@tsarstepan,
My favorite restaurant in
New York City is gone now -
Pierre au Tunnel. Not so much for the food, in that I was only there twice and one of those times I ordered the tripe, just to try it. I think they were known for that dish, which I failed to finish. I liked the restaurant as a place to meet my friends.
Rome - Pizzeria/Ristorante:
La Focaccia -
http://1stmuse.com/focaccia/index-e.htm
My favorite pizza ever - mozzarella, walnuts, light with some blue cheese; just the right white wine to go with it.
Los Angeles - too many to mention but I'll name some anyway:
Long in my heart but also gone now,
Sing Sing, a vietnamese restaurant on Hollywood Blvd. The owner became a friend of ours, we got to know his family. Such wonderful meals we had, and good talks.
A restaurant that is still there with a new name (I think) but the original owner passed away and we didn't keep going there.
Jean Bertranou's L'Ermitage.
The Legacy of L'Ermitage : Cuisine: Even indirectly, you've eaten the restaurant's food. Chef Jean Bertranou may be the father of the American food movement.
July 25, 1991|RUTH REICHL | TIMES FOOD EDITOR
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-07-25/food/fo-1_1_american-food
That place played a major part in my learning about food.
A chinese place on Pico Blvd. in LA called
Chung King. The food varied as the chefs/cooks changed, but was mostly wonderful over the years. It was easy for us to get to, comfortable, fun; the pot stickers were always great.
It is likely still there.
Evan Kleiman's place,
Angeli Mare in the Marina del Rey area. That woman knew what she was doing. Her place on Melrose was more popular.
I think the Angeli on Melrose just recently closed.
in
Hanford, California -
The Imperial Dynasty. This was probably my favorite favorite.
There were two brothers, Richard and Robert Wing. Richard was General Marshall's chef at some point; he knew french cooking as well as chinese. Robert was the wine cellar man. The restaurant was a kind of pilgrimage site for early foodies like us. Basically, somewhere near Visalia...
Far as I'm concerned, Richard Wing started fusion cooking. He had two restaurants going on the site, one doing regular chinese food (Chinese Pagoda) and one doing french with some chinese elements to it (Imperial Dynasty). Those were major meals. We drove up to go there once, and were so overwhelmed we stayed another day and had a smaller meal, that one five courses. The wines were perfect too. A primo Heinz cab I remember..
San Diego - I used be very happy with the chicken marsala or the shrimp marsala at
Giorgio's. That was 1971 and I was in love. Might have even liked it if it was chicken in wine vinegar. Meantime, I've spent a lot of effort trying to reproduce those two dishes in my kitchen. They were served bubbling in clay pots.
San Francisco
A completely silly place to pick as a favorite -
Sinbad's, right next to the Bay Bridge, something of a run down tourist trap by the bay. A massing of a2kers all went there for what I guess was brunch. The place was nearly empty. We had a wonderful time. A highlight was Dyslexia chatting up the waitress. Dys always paid attention to waitstaff, men or women, and they enjoyed riffing with him.
Finally,
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Three places vie for first:
Indigo Crow. I've had many great meals there, and one mediocre or worse. I still like it.
http://www.indigocrowcafe.com/
Vivace. First place I went when I first visited Abq, house sitting for Dys and Diane. Excellent, excellent every time. I'd go there every day if I were more moneyed and it were closer.
Nuts, I just looked them up to link -
the owners have retired. Waaaaaaah!
Sushi Xuan. This is local. It is an inexpensive place set mid a dying-for-years-now shopping center. Kind of place I'm drawn to. The food is terrific.
Well, one thing wasn't but I forgive them on that one because everything else has been great.
http://www.sushixuanabq.com/
Diane and I go there to catch up on life sometimes, and Shewolf and daughter went with us recently - good food and friends, what is better?