
Our Readers’ Greatest Meals
In issue #132, we invited some of our favorite writers and cooks to share the greatest meals of their lives. We also asked our readers to send us memories of their fondest dining experiences. Here are some of their stories.

To share your most memorable meal, send your story and a photo to ganda@saveur.com. Beth Whittingham Goehring I'd never traveled out of the country until I participated in my college's junior-year-abroad program at Oxford University. On my first night in London, my father and I stayed at the Savoy Hotel. After an evening at the Savoy Theatre, I ordered room service. Because I was new in England, I wanted to have a specialty. I decided on the kidneys as my entree and strawberries for dessert. The waiter rolled the beautifully laid table into the room and lifted the silver dome from the main dish. The smell and sight of those kidneys almost made me hop on the next plane back to the States. After the waiter left, I cut tentatively into one of the lobes, nibbled, and slammed the dome back down, settling in with the more familiar strawberries. Since then, I've traveled quite a bit, and my tastes have grown as I've sampled the exotic foods of many countries. As any parent knows, if you can just get a child to try the first bite, a lifetime of adventurous eating is in store!
Dena G. Miller
An unplanned pan-Mediterranean meal is still vivid in my mind. My husband and I had spent a sun-drenched afternoon kayaking with friends on an old strip-mining lake near their home in rural Illinois. For dinner at our friends¿ house that night, I’d brought along a large batch of keftedes as well as some nice French goats’ milk feta to turn into grilled feta-stuffed Greek burgers, not knowing what else would be served. Our friends had prepared a smooth and hearty white bean pate, which they served with crudite and homemade bread toasts. We also mixed up a brilliant tabbouleh made with red quinoa. To jumpstart our evening, I’d shaken up a round of French 75s, the classic gin and champagne cocktail. We dined outdoors under a gazebo. The temperature was perfect; at this point in the evening, everything seemed perfect. We sipped a rioja wine, which turned out to be just right with our meal. The summer light lingered well into the evening, and as we ate, the light took on a golden hue, illuminating the dragonflies’ inexplicable aerial ballet.
Martha Mendoza
Ceviche de concha negra in a restaurant called Sonia’s in Lima, Peru: Black mollusks, found only on the shores of Peru, made for an outrageously exotic appetizer. My husband and I promptly ordered another serving each. I dream of the day when I can taste that dish again.
Christina Lee
My uncle, Andrew Lau, made me my most memorable meal. I was living with him and my grandmother in New Jersey while attending the French Culinary Institute in 2000. I didn’t know much about him at the time; he had joined the Army when I was about six. Every now and then, he would make his Chinese curried chicken, a simple but tasty dish. The night before my final exam, Uncle Andrew made the Chinese curried chicken for me. It was so delicious that I had two bowls of it! He asked me why I liked this simple dish, reminding me, “Your mom knows how to make this too.” But it wasn’t just that it tasted so good; it was about getting to know my uncle, and watching him cook in the kitchen while he smoked his cigarette and sipped his whiskey. That was the last time I had Uncle Andrew’s Chinese curried chicken. I graduated and went on to work with some amazing chefs around the world. Eighteen months later, he died of colon cancer. Now I always think of him when I cook, and fondly remember our shared times in the kitchen.



Tyla Fowler, Learning to Live Without a Microwave
“…One day I showed up for lunch at her house to find a plate of warm waffles next to a bowl of freshly cut strawberries, Ginnie was nowhere to be seen. When I called out, she yelled from the kitchen where she had just finished making a bowl of fresh whipped cream. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time I’ve had homemade whipped cream, but it was the first time I remember realizing how whipped cream is made….” Read the rest on Learning to Live Without a Microwave
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