Landmark Meals

Life's landmarks aren't complete without memorable celebratory meals. Starting the public countdown to three such meals coming up, including an October foodie pilgrimage:

1) Ubuntu - This Napa "vegetable" restaurant is drawing raves for it's innovative cuisine, which is vegetarian but doesn't make you feel "deprived." My classmate Shannon raves about their cauliflower dish (of course). I'm lucky to have my Aunt Nancy visiting from NY shortly after my birthday, and we're both looking forward to a meal here. On the train into work this week I came across a review in this month's O Magazine.

2) Final Showcase - As the culmination of our program, my class will be serving up a final showcase meal to which we're each allowed to invite two guests. The planning is already in full force, though it's not until the end of August. More on that in future blog posts, as we essentially attempt to open a restaurant for a night.

3) El Bulli - In Spain, about two hours drive from Barcelona up along the coast by France, El Bulli reigns supreme. Ranked the #1 restaurant in the world for the 4th year in a row, El Bulli gets 1,000,000 res requests/year. Only 8,000 get in -- including my former roomie Dave, whose offer of a seat at his table is like sharing a winning lotto ticket (I pretty much hyperventilated... for about 20 minutes). His reservation is for Monday, October 19th. What could be a more perfect culinary school graduation celebration than a once-in-a-lifetime Foodie Mecca pilgrimage?

If anyone has been to Ubuntu or El Bulli, I'd love to hear about it!