While the title of this post has a bit of a macabre sound to it, there is nothing ominous about the Foodblogger’s Guide to the Globe. FBGttG* is a meme (short for “internet phenomenon”) that was started by The Traveler’s Lunchbox and is traveling around the world via various food blogs. I was tagged to come up with my own list of five things to eat before you die by my friends Helen, of Grab Your Fork, and Kalyn, of Kalyn’s Kitchen. The rules are that the five things you select have to be things that you have eaten. The problem with this is that I have eaten far more than five things, making it difficult to narrow down the list.
1. Kona coffee in Kona, Hawaii – You’ll have to ferret out a place that brews good coffee yourself, but you won’t get many closer to the source and Kona coffee is some of the best in the world. Roasting green beans is an amazing experience, too, but you have to be a dedicated coffee drinker to go that far.
2. Breakfast at bills in Sydney, Australia – I recommend the ricotta hotcakes, scrambled eggs and the wonderful coconut bread, but everything is fantastic. Dinner at bills2 is excellent, as well.
3. Dinner at the French Laundry – This is probably the best restaurant experience you’ll ever have.
4. Pizza at the Cheeseboard in Berkeley, California – The Cheeseboard only makes one type of pizza each day and is open for lunch and dinner. The pizza is always vegetarian and it is always exceptional. The bread, pastries and cheeses at the Cheeseboard are worth a trip, too.
5. Dutch Crunch Bread – While there is a lot of good bread to be had in the San Francisco Bay area, it seems to be the only place in the world where Dutch Crunch Bread is sold. The bread is a type of white bread with a very unusual and crispy crust made with yeast, rice flour and a bit of vegetable oil. It makes fantastic sandwich rolls and I have a recipe for it, so you can give it a try at home and cross it off the list.
*I decided to abbreviate the name in the same way I abbreviate the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, HHGttG.
peabody
September 1, 2006I was going to list the French Laundry on mine too but had already mentioned a restaurant. It is definately one of my top 5 restaurants of all time.
Tanna
September 1, 2006Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes! I look forward to four of those. I have had Kona coffee many times and it is really marvelous!
Anonymous
September 1, 2006If you liked the French Laundry, try Joel Robuchon’s at the MGM Grand in Vegas. Their “16 course” tasing menu (which was more like 20), IMO, surpasses anything offered by FL. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Baking Soda
September 2, 2006True, I had to think for a while but your description was very clear; Dutch Crunch bread is what we call “Tijgerbrood” (Tiger bread) in Holland! I feel very proud one of our Dutch products made your list. Now I feel I have to bake one to show the rest of the world our tijgerbrood…
Kalyn
September 2, 2006Hi Nic,
I knew I could count on you to have an interesting list. How’s life? Wish we could go out to lunch today, you, me, and Elise. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Ivonne
September 2, 2006Great list, Nic.
Nic
September 2, 2006Kalyn – It would be fun! I’m just thinking about that great Japanese place that Elise took us to… mmm…. I don’t know if it would have been in the top five, but if the list were longer, I’m sure I could have squeezed it in.
Anita
September 2, 2006I totally second you on the French Laundry and Cheeseboard! Thanks for the other recommendations!
Helen
September 4, 2006Thanks to your list I have just discovered another great recipe: bills coconut bread. Thank you! It sounds delicious!
lien
September 5, 2006Well, It’s not the only place in the world where you can buy dutch crunch bread….I’m from the Netherlands and you can buy it here too….surprise ! 🙂
It’s called ‘Tijgerbrood’ overhere translated: “tigerbread”(because of its sort of stripy crunchy crust)
lien
September 5, 2006Sorry, I did not read all the comments….and I saw my ‘breadcollegue’ Baking Soda already explained….stupid me…
sandwitch lady
August 18, 2009the bread that you speak of is so wonderfull My long time best friend owens a sandwitch shop and we have to travle 80 miles round trip every morning to a small bakery were the baker that makes Our dutch crust bread this is our singnuter bread will we also make out sand witches on most any other type bread The dutch crusrt is what we are knowen for. the baker makes it in 3 foot sticks that we serve in 6 in 8 in or 12 in sandwitches
in the winter we also offer soup in bread bowles.
i plan on trying the resipe you have here and if it turnes out
may save my boss/best friend the cost of us having to make that drive every morning for the bread