Prime Cuts

Recently I saw in the New York Times a story of Thomas Keller’s last meal with his father. The article was fascinating, and captured exactly how I feel about food. Food is a way to show affection, share life experiences and create memories. And it got me thinking, what would I have as my last meal? Out of the thousands of meals I’ve had in my life, and the hundreds of thousands of meals I haven’t, what would be the ultimate? Would I go for an exquisite meal at El Bulli or stick with the simple comforts of home cuisine?

Having no idea which direction to turn, I asked my friends.  The response was overwhelming. Each answer was incredibly personal, unique and most were linked to a story.

My friend Justin said “anything cooked by my grandma I would spend my last meal surrounded by my family at grandma’s table. Yup. For sure.” Spending time with family, you know I back that.

A peer, who I served with on PRSSA’s National Committee, surprised me with his thoughtful response. “French onion soup to start. For an appetizer, go for an avian theme and serve foie gras with a cinnamon rub atop two pieces of buttered cinnamon toast and scrambled quail eggs. For the main course, a veal and crab leg medley with sides of asparagus and potatoes au gratin. Warm blackberry cobbler topped with strawberries for dessert. Finish with black coffee.” Okay, I’ll admit, that sounds pretty incredible.

Two friends said they’d delve into their food allergies. Kayley would brush aside her gluten allergy to indulge in a loaf of fresh baked bread, and Lisa would head straight for the dairy aisle with nothing but thoughts of cheese on her mind.

But after hearing from so many of my friends, I still couldn’t answer my own question. So I turned to My Last Supper by Melanie Dunea (I highly recommend for its beautiful pictures), which features 50 top chefs and each of their last meal’s recipes.

But the book only confused me more. I was complicating the process. And then it occurred to me — the one thing I ALWAYS ask for when I go home. This is going to sound ridiculous…so drum roll please…

…..My mom’s toast

Allow me to explain. For every meal my mother prepares, she takes my likes and dislikes into consideration. And as silly and/or sweet as it may sound, she prepares even the smallest meals that way. Every dish is full of love, even if it’s just bread and butter.

Now that’s a last supper I can toast to.

What would your last supper be?

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Photo by: basheertome

No, no, neither one of us are looking for a new job (well, how much are you offering? )! One of the things that is envious of all those celebrities on Cribs is that most of them have personal chefs that whip up fantastic meals every night.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could have the same thing?!?!  What if it only cost you approximately $12/day for great menu options created by award winning chefs?  Cool huh?!?! 

Well, the other day we found just the service for you, thanks to our friend Chris Brogan when he posted a reviewof Personal Chef to Go.  Personal Chef to Go is a gourmet food service which ships freshly made meals directly to your home.  The concept was created by two award winning chefs, Chef Gene Castelluccio and Chef Blair Grossman.  Now I’m sure you’re thinking that this is probably just a glorified microwave dinner.  Wrong. Every meal is delivered fresh, yes fresh not frozen, directly from their kitchen to your home or office.  There is a weekly menu which is made by the chefs from scratch.  Chef Castelluccio and Chef Grossman cater their menus to 3 different types: Busy Singles, Couples on the Go and Family Favorites.  Make sure you check out those links to see the amazing menus they have up right now!

We can’t wait to try these meals and will be placing an order with Personal Chef to Go sometime within the next week or so.  As soon as we each get our meals we will post reviews for all of you.  We are going to plan on trying the Busy Singles (for Joe) and Couples on the Go (for Justin) menu options.  Stay tuned!

If you’ve tried Personal Chef to Go please leave a comment below and let us know what you thought of it.

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