Impossible to say, but certainly one of the most [pleasantly] memorable was my first trip to Toque in Montreal, a wonderful combination of delicious, brainy, and fun.
My favorite comfort food:
Carne adovada burrito from any cheap joint in New Mexico.
My most tattered cookbooks:
Regional Ethnic - Arabesque, Silver Spoon; Encyclopedic Melange - New Best Recipe (every recipe is exceptionally well tested), How to Cook Everything (sometimes undernuanced, but terrific as a reference), Joy of Cooking 1997 (Nice balance of depth and breadth, the quintessential American cookbook)