[limon]

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i come from a family of fine dining psychos, but i'm pretty easy to please - at the same time i'm not often impressed.

there are only a few places i've eaten that i would consider memorable - and i've eaten at a lot of "name" spots:

the most amazing restaurant experience of my life occurred about 10 yrs ago at everest in chicago. i guess the place is fairly well known now, but back then it was not. it's located at the top of the chicago stock exchange building. back then, the loop area was dead at night - almost deserted. i remember we drove down an alley to a beat up looking garage door which magically opened and lead to a dingy parking lot. things weren't looking to good. we got into an equally unimpressive elevator and pressed 40. i was with some of my fine dining psycho relatives and could feel the tension building during our ascent. what was probably seconds before one of them pulled the emergency stop switch so we could reverse course, the elevator doors opened onto the most opulent dining room i had ever seen.

there were probably 15 tables max, and the space was large but warm. everything there was aesthetically perfect. the flowers, the silver, the plates, the glasses, the colors, the view. it was amazing.

the staff was attentive - almost too much so - and knowledgeable about EVERYTHING - which actually was kind of annoying. i really don't care where the mushrooms were grown . the whole thing was such a scene that it was kind of ridiculous - but it was at the same time, just awesome. not the casual "awesome" we use in everyday speech - but the awesome used to describe things like god and natural disasters. the food was excellent, but was merely a sidelight to the experience.

everest taught me my first real lesson in brand building. they knew exactly what they wanted to do, and executed it flawlessly. you could just tell that someone had probably spent a few days settling on what kind of matches they would offer, and which flowers communicated what they were about. a great experience.

another that comes to mind is a private men's club in richmond, va, called the commonwealth club. it's essentially a place where old white guys go to get away from their wives, but it boasts one of my favorite dining rooms anywhere. the service is PERFECT. invisible, but helpful. knowledgeable, but humble. and the food is phenomenal. fine dining with a slight southern flare.

the last is le bec fin in philadelphia. i think they produce the best meals in the world.

i'm sure i'll think of a few more.

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le bec in philly is my wifes fav restuarant on the planet. she gets a $90 truffled risoto appetizer and bernard meets her at the table and says its better than sex w/ her husband (me)