The Docsconz 2015 Wish List

2014 was another superb year of dining for me, although it wasn’t because I was particularly successful in hitting up my wish list. Compared to 2013, I did a very poor job of that, only making it to one of my Top 10 – Pakta, which was everything I hoped it would be and more. I was more fortunate, however, in making it to a number of places on my Honorable Mentions list including Daikaya, Estela, Quintonil and Rose’s Luxury. For 2015 I will have to try to find a way to get to some of the more difficult places to get to. That said, I am not even bothering to list restaurants in Asia, Australia or New Zealand as barring a miracle, once again, they will be out of my reach. In the meantime, here are the restaurants, new to me, that I most want to visit in 2015.

1. Hoja Santa/Niño Viejo – Barcelona, Spain – the newest restaurants of the Albert Adria empire in Barcelona, they are two restaurants under a single theme of Mexican. Adriá has the golden touch and employs world class chefs who know what they are doing within a cuisine. In this case, Paco Mendez, from Mexico, has been working with Albert for quite a while to get the place to where they were happy with it. It’s great to see one of the world’s greatest cuisines, Mexican, getting the respect that it deserves. I can’t wait to experience how Adriá, Mendez and company interpret it. I already have my reservations! For the purposes of this list, I am counting them as one restaurant.
2. Willows Inn – Lummi Island, Washington – Timing is everything and despite my intense desire to get there, I have not yet been able to do it. Will 2015 finally be the year? I certainly hope so!
3. Riverstead – Chilhowie, VA – John Shields is back in the game, crafting beautiful dinners one weekend per month, back in the area where he and his wife, Karen, made names for themselves and a huge fan out of me at Town House. The big issue here is logistics and timing.
4. Disfrutar – Barcelona, Spain – Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas were instrumental in the success of elBulli over the years. After elBulli, the started Compartir in Cadaques and have now moved to Barcelona.
5. Relae – Copenhagen, Denmark – This leads a long list of restaurants in Scandinavia that I have a burning desire to dine at. I have heard too many wonderful things from friends who have been, for this to not be on this list.
6. D.O.M. – Another perennial placer on this list. Returning to South America is a personal priority and relatively affordable. I’m optimistic.
7. Azurmendi – Bilbao, Spain – No chef is getting more raves in Spain right now than Eneko Atxa. I’m dying to see for myself.
8. Abac – Barcelona, Spain – I dined at Abac almost ten years ago, but it was in a different place and with a different chef, so it doesn’t count. Knowledgable friends think that under Jordi Cruz, this may be Barcelona’s first Michelin three star restaurant.
9. Central – Lima, Peru – I have tasted Virgilio Martinez’ food a number of times in a number of places, but not yet at his main restaurant.
10. Dill, Reykjavik, Iceland – This year’s StarChefs inspiration goes to Gunnar Karl Gíslason and his Icelandic restaurant, Dill. Reports are strongly positive and his presentation, inspirational.

In years past I had included Honorable Mentions, but the reality is that I can’t keep up and there are too many to list but a few. I had started to do just that and realized that it was an impossible chore. One city in the US that I MUST make a concerted effort to return to is Chicago, as the city has exploded with a ton of interesting new restaurants to which I have not yet been. San Francisco and Los Angeles also have continued to explode since I have last been there. In Europe, London, Paris and Copenhagen lead the way. Countries and cuisines that I yearn to visit for the first time include Austria, Greece, Poland, Finland, Iceland, Turkey, Morocco (I was there for a day when I was 14 years old – doesn’t count), Australia and all of AustralAsia.  Too many restaurants, too many countries, too little time (and money)…