Rubee

Best meal I ever ate:

Thankful for lots of special times and fantastic meals. Travel-wise: The first time I had fresh lamb at a friend's home in Auckland NZ; poisson cru and crepes from the roulottes in Tahiti; kokoda and kava (hic) at a traditional local wedding in Fiji; Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas; Alain Ducasse in NYC (closed, but still dream about the sweetbreads and ravioli de foie gras); Ambrosia on Santorini, Greece; Moreton Bay "bugs" with garlic butter in Australia; too much mead with roast pork shank and colcannon at a B&B in Galway, Ireland; Gordon Ramsay in London; Guy Savoy in Paris. So far, best meal in 2009 - Binkley's in Cave Creek, AZ.. Close second - Mosaic in N. Scottsdale

My current drink of choice:

Depends on my mood. Depends on the season. Sazerac. Aviation. Negroni. Rye Manhattan. Sidecar. Vesper. Basil-Hayden or Blanton's bourbon neat. Locally in Phoenix - Yellow Jacket at J&G, Segway at Digestif, Corpse Reviver at Metro, Amante Picante at Prado

I really wish I could:

afford to travel as often as I wanted to.

My "Go-to" dinner party dish:

One? I love to cook, so it depends on the theme, the crowd, the occasion, the featured cocktail.....

My favorite comfort food:

Mom's banh cuon and Auntie's chao gio. Pizza, meatloaf, roast chicken and potatoes,sour cream and Lipton onion dip with Cape Cod chips.

My top 5 favorite restaurants:

PHOENIX: Binkley's, Noca, Heirloom, Quiessence, Prado. NW Valley neighborhood faves: Mi Cocina, Mi Pais, Arrowhead Grill, Tutti Santi, Hope Kee. Restaurants to try in 2009: Christopher's, Da Vang, Gallo Blanco, Little Rangoon, The Mission, PastaBar, Tarbell's, Roka Akor, Crudo Cafe, Lon's, Rancho Pinot, Posh, Kai, Vincent's, Coup des Tartes, Sophie's Bistro, T. Cooks, Los Dos Molinos, and have fry bread, a combo plate at Chino Bandido, a nogales hot dog, and Molly's tamales. BOSTON: No 9 Park, Prezza, Uni/Clio, Troquet, Craigie on Main. Casual faves: Eastern Standard, Angela's Cafe, Marliave, Taiwan Cafe, Taranta, Neptune.

My most tattered cookbooks:

Dunlop's "Land of Plenty", Hazan's "Essentials of Italian Cooking", Roden's "Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon", Goin's "Sunday Suppers at Lucques", Rodgers "Zuni Cafe".