Oh what a year it was! 2015 was jam packed with traveling, lots of great food and wines and the introduction to Mateo, the newest member of the family. Despite the couple months with little sleep and a slew of completely new life priorities we still managed to get out and about. Our travels united us with great friends in Copenhagen, a family reunion in Spain and month long visits to see my folks in Maine. All in all it was a pretty damn special year! Given all the hustle and bustle of being new parents we managed to neglect the blog a bit. Now that we have a bit of a rhythm going we are hoping to be posting more here. When we don’t post here Jose and I keep things documented on instagram, so most of our adventures can be found there. @jmoranmoya @eliseporter
As I mentioned last year it is virtually impossible to properly articulate what are the “best” dishes in a year. Below, in no particular order, you will find 21 of our most memorable food bites. To understand each moment you must unpack it to get to its root. Each memory is a complex blend of flavors, emotions, place and context. Enough chit chat, onto the list!
Amass was one of our favorite meals of the year. Each dish shocked the senses with its complex flavors and thoughtful composition. This outstanding tomato dish was composed of Raw tomatoes, 8 hr dehydrated tomatoes, grilled cherries, juniper oil, tomato broth and horned kiwano cucumbers. Link to all the pics
Jose and I feel so lucky to have experienced the Noma pop up in Tokyo. The meal was a special one full of many deliciously cerebral bites and stories. The one dish that stopped us mid bite was the clam tart. I have never eaten anything quite like it. Each clam had a unique flavor and evoked a bizarre numbing sensation. Link to pics
On our first road trip to Maine with Mateo ( 3 weeks old) we decided to make a pit stop in Providence in order to make a long overdue visit to Birch for dinner. Best decision ever! Mateo slept the entire meal allowing us to relax a bit and eat one delicious dish after the next. We are very excited for Ben Sukle and his new ventures! Another trip to Providence is on our 2016 to do list. Link to pics
The 2015 list would not be complete without a loud shout out to one of our favorite restaurants out there. Contra is at the epicenter of the food scene in NYC. Not only are they cooking some of the tastiest and affordable food out there but they are also the reason some of the most talented chefs in the world are coming to NYC to cook. I’m not sure what we would do if contra, or their sister restaurant Wildair, ceased to exist.
One of my fondest memories of the summer was a spontaneous snack of smoked clams cooked by the talented and uber entertaining Bo Bech. Bo, like a scene out of Macgyver, surveyed the landscape around our house in Maine and quickly put together a make shift smoker using my parents planter and some foraged newly sprouted pine needles. This snack was nothing fancy but there was something wonderful about witnessing this creative hack. We are very excited to see what Mr. Bech does this coming year!
Yes I know this is a bit deja vu. Pam’s bread is always on the list. There is a reason for that, it’s worth the carbs!
Kadeau in Bornhlom as we have mentioned in many posts is a very special place. This quick visit with our good friends Tomo and Laurent and Mateo in tow was a magical one. This smoked salmon dish above was off the charts delicious and one of the many incredible dishes form the night. Link to pics
This collaboration dinner between Inaki and contra was unbelievable! Who knew that a little bowl of beans could be so damn tasty! Link to pics
This contra collaboration dinner was one of my favorite. Everything that Chef Carlos Salgado cooked was bright, fresh and deliciously inventive! Jose and I are dying to get out to Cali to eat at Taco Maria! Link to pics
Wildair next to Contra is one of our favorite spots! The food here is deceiving. What may seem like a simple dish of steak tartare is instead a flavor bomb of unexpected ingredients. Thanks to Fabs and Jeremiah we finally have a casual but inventive small dish spot that serves damn good wine.
I sadly was not at this dinner and missed this unusual and ballsy dessert. I heard a great deal about it from Jose when he got home from his second dinner at Rocky Slims. Clearly he was pretty hungry 😉 Link to pics
Sometimes the best dinners are ones that you have at home cooked by your ultra talented friend! What we thought would be a casual collaborative dinner with Diego turned into a food lovers dream. We are super excited to see what unfolds for Diego in 2016! I have a feeling his new restaurant Hemlock in Williamsburg will be big!
It didn’t take a lot of convincing to make the trip to Copenhagen to attend Relae’s 5 year anniversary party. I was a wee bit nervous being a first time mom and taking our 4 month old oversees but it was all worth it. The party was without a doubt the best culinary events of the year and it also gave us a chance to try out Christian’s new spot, bæst. After the fantastic 5 year anniversary meal at Relae, Christian invited us over Baest in his bike….that was quite the adventure. The cured meat spread that we ordered was immediately devoured. Baest is another example of the post New Nordic era, where the principles of responsibility, artisan and craftsmanship are applied to Italian food. Link to the rest of the pics: relae party Relae & Baest
See all the pics from this unforgettable meal here Link to pics
The best delivery of 2015 was of course Mateo but the second best delivery of that night was from rocky slims (apologies for the terrible picture quality) This pizza was delicious and well deserved if i do say so myself. BTW if you havent been to rocky slims you really must. What Angelo is doing in the kitchen with bread and cured meats should not be missed. Link to rocky slims pics
2016 should be a promising year! We are looking forward to lots of new restaurant openings and some more traveling with the little guy. He is starting to get very curious about food and Jose and I can’t wait to expose him to some of our favorite flavors. Everyday and every bite is a new experience for him and for us.
Places we want to go in 2016
1.Australia 2.Belgium 3.California (San Fran, LA) 4.Baha 5.Paris…amongst lots of other places.