Best Thing I Ever Ate- Part 1

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

I’m not sure if any of you saw this over the weekend, but The Food Network premiered a new show, “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.”  In it, each of the Food Network stars share the best thing they ever ate (pretty self explanatory right?).  Anyways, it got me thinking the obvious question, what’s the best thing I ever ate?

To get me started I surveyed each member of our office staff and got some pretty good answers:

Courtney (Account Executive) - ”Crespelle di Mele at Il Fornaio (Reston) – - I picked it because I like caramel and Crepes!”

Hana (Design Director) – “For me, I’ll take dessert (I wouldn’t claim it to be the best …tough to think of “best” right now): Polish water ice at Ocean City Boardwalk because the incredible smooth texture took me by surprise from the very first mouthful. I was expecting something similar to a snow cone, but boy was I pleasantly wrong in both flavor and texture.”

Terry (Account Executive)- “Venison tenderloin au poivre,  grilled over a campfire in bacon grease. It was fresh, taken that morning.”

Laura (Graphic Designer)- “After a full day of moving into a new apartment in the snow, and having skipped lunch, my husband and I were staaaaarving and had no idea what there was to eat in our new neighborhood. We stopped at the first place we saw – Hamburger Hamlet - and I had the very best (or at least most-appreciated) burger and beer I have ever consumed. Even thinking about it now I get a little warm fuzzy glow in my belly.”

Carla (Administrative Assistant)- ” The best thing I ever ate was the crispy rice spicy tuna at Katsuya Restaurant in L.A. it was delish and my mouth waters just thinking about how good each little bite was!! I picked it because I like rice, tuna and anything spicy so this was perfect!”

Susan (Assignments Editor)- ”Seven-piece chocolate dessert from The Inn at Little Washington. Why? No one eating there that night wasn’t ordering it. It was irresistible.”

Natalie (PR/Copywriter)- ”I guess it’s a toss-up between the heavenly cheesy tapas in some little cafe in Barcelona or the authentic Greek salad (with a big chunk of feta) I had in Santorini on my honeymoon.  As for why I picked the cheesy tapas: tired after a long flight, craved some comfort food. As for the Greek salad, I love fresh veggies and was looking for something refreshing for lunch on a super hot day.”

Kristin (Editorial Intern)- ”Triple Chocolate Meltdown from Applebee’s.I’m obsessed with chocolate and anything sweet. This melt in your mouth dessert hits the spot every time without hitting the wallet too. It’s my choice for a dessert any day.”

 Warren (Food Editor)- ”Not necessarily the best thing I’ve ever eaten, but certainly the most memorable dish in recent memory: Momofuku Ssam Bar’s spicy rice cakes: pan-Asian medley of scallion-laced sausage, assorted hot peppers, crushed garlic, Chinese broccoli and pillowy Korean rice cakes sears every taste receptor in my mouth, but I still raced to shovel the sensory-inflaming stir fry into my face.”

As for me?  Well I tend to appreciate the more simple things in life.  Having grown up in Southern Md., I know a good crab cake when I see one. So far, (and really the competition hasn’t been close) Stoney’s in Solomon’s Island Md., has the best in the Mid-Atlantic. Picture lightly fried crab, roughly the size of a softball, just enough filler to hold it together, seasoned perfectly but not overwhelmingly. Two words: Love It!

Next week, I’ll invite some local chefs to share the best thing they ever ate, but until then, use the comments section to let us know what the best thing you ever ate was!

-Stephen Ball

Tags: Best Thing I Ever Ate, Food Network, Northern Virginia Magazine, Solomon's Island, Stephen Ball, Stoney's