Friday, May 30th, 2025

For your final meal, what do you want to eat? Tammy’s last meal request would be lobster sticky rice with an ice cream sundae. I crave a Monteverde’s prosciutto sandwich (burrata e ham), their elegant mac and cheese (pesto gnocchetti) with a side of warm crusty bread, and a slice of creamy coffee cake with those crispy cookies (tiramisu). If I get to eat that with Tammy and Sean before I say my last goodbye, I will be able to die happy.

This past week, we have been eating like royalty. I’ve had some of the best dishes of my life:

• Best cornbread from Burdell back in Oakland, CA.

• Most creative dessert, an edible helium balloon (that makes you talk funny if you inhale) with a green apple string from Alinea in Chicago.

• Best mac and cheese at Virtue in Chicago.

My taste evolved. 40 years ago, I would choose steak (medium rare), my grandma’s thick steak fries and fresh green beans. For dessert, a grasshopper pie from Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors.

35 years ago, my favorite meal was a surf and turf with my mom’s bacon wrapped filet mignon next to my grandma’s giant butterflied tempura tiger prawns, and scalloped potatoes. 

30 years ago, it would have been my mom’s beef stew.

25: Tammy’s chicken and green beans with black bean sauce over rice.

A month ago, my choice was Tammy’s yellow curry with beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions. 

Today, my last meal will be from Monteverde.

Someday, I might change my mind and go back to Tammy’s curry but right now I want to fly back to Chicago and eat at Monteverde. I want to carefully slice apart the hot little roll, put the burrata on one side and let it melt a little, spread the prosciutto butter on the other side and top it with the jam, then plop the prosciutto and greens and gently fold it all together and admire my creation for a brief moment before taking a big bite. I will chew slowly to enjoy all the layers. Creamy burrata (I thought it was fresh mozzarella, forgive my ignorance!), sweet and sharp jam, salty prosciutto, lusciously rich prosciutto butter, joined together by the warm and chewy roll. What a way to start my last supper!

It was so busy we could only get reservations at the bar but it worked out great. Bartender Jose navigated the menu while he mixed drinks. When we asked for recommendations, he paused and answered with a question: Any food preferences or allergies? Nope! He suggested the burrata and described a few others. I chose the burrata and Jose gave us another choice: One order plus one more for Sean? Or two orders so we would have an extra? We chose the single order of burrata plus one. Tammy also got the grilled asparagus salad in a light lemon sauce with egg salad and greens. The salad was a very nice mixture of tastes and textures but the burrata was the star. 

We only ordered two pasta dishes because Sean was not very hungry and we were going to try the sides and maybe dessert. Tammy picked the chicken ravioli and we loved the perfectly al dente chewiness and the savory meat. We also enjoyed the crispy breadcrumbs and the sauce tied all the elements together.

I ordered the linguine aglio e olio and it was also wonderfully cooked with a hint of spiciness and gentle garlic. I didn’t want a protein because I wasn’t starving and I wanted the pasta to speak for itself. In fluent Italian, it shouted, “Oh, that’s-a yummy!“

The pasta dishes were small enough and our stomach still had room so we asked Jose for his favorite. He described the gnocchetti con pesto. Sold! Jose was so right. The little pasta shells held just the right amount of sauce, the crunchiness of the toasted pine nuts was a wonderful contrast to the other textures, the pecorino melted beautifully, and the little dollops of pesto added mini flavor bombs. It was an elevated, elegant mac and cheese for the discerning eater. It simultaneously brought me back to my childhood and made me glad I grew up to appreciate fine dining.

Tammy and Sean were full l but I had to at least look at the dessert menu even if I was too stuffed for a big dessert. If it was up to me, I was going to choose the chocolate dipped forgotten cookie. It was the cheapest on the menu, which made me think it was small. I wasn’t looking for cheap; I wanted small and I love chocolate and was prepared to order the cookie. What exactly is a “forgotten cookie?” How do you forget a good cookie? Tammy asked Jose for his favorite dessert and he told us a story. 

He was having a potluck dinner with friends and they asked him to bring a dessert. Since he worked at Monteverde, he decided to bring five of their tiramisu. Unfortunately, his friends got sick so he put the tiramisu in the freezer and over the next week, he pulled one of them out at a time, just for himself. He missed his friends but was happy to have all five tiramisu. After a story like that, we had to try it!

I was expecting a small portion but it was big and embedded with three uneven wedges of midnight-dark cookies. I passed the dish down to Tammy and she spooned out a piece with one of the chocolate shards. Sean did the same and I was left with almost half the tiramisu. I was tempted to eat off the plate but I held back. I took a thin slice and left the last crackly wedge. My first taste was coffee-y and creamy with a hint of chocolate. It was good. Tammy was happy with her portion but Sean had room for a little more. He touched the final thin cookie wedge and I reminded him I hadn’t had one yet. He explained that he was just holding it so it wouldn’t fall and shatter. He took another inch and left me the rest.

Now I grabbed the plate. I took a bite, picked up the cookie and chomped a corner- an explosion of chocolatey goodness! The crispy cookie set off the creamy smoothness and bound up all the flavors into an incredibly tasty dessert. Every mouthful of tiramisu was enhanced and upgraded by a sliver of cookie. I took smaller bites so I could make sure that I had a bit of both in every nibble.

Tammy bought the cookbook and Jose asked chef Sarah to come out to sign it. Tammy and chef Sarah had a brief conversation and Tammy was on cloud nine. She started to read it in the car, continued in the hotel, and brought it out on the plane ride home.