If Armageddon wipes us out, one thing we’ll certainly regret is all the food we haven’t yet tried. Here are five dishes that should be on your to-eat list, each celebrating one thing that we love most about food.


Pasta Nirvana: Carbonara at Antico Forno Roscioli Ristorante, Rome


A life isn’t complete without a visit to Rome, and a visit to Rome isn’t complete without a bowl of carbonara, a Roman classic. And yet the best carbonara in Rome, according to all its awards, is by a Tunisian chef, dispelling the belief that it takes an Italian to cook Italian. Italian food is all about the ingredients, and at Rosciolo they speak for themselves: crispy cubes of guanciale (cured pork jowl) from Monte Conero, Verrigni spaghetti, Paolo Parisi eggs (from goat’s milk-fed hens), a mixture of black pepper varieties, and just the right amount of pecorino cheese—transforming the commonplace carbonara into a bowl of the simplest perfection, so you can die happy.


The Epicurean Feast: Degustation Menu at Akelarre, San Sebastian, Spain


A beautiful seaside town in Basque country that gave birth to gastronomy, the world would definitely miss a place like San Sebastian. Aside from the famed pintxos (tapas) bars in the Old Town, the three-Michelin-starred Akelarre is molecular gastronomy at its purest—not the pretentious formality, but the creative fun of it. Its degustation menus are precious little platefuls of fun: bacalao polvoron and mackerel macaroons, seared foie gras sprinkled with sweet “salt flakes” and black rice “peppercorns,” and a cheese course that cleverly narrates the process of cheese and wine-making. This is the kind of meal the world should be remembered by: culinary imaginings that delight and inspire, created by chefs with a sincere passion for food.


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Medium Rare Revelation: Porterhouse Steak at Peter Luger, Brooklyn, New York


If there’s anything that celebrates the fact that, in this moment, you are very much alive, it’s an obnoxious cut of damn good steak. Peter Lugers Steakhouse has reigned as New York’s Steak Supremo for more than a century—and that’s by anyone’s best-steak list, whether critic or construction worker. A good steak needs only a description: a slab of aged beef, its charred crust cracking under the knife, revealing a juicy red center within and indecent levels of marbling, sizzling in a pool of butter. When the end comes, all you need is to feel that steak melting in your mouth, juices oozing and burning just a bit, so you can throw the Apocalypse and your cholesterol the middle finger. Bring it on, Armageddon!


To-Die-For Dumplings: Dim Sum at Tim Ho Wan, Hong Kong


Doomsday should be served like a dim sum lunch, steaming hot and bite-sized, with a dash of XO sauce for flavor—the kind that can only be had in Hong Kong. The bustling Tim Ho Wan is probably the cheapest Michelin-starred meal you’ll ever get. Your time may be short, but their line is always long, so opt for take-out and dine on dumplings on IFC mall’s park balcony. Chef Pui Gor, formerly of the decadent dim sum restaurant Lung King Heen, has earned a cult following with his dishes: from the steamed shrimp roll in bean curd skin to the baked barbeque pork buns with a milk crumble crusting that will make you roll your eyes to heaven in ecstasy. It ain’t blasphemy; it’s a promise of paradise.


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Happiness Is a Warm Bowl: Miso Ramen at Kururi, Ichigaya, Tokyo


The taste of ramen is an almost inexplicable thing. It’s almost an emotion, like the warm, fuzzy feeling after a fantastic dinner and a decent number of drinks. Each bite somehow multiplies your feeling of well being, until—oh no—it’s all done. Definitely the sort of buzz you’d want to end the world on. And the bowl to take you there is Kururi’s, the best miso ramen in Tokyo according to hardcore ramen bloggers Ramen Adventures and Ramenate, plus a couple of Japanese TV shows. It’s the rich miso broth, irresistibly thick and frothy because the cooks fry the soup with the noodles and miso just before serving. Top it off with perfectly bouncy noodles, thick slices of pork chuyashu, and generous vegetables, and it’s Good Night, World.


Do you have your own "last meal" list? Hit us up in the comments!



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