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ARCADIA, San Jose
BOURBON STEAK, San Francisco
CLOCK BAR, San Francisco
MICHAEL MINA, San Francisco
RN74, San Francisco
STONEHILL TAVERN, Dana Point
BOURBON STEAK, Washington, D.C.
BOURBON STEAK, Detroit
SALTWATER, Detroit
AMERICAN FISH, Las Vegas
MICHAEL MINA, Las Vegas
NOBHILL TAVERN, Las Vegas
SEABLUE, Las Vegas
STRIPSTEAK, Las Vegas
RN74, because I love the atmosphere. And the food and wine pairings are awesome!!!
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris.
Primavera's chilaquiles with horchata.
SEABLUE, Las Vegas for the great atmosphere and Mediterranean-influenced flavors.
Crab feast of steamed hard-shelled blue crabs with friends.
A lightly charred rib eye with a big Cabernet.
STRIPSTEAK, for delicious, full-flavor appetizers and great steaks.
Eating oysters for the first time while drinking Sancerre at 10:00 p.m. outdoors in Paris.
Aged Savennières with foie gras and quince.
BOURBON STEAK, Washington, D.C. — Not only are the staff really excited when we come to visit the restaurant and work on new ideas with them, but the commitment to product and food in general is infectious. Past the amazing relationships that they have with their farmers and ranchers, they have taken over a good portion of the Four Seasons’ flower beds for herbs and veggies…it’s awesome!
I am constantly drawn to restaurants and dining experiences where there is a heavy dose of the unique, the quirky or the just plain fun. I love to see someone doing it completely their way, producing food that they believe in or are cooking for themselves before they are trying to cook for anyone else.
Krug Rosé, latkes, smoked salmon, crème fraîche and caviar.
MICHAEL MINA, San Francisco because they have great food and I’ve never felt as if I were being “taken” moneywise as I did many times in other SF fine dining restaurants. (This experience made an impression on me before working for Mina Group.)
The French Laundry. I went with my family before our wedding. It was five people, 2x2x1 each course for 23 courses!
Tommy's Mexican Restaurant's margaritas with their chips and salsa. I think the margaritas would make anything taste better.
My favorite opening was Detroit because of the enormous task of opening two restaurants on the same day in a brand-new MGM casino! We must have had 200 employees and task force combined for this exciting opening.
Ten-course white truffle dinner with Roberto Donna at his flagship Galileo in Washington, D.C. in 1998! Amazing!! Even the dessert and cheese courses had white truffle all over the place. It still ranks up there with the best of the best (my mother was there, so this may have some influence here).
Right now, it is the angel hair pasta with uni and ikura and fresh wasabi from our local Japanese tapas restaurant, Yakasan, paired with an ice-cold Sapporo Reserve. Ask me again next week and I may have a newly discovered ultimate pairing for you!
BOURBON STEAK, San Francisco. I could eat their short rib poutine all day long!
Dinner at Charleston Grill back when I was in culinary school. It was my first
multicourse dinner that opened
my eyes to looking at food differently.
Smoked pork shoulder and black chicken Zinfandel.
MICHAEL MINA, Las Vegas. My brother and I had a great dinner there before my bachelor party!
Going to Blue Ribbon in New York with all the chefs after service.
STRIPSTEAK because of the energy of the room and the ability to produce amazing food at such a high volume night after night.
Lunch with my father at French Laundry. It was an indescribable meal on a beautiful day in the fall of 2001.
Chilled vodka and caviar.
STONEHILL TAVERN because of its great design and location.
The Fat Duck, Bray, U.K.
Beer and sausage.
RN74 in San Francisco. I love classic food. The team there does an amazing job with letting the food represent itself. I particularly enjoyed the house-made head cheese and pickled seasonal vegetables.
Having the ultimate bowl of chicken pho in the night market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I was sitting on a milk crate and all I can think of was how wonderful the stock and spicy chicken tasted. I will go back just for that.
The first beer I had after coming back from Iraq with a Double-Double, Animal Style from In-N-Out Burger. Don’t take the little things for granted!
SEABLUE, Las Vegas. That was the second restaurant I opened with the Mina Group and I had such a great experience during that time. I spent about six months there and I have such good memories of that time.
My dinner at Urasawa. It was perfect from start to finish! It was amazing to watch him work.
Stella Artois beer and a shot of Fernet. It’s not a food pairing, but it’s probably my favorite pairing! For food, one that comes to mind is a good fried-fish taco and an ice-cold Pacifico with lime.
AMERICAN FISH because I really like the creativity in the bar program. Chef Sven is rock solid when it comes to technique and execution of cuisine, too!
Living, eating and working in Paris in 2005. The food excursion to Spain was mind-blowing!
Dr. Brown's Cream Soda and a hot pastrami on rye from Katz's Deli.
My favorite Mina restaurant would have to be STRIPSTEAK. There are a few reasons why; first is the food. The meals I have had there have always been fantastic. The flavors of all the dishes have solid taste and are perfectly seasoned. The food is very straightforward, and I enjoy that about eating out; no surprises. Second, I have an experience every time I dine there. They have friendly service and the atmosphere lends itself to tons of laughs with my family. Third, the chairs are super comfortable. Last, all of my kids enjoy eating there as well. There is nothing they won't devour there!
My favorite food experience happened many years ago, at Ichiza here in Las Vegas. I’ll never forget sitting there with a great group of friends and eating our way through the entire chalkboard of dishes.
For me, I remember food from the experiences that have gone along with those meals. One event in particular occurred with a pairing of a chili dog and a bottle of ’96 Perrier-Jouët.
My favorite Mina restaurant to this day is BOURBON STEAK, Washington, D.C. It is a fantastic restaurant in a landmark location, has a great following, and the network of farmers and fishermen supporting our program there is second to none. It is my favorite restaurant to visit when I am on the road.
My favorite food experiences typically involve discovering hidden gems — great dishes, ingredients and restaurants in places where others fail to look.
My ultimate food and beverage pairings tend to be very classically based — Scotch with caramel, lamb with Bordeaux, morels with Vin Jaune or beer with cheeseburgers!