Name Your Favorite Outdoor Dining Experiences
 

A friend, knowing how much I like the place, just e-mailed me to taunt me that he was having dinner with colleagues at one of my favorite outdoor dining locations. Got me thinking about two of my favorites:

East: Dinner at Tacquet on the terrace of the Wayne Hotel (Wayne, PA)

West: Dinner on the Ocean Terrace at George's on the Cove (La Jolla, CA)

Yours?

Without a doubt, the Sounds of Silence dinner at Uluru (Ayres Rock) in Australia's Northern Territory!

For Me it's Laguna Grill in Cancun. The Bar and Restaurant has to be one of the most Beautfiul and Romantic outside dining places in the world. IMHO!

for me it was in Sedona AZ years ago....a horseback ride to a stream with a ranchhand cooking up eggs and beans with salsa and coffee on the fire - - - it was all soooo good!!! nearly as good as having a fisherman toss us a bluefish to toss on the grill while partying on a junk.

On the dining deck at Auberge du Soleil in the Napa Valley - romantic, dramatic view, food to match.

George's at the Cove in La Jolla eating on the terrace..lunch or dinner with a cocktail in hand..

Hula Grill in Maui with a mai tai and some ahi poke..

The Office in Cabo..

There is this lovely outside cafe at the Sydney Opera house and I don't know the name of it but love that place!

You probably mean restaurants but these are my favorites:

A campfire with hotdogs & Smores in the summer under the stars anywhere in the Pacific NW

On our barge on Canal Du MIdi (French wine and French baguettes and French cheese and French truffle pate and grapes and French chocolate...)

A private Thanksgiving dinner alfresco amoung the fall grape leaves(Chardonney roasted Turkey on the Barbeque) at our friends winery Geyser Peak in Sonoma

Duke's Canoe Club in Waikiki! :-P

Just about any outdoor cafe in New York City .. and there are thousands of them!


(And the Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, Cap d'Antibes)

Any of the places along the beach in West Maui. Loved the Aloha Mixed Plate patio and the patio hanging over the water at the Lahaini Fish Company. Watched the sun set at both these locations and it was beautiful.

If your talkin USA, Annapolis Crab Shack(Cantlers), perfect summer evening-picnic table full of crabs-couple rolling rock beers-lovley wife-great friends-corn on the cob-crab boat at the dock 10 yards away-bay in sight.... tough to beat. Did I mention the hot servers.

Loads of places in Waikiki and Puerto Vallarta. A few in my homecity of Seattle. On good one in Brattleboro, VT.

Coyuca 22 overlooking Acapulco Bay. Many years ago. I don't think it's there any more.

A little restaurant next to the Arsenale in Venice.

Breakfast on the beach in Puerto Vallarta.

Lunch on the terrace of the Villa Maria in Ravello.

Any beer garden in Germany or Austria.

Painapo Beach, Moorea. Thanks for evoking the memory, MRand.

Sitting on top of the peak of Shining Rock in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area of Western North Carolina, nibbling on sandwiches and trail mix while I watched a huge thunderstorm roll across the top of Cold Mountain.

Absolutely awesome. The cool breeze blowing through my hair and the electric feel of the air made my mundane meal taste incredible.

Paris - Restaurant du Palais Royal
Tucked into the gardens of the Palais Royal in the 1st

New York -

Any of a number of backyard gardens in Brooklyn; one favorite is Frankie's in Carrol Gardens.

A picnic on the Brooklyn side between the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge.

A picnic on Central Park's Great Lawn

San Francisco-
I'm racking my brain for the spot I loved on my last trip to San Francisco; convinced it was on Market Street. There were tons of outdoor restaurants...great people watching, good wine, and perfect weather---hard to beat that.

Glastonbury, England
It's now closed but there was a delightful cafe with an outdoor patio at the foot of the Tor; there was a stream running through; it's just by the Chalice Well. The clientele was friendly; some dressed as fairies; as is not completely abnormal there.

That's all I have off the top of my head... sorry not to have some of the specifics!

Park City, UT - top of Main St. on Grappa's outdoor deck, surrounded by aspens and flowers. Incredible food nd wine.

* At a little restaurant on the beach in Aiguablava, Spain.

* My back deck facing the Sound, Long Island, New York

Cold beer and trail mix on the Chain of Craters road (BI, Hawaii) after a sweaty 4 hour slog out to see hot lava.

After treking four days to Macchu Picchu, seating on a real chair, eating on a real table next to the cool breeze of a river in Agua Calientes, a small town below Macchu Picchu.