2011, You Sure Were Tasty

Quick and easy post on the most memorable meals of 2011. If I don't memorialize it on the Internet, how do I know it really happened?

1. Obelisk, Washington, D.C. The prix fixe begins with seemingly endless, exceptional delights: olives; fresh burrata; pig face salad; chickpea fritters; radishes with bortaga (mullet roe); veal tongue; mussels nestled in tomatoes and bread crumbs. Following the antipasti parade, H2 made the brilliant choice of tagliolini with sea urchin, while I tried the chicken raviolini with poached egg and spinach (probably the least interesting dish of the evening). For the main course, H2 had lamb chops with grilled rapini that he praised as the best ever. Meanwhile, I finished every bit of my swordfish and chicory salad despite reaching near-balloon status by this time. The cheese course was a bit of a blur. Even though I love cheese, I love dessert more, and there was now a serious risk that I would not make it to the sweet thereafter. Somehow, I found it within me to enjoy my chocolate cake with caramel sauce (without licking my plate even!). It helped that H2 ordered the pain forte, much too much like a fruitcake, and so his dessert was safe from my clutches for the evening. A truly wonderful, luxurious meal.

2. The Walrus and the Carpenter, Seattle, Washington. We got there super early right when it opened at 4 pm, and within the half hour the place was packed. Understandably, since the freshly shucked oysters were brimming with flavor and deliciously half off during happy hour.

3. Volt, Frederick, Maryland.

4. Girl and the Goat, Chicago, Illinois. I don't watch Top Chef, but somehow made it to two restaurants this year run by Top Chef contestants (and possibly winners?). Regardless, the chefs are winners in our book. I loved the historic setting of Volt, and the amazingly affordable $35 three-course lunch prix fixe. H2 could not stop talking about the goat liver mousse with crumpets at G&G.

5. Roadside dumpling stand, Taiwan. At approximately $2 U.S. for each steamer basket, this was undoubtedly the best value of 2011. These soup dumplings were made right in front of us and polished off within minutes of landing on our table. Mostly by me.