Favorite Restaurants

People often ask me about my favorite restaurants back in the states. I started to think and came up with a few that without question are some of the best places in the world to eat.

The first and one of the only places that I would fly 20 hours just to have dinner is Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, AZ. It is to me the quintessential restaurant. Small, welcoming, unpretentious and most of all honest. The menu is sparse with only a few salads and just a handful of Pizzas but the quality is incomparable. The chef, Chris Bianco, tames the wood fired oven every night, no matter what. It is the sort of place everyone talks about, but few seldom understand. Chris is a pizza maniac, he doesn't simply undertsand the intricasies of a great pizza, he has devoted his whole life to the perfection of it. Every detail makes a difference, from the type of wood used in the oven, to the homemade mozzarella pulled every day. His dough is an extension of his hands and his soul. Rarely do you encounter a restaurant with this singular focus. I will be visiting Phoenix in April when I take some time away to see my family and you can bet that I will get my pizza fix here.

Another place that I really enjoy is Casa Mono in NYC, this tiny shoebox near Gramercy turns out some of the finest spanish influenced food I have ever had the pleasure of eating. It also happens to be co-owned by Mario Batali, a chef who I greatly admire and respect. In fact all of his restaurants have made me happy and serve simple unpretentious food.

For fine dining, I must say that the French Laundry was unforgettable and something everyone should experience at least once. While I don't usually dine like this, I do try and fit in one over the top meal a year and this has been the finest to date. Enough has been said about Thomas Keller, but bottom line, he deserves all the praise.

Till next time....