As 2022 comes to a close, the Salon Food team asked the Salon team at large, "What were your most significant, enjoyable food memories of the year?" This question yielded some fascinating responses, as you'll soon see.
Food, of course, has an amazing way of distilling or clarifying a complex memory or moment into something immediately recognizable: a personal moment that happened to occur during an otherwise unexciting meal, an especially elevated meal that crystallized a social occasion that meant something to you, a dish you cooked yourself or something else entirely, like a food gift that you appreciated or something with deep personal meaning.
Did you have any especially noteworthy meals — whether cooked by you or someone else — this year? Please e-mail us and let us know! In the meantime, here were some of our favorites.
01
Hanh Nguyen, senior culture editor
"I'm always a sucker for a new dining experience on top of just the pleasure of eating out, but when my two friends recommended going to a skewer restaurant, T-kebab, I was intrigued. While I've had yakitori and other skewers served to me, this place asks you to place your raw ingredients on a motorized, mechanized spit that accommodates multiple skewers. It's a mesmerizing sight watching your protein of choice shifting and rotating before you, juices dripping with a satisfying sizzle below. I don't eat beef and pork at home, so I got my fix here, and I was able to indulge in my rare craving for kidneys as well – all dipped in a tongue-numbing dry spice blend. Along with a cold beer and company, it was one of the most satisfying meals I've had in a long time."
02
Kelly McClure, nights and weekends editor
"I had my first vegan chik'n sandwich from Turkey and the Wolf on my birthday in May and have thought about it ever since. It's a good thing this place is pretty far from my house or else I'd eat here every single day."
03
Mary Elizabeth Williams, senior writer
"After a long day of cold rain, multiple trains, and more Bruegels than I ever knew existed, I found myself in the most beautiful train station in the world. I bought a waffle that was smothered in whipped cream and chocolate, with a little Belgian flag stuck in it for good measure. Then I went across the street, where I promptly collapsed on the bed of my Antwerp hotel room, flicked on the TV to an episode of 'Repair Shop,' cracked a bottle of minibar chardonnay, and somehow had the most wonderful meal of all my travels and my entire year. It was a very, very good waffle."
"La Chinesca is both the name of the Chinatown in Mexicali and of the new Philly restaurant that serves the Chinese-Mexican fusion that comes from that neighborhood. Everything there is fantastic, but they usually have some form of mushroomtacos that are absolute perfection. I realized, too, that putting salsa verde on a General Tso's tofu dish is the best thing ever."
05
Justin Wohl, chief revenue officer
"This year I found comfort in repetition - I more regularly ordered fried chickensandwiches and BLTs than any year in memory. Spurred on by the never ending 'chicken wars', I sought out who my personal chicken champion might be. Turns out the best of the gourmet approaches and the whole slew of Nashville Hot Chicken purveyors can't stand up to how reliably good Popeye's Spicy Chicken sandwich really is."
06
Ashlie D. Stevens, deputy food editor
"In early January, I kicked muddy snow off my boots and slid into a warm booth facing the open kitchen at Penny's Noodle Shop, a Chicago institution since 1991 that's located less than half a mile from Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs. Stephen — my partner in both life and dining — had been talking about this place since we made the decision amid the pandemic to boomerang back to Chicago together after respectively spending years away. While I had miraculously never visited, it was his go-to place for about a decade and I had heard him wax poetic more than once about their lad nar. Sometimes written as lard na or laad na, Penny's version features 'stir-fried broccoli, carrot and ginger in a light gravy served over crispy pan fried wide rice noodles.' Sounds simple, right? And it is.
But sitting there, with the light rumble of the L track overhead, it felt like I was absorbing Stephen's memories of the neighborhood through a kind of culinary osmosis. We've returned a bunch over the last year — after I learned to ride a bicycle through busy Wrigleyville traffic, after we got our Chicago library cards — to make some new memories, too."
07
Erin Keane, editor in chief
"The most heavenly kakigōri at Nashville's Locust. Come for chef-owner Trevor Martin's sublime dumplings, made with heritage pork fed to marbled perfection on sake byproduct, yes. But stay for the kakigōri: a loaf-shaped shareable dessert of delicately shaved ice layered over rotating complex flavorful fillings — mousse, cream, curd — then finished with a drizzle of syrup."
Michael is a food writer, recipe editor and educator based in his beloved New Jersey. After graduating from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, he worked in restaurants, catering and supper clubs before pivoting to food journalism and recipe development. He also holds a BA in psychology and literature from Pace University.
Shares