Food and memories.

As we ate our Valentine's Day dinner, we began to reminisce about memorable and romantic meals that we had celebrated.  Usually we couldn't recall what we had eaten, but more likely, we remembered where we were and what was the special occasion that we were celebrating.  We went as far back as to when we were living in Rochester, Minnesota in 1973 and celebrating Jan's birthday.  She was pregnant with daughter Tina and we hadn't been out to eat much in the last few months.  We went for a special dinner at the nice restaurant in the Holiday Inn hotel in Rochester.  That doesn't sound like much now, but at the time it was a really special and fancy evening.  Five days later our beautiful daughter was born. 

In 1980 we moved to Atlanta and I still remember loving a Cajun restaurant in Buck's Head.  I can't remember the name of the place but I remember their raw bar.  

In 1981 we moved to Longmont, Colorado, and we remember going to a restaurant in an old log cabin up in the mountains above Longmont.  It was snowing and they had a big pot-bellied stove burning to warm the place.  It was our first experience with soft-shelled crabs.  Of course, the Flagstaff above Boulder remains in our memories too.  

We spent a lot of time living on the east coast and there were many memorable evenings spent in some of the Inns around Ridgefield, Connecticut.  Food and ambience were great.  But as we talked, we especially remember four or five meals that we have celebrated.  

The first was in Sydney, Australia.  It was after church one Sunday morning and we went to a restaurant in the Queen Victoria Gardens.  The Queen Victoria Gardens are located on the harbor in Sydney and are a beautiful botanical garden.  It is a large space and beautifully maintained.  We ate at a bistro that was located in the middle of the gardens.  We sat on an outdoor patio that was under a pergola that was draped in wisteria.  The beautiful purple blossoms were hanging down over our heads and the sea breeze was blowing. The meal and wine were pleasant, but the place and time were most memorable. 

Another of our favorite dining memories was also in Sydney.  It was our 30th Wedding anniversary in 1998, the year that we lived in Sydney.  We went to level 41, an iconic restaurant located in the Chifley Tower in sydney.  Ironically, Level 41 was located on the 42nd floor of the tower, a space that had formerly served as Rupert Murdoch's penthouse.  The food and service were fabulous, but the most memorable part of the dining was the view of the Sydney harbor from the 42nd floor.  Sadly the restaurant has since closed.

In 2001, we went on a barge trip through the Burgundy region of France.  Prior to departing on the barge, we spent a few days in Paris, where we attended the French Open Tennis tournament and celebrated our 33rd anniversary.  Prior to going, I had seen an article in a Bon Appetit magazine about the top ten restaurants in Paris.  I got on the phone and started calling to try to get a reservation for our anniversary.  The first two or three restaurants had reservations booked 6 months to a year out.  On about the fourth try, using my broken French, I booked a reservation for June 1st, 2001 at Carre' Des Feuillants.  Alain Dutournier is the chef of this Michelin 2 star establishment.  The memorable part of that evening was indeed the food.  We started with an endive salad and then we had oysters poached in champagne.  The main was a leg of baby pyrenees lamb, roasted with new carrots and potatoes.  A cheese course followed and we finished with coffee.  We had ordered a souffle as well, but once we ordered coffee the maitre de assumed we were done.  We didn't realize that in a truly French restaurant, you get the dessert and then the coffee.  My French let me down.  The sommelier chose a wonderful Bordeaux to have with the lamb. That was probably the most elegant and expensive meal we have ever eaten.  

In 2004, we spent three weeks in Italy. We had many many memorable meals in Italy, but two really stand out. The first was a lunch we had at Badia a Coltibuono.  This is an old abbey just outside Radda, that houses a cooking school, winery, and beautiful gardens.  We sat on  an outdoor patio, again with a flower draped pergola, and had our lunch.  I remember having wild boar ragu with pasta, but the memorable part was the beautiful view over the vineyards and the company of our friends.  What a great day.  

The second really memorable meal we had in Italy was in Positano. Our hotel was high on a hill above the Mediterranean.  On our first night in town we walked down the many steps to the beach and had dinner right on the beach.  Jan and I both had pasta with a white sauce and vongola(clams).  The clams were unique to the mediterranean. They were long and thin with razor sharp edges to the shells.  They were also very very fresh and delicious. Eating the wonderful meal, staring out at the Mediterranean, was a really memorable evening.  

In 2006, we made a trip with a group of friends to the Napa Valley for a wine tour.  As we talked about memorable meals tonight, we both thought of one lunch when we sat in a vineyard, atop a hill looking over the Napa Valley.  The lunch was just cheese, salami and fruit, along with wine, but the view was breath-taking, and the friends and conversation were great.

As I write this post I think a theme is beginning to develop.  Some meals are memorable just because of the food, but mostly the meals we remember most fondly are because of where we were and who we were with.  As long as the food was good, not necessarily great, it was the place and the people who made the meal stand out.  This may be a good lesson.  Don't stress over food.  Try to make it good, but remember to focus mostly on the people that you are serving it to.