The Best Food I Ate in 2023
What better way to start this blog with my favorite things I ate this year.
At the beginning of the year I was spending the majority of my time with my head down in a kitchen surrounded by cooks that had more experience than me, doing the prep work nobody else wanted to do. During this time I was able to not only learn so much about how I wanted to improve as a cook, but I also was able to further define my taste concerning food and had the opportunity to do that by traveling, cooking, and eating. Everything.
In no particular order — the best things I ate in 2023.
Starting very simple: I always tend to get fixated on little elements of food and repeat them continuously until I get sick of them. One particular dish I could not get enough of is probably the simplest on this list: Greek Salad. It’s almost comical how much I appreciate a great salad. It is truly one of my favorite foods, and you have to realize that what makes a great salad is the quality of the ingredients. For this particular salad I had just spent the day in East Hampton and stopped at a farm stand to get these bright red beefsteak tomatoes. An incredible way to end a hot day on the beach.
A rainy weekday in January I decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants in the city: The Four Horsemen. Consistency in quality of food at this restaurant is always great. Essentially what I was served was a soup of dungeoness crab in a broth of a sort of sweet dashi, hearty brunoise turnip, and what I remember as a mix of green garlic and spinach?? I can’t quite remember. Served in the hollowed out body of the crab, a simple and light soup with each component balanced on the other. Really a beautiful dish.
Classic. When Zach and I were in Paris we had to make a stop at this iconic French restaurant. Before going, I had heard and seen so many raving reviews about how Le Bistrot Paul Bert was an institution for natural wine and classic French food. It did not disappoint. A filet cooked rare in a black pepper sauce. I wish I had taken a photo of how blue the inside of the steak was. I had never had steak like it before.
On the Upper East Side is said to be the best burger in New York. JG Melon is everything I want in a burger plus an incredible ambiance. Packed like sardines in this small bar you are met with a classic menu of cheeseburgers and martinis. Get the burger with all of the fixings. It’s also cash only.
As I said before my favorite food might just be a salad. The Caesar Salad from Lulu & Po is unbeatable. So simple. Done perfectly. Eat the anchovy.
I am always on the hunt for the perfect fruit. The perfect strawberry is often very hard to find, usually too water or too crunchy. Walking back to our hotel room in I’lle du Saussay about two hours outside of Paris we walked into a convince store for snacks and I happened to buy the perfect strawberry. Perfect texture, bright and sweet flavor. We ate them while sitting in the sun in a neighborhood park.
In Richmond there is a donut shop off of Williamsburg Road with the best donut ever. Open nearly 24 hours, and staffed by some interesting personalities is Country Style Donuts. I go out of my way every time I am in Virginia to stop here. Usually ordering the same thing every time — chocolate glazed with rainbow sprinkles and a glazed blueberry. Cakey, fresh, sugary and delicious.
I had the privilege of eating at Le Doyenné this summer and it was an unforgettable experience. We missed our train from Paris and took an Uber to the middle of the French countryside and were immediately greeted by the most beautiful farm. The main building being a sun scorched kitchen with a main dining room below a bed and breakfast. We had the full course menu that included cuts of fresh cured heritage pork raised on the property, wild caught halibut in a green pea sauce, tender duck amongst several other dishes. But the particular dish that stood in my mind were these lightly sautéed greens with shallot in a white wine and butter sauce. So simple and many might pass over this ready for the next course, but for me it was amazing to be able to taste the spinach for not only what it is, but also the taste of the dirt it was grown in. The earthiness paired with the tartness of the white wine truly was the perfect balance.
It was so hard to photograph this pizza because of how incomplete it looked. 50 Kalo in Napoli, Italy is said to be the birthplace of margarita pizza. I had to go. I arrived for lunch and was sat at a table surrounded by locals with disposable paper placemats— I knew I was in the right place. A server speaking no English came for the order and I just pointed to a random menu item and out came this pizza. My first thought was the lack of cheese and I was quite upset, but was then shocked by how something so simple (a common theme in my personal taste) could be so delicious. I later learned that the anchovies were caught literally 100 meters from the restaurant in the gulf of Chiaia.
This one is funny. On a spontaneous trip up the East Coast in July, Zack and I along with our friend ended up going to this island off the coast of New Brunswick, Canada. 2 one-hour ferry rides later, and a 20 degree temperature difference, we arrived at White Head Island. An island with only forty residents; one of them being our AIRBNB host. Upon arriving we were greeted by her and her husband and they gifted us these fresh scallops that were caught the morning prior. It was a very nice gesture but we were camping. We ended up cooking the scallops on a portable propane stove in the back of a Ford Bronco just before a horrible rain storm. It was a long night to say the least. I slept in a garden shed.
This year especially I have really indulged in my sweet tooth. The perfect ice cream is something I take very seriously. I might have found it. Amorino is a chain gelato shop with locations in pretty much every major city. However, I really think it is the perfect sweet treat. So many seasonal flavors made with real fruit and real cream and real sugar. Perfect in every way without all of bullshit. I usually get the dark fruit sorbet with vanilla bean gelato.
Every single component of this dish was made on the farm we were staying at in Serre, Italy. Situated on this family farm was a small restaurant for locals only in this small Italian town. A small menu of very seasonal dishes including cured meats of the animals literally in the field next to the restaurant but the star of the show was this classic ragu. What made is so special was the owner of the farm showed us how every single element in the dish was made on the property. The wheat for the pasta was grown and processed on the farm, same for the olive oil, tomatoes, and pork sausage.
Overall, This year allowed me to further develop my senses when it came to what made a dish perfect in my eye. What I learned was I really appreciate food that is made thoughtfully and simply. Food made with love and quality ingredients is something I value and hope to share in food that I make in the future.
Wow knew you could write as well as cook!
Great article, I’ll have to try some of your suggestions.