and to enjoy a night of fine dining. I wonder how much that will cost me…
I also have a connection to Sukiyabashi Jiro. I was glad to it on the list. A couple of years ago I saw Jiro Dreams Of Sushi, a documentary on sushi chef Jiro Ono. Jiro strives for perfection in everything he does, and you can expect perfection at Sukiyabashi Jiro. If you plan to eat at Sukiyabashi Jiro, make your reservations about a month in advance and know you need to take a Japanese local with you. Oh, and your host will need to present Jiro with ¥20,000 (about $200) before you sit down. Based on what I saw in the documentary, it will be worth it… If you like raw fish, that is.
I’ve not heard of the other restaurants, but places like Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare and Next sound cool. We will be in Chicago this July… Maybe we will try to get a reservation at Next.
If you have dined at any of these restaurants, leave your comments below. I am curious to hear your experience… Maybe I should add a few of these to my bucket list. Like playing Augusta National or living in Dubai.
Great… Now I’m hungry. Cheers!
