2014 was a good year for food. It was a year that involved an unprecedented amount of travel, due to the record number of friends getting married this year, and many of their ceremonies took place internationally. As a result, this created many opportunities for interesting meals–breakfast sushi at Tsukiji market or unripe strawberries in Copenhagen are not experiences that can be easily had back at home.
While the international meals were memorable, the majority of my favorite meals took place in New York, and Kansas City and New Orleans weren’t too shabby, either. Honestly, with so many chefs training at the same restaurants and then setting shop elsewhere, you can find really good cooking anywhere. But that also means that many of the meals and food trends seem all too similar. It’s amazing how many small plates, Brooklyn-esque farm-to-table restaurants exist in the world.
I personally preferred those meals that still retained their regional traits to the ambiguous New World Global cuisine that proliferated everywhere else. So my favorite food moments in 2014 crosses many borders and price points, a reflection of the glamorous and janky meals that were unique to the cities I ate them in. In no particular order, here is a round up of my favorite foods in 2014.
1. the z-man sandwich from oklahoma joe’s in kansas city

2. the melt-in-your-mouth sea eel from nakamura in tokyo

3. the epic peking duck dinner at decoy in new york

4. the ricotta gnocchi from the eddy in new york

5. the husk meringue with corn mousse dessert from cosme in new york

6. the duck carnitas from cosme in new york

7. the duck fat rice with kale and chinese sausage from tuome in new york

8. the beef tartare from manfreds in copenhagen

9. the breakfast sushi from tsukiji market in tokyo

10. the omakase at sushi nakazawa in new york

11. the whitefish donburi bowl from ivan ramen slurp shop in new york

12. the kale and wild mushroom risotto from gato in new york

13. the lobster ravioli from cherche midi in new york

14. the #1 bagel sandwich from black seed bagels in new york

15. the butcher’s steak at st. anselm in new york (my pictures were so crappy and not post-worthy, but i would highly recommend that you brave the no reservation policy and make the trek out to brooklyn for this amazing piece of meat)