this is tough, but: a lobster in a butter ginger sauce at L'Espinasse, formerly in the Hotel Essex in NY; a white fish in a brown butter sauce with a horseradish crust at Aquavit in NY
My current drink of choice:
dirty ketel 1 martini with lots of olives; bubbly water
I really wish I could:
have eaten at the French Laundry in its hay day
My "Go-to" dinner party dish:
fennel in a basil oil
My favorite comfort food:
chili; country ham; biscuits
My top 5 favorite restaurants:
La Lunchonette, NY; Chez Paul, Paris; Ben's Chili Bowl, Washington, DC; Lalibela, Washington, DC; Lunch, East Hampton, NY
My most tattered cookbooks:
I barely cook at all; when I do, I make my "go-to" dinner party dish from a Florence Fabricant cookbook whose name escapes me; otherwise, recipes I see in the NYT, Gourmet or Epicurious