My Favorite Restaurants: Top 35 Tasting Menus, Pt. 2 (#20 - #11)

20.) Lurra  (Kyoto - 2023)

There are many amazing options for fine dining in Kyoto, the home of the Kaiseki cuisine. Most are deep into the higher end of Kaiseki pricing. Instead I opted for a place run by a Norwegian with a staff of various ethnicities, and cooking up incredible fare with Japanese precision, ingredient inspiration and the rest. The only real knock is that the primary main was a absolutely ludicrously good mushroom, but mushroom the same. Still, their dishes like ricotta balls made to look like pumpkins in a delectable soup, or an incredible watermelon and caviar dish, and so much else, was crafted with the precision one would expect for Japanese cuisine. I was honored to see that Phil Rosenthal went there in his latest trip - for me once going to a place before him. It isn't the msot prominent but in a place of food royalty, it's two Michelin stars are a showcase of how worthy it is overall.

19.) Canis  (Toronto - 2019, 2020)

The last restaurant on the list to have closed during the pandemic might be the saddest loss of all. Toronto's Canis became a refuge for me a few times when I had flights cancelled returning from Toronto. It was a small tasting-menu only spot with a seven course beautiful meal with Canadian ingredients and inventive preparations. It was proper tasting menu small portions, quick bites, but just incredible presentation. They always started with two amouses, one of which would be a tartare on cracker, then always a small half-pie of duck terrine. The rest of the menu would change, from a couple fish or seafood dishes (they had a great lobster dish) to a couple great meats (honestly, had good lamb and beef, but their best dish was a duck that was braised for two days. Their sauces and consommes were always perfect. They were great in turning what was written as a 6-course meal into 8 with some throw ins. The place truly was special, and I really hate that they had to shut down.

18.) NOA Chef's Hall  (Tallinn - 2024)

I underrated Tallinn, even knowing it was a great place. On my first day there, I took a ride around the coastline down to NOA, and from that second didn't underrate it more for a second. First they seat you in a library type room, where they bring you three simple, golden bites - all incredible. Then take you to the main area, with a large hearth and open kitchen, just pumping out great food. Nominally, steeping it in Estonian cuisine, but adding such flourish. Dollops of caviar, both normal and "estonian" (from a white strawberry). Inventive techniques like how they flash cook langoustines using hot metal. An impeccable main of lamb that was one of the single best dishes I've had in a European restaurant. All of it with teh flair and exactness you would expect from a Spain or Italy, with zero pretension as well. Just a special place.

17.) Le Du  (Bangkok - 2022)

There are many top restaurants in Bangkok, and Le Du is one of the few that focus on actual Thai food (quick shout out for the now closed Bo.Lan, a place I never was able to make it to). Their thai focused tasting menu was excellent, with great use of thai veggies, thai spices, thai curries, everything. The only real knock I can have is there was no standout meat dish. But there were excellent catfish, crab, shrimp, so much more. Le Du also had the most reasonably priced wine pairing I've seen, and good win to boot. The restaurant is doing some great things showcasing a cuisine that so rarely is featured in upscale venues in its own capital.

16.) Pier  (Cape Town - 2022, 2023)

Pier is run by the group that runs even more notable restaurants in the Cape Town area, and is located in the heart of the most touristy area of the city in the V&A Waterfront, not an area for a truly creative explosion of primarily seafood, but all Capetonian food. The restaurant had some incredible dishes with incredible presentations, uncluding a pork jowl and crayfish soup, a mussel and ham sauce put within an oyster, to an incredible lamb flash-grilled in front of you with a million different fixings and sides and incredible sauces. Pier was so clean, so smart, such a great restaurant in a city full of them. Even the cheese course was amazing. Pier was a truly great experience.

15.) Anan  (Ho Chi Minh City  -  2023)

I've eaten here three times. First sampling some of their a-la-carte menu (I don't think there was a tasting then). Then getting a tasting menu that was a sampling. Well, in 2023 they graduated to the class of a michelin star along with a proper, incredible, chef's tasting menu that was a gastronomical delight through my favorite world cuisine. Anan is spearheading the way of showing how fancy, brilliant, inventive, Veitnamese cuisine can be at the tweezer and tasting level. Dishes like their one bite pho, their play on various Vietnamese classics made in their own way, their incredible lamb finish, their brilliant desserts. Vietnam is such a rich cuisine, and Anan is the first to truly to take it to gastronomic brilliance.

14.) Sud 777  (Mexico City - 2018)

Sud 777 when I went was expensive but not notably so. It was seen as Mexico's 3rd or 4th best restaurant, and while it still probably is, it is a bit more reputed now moving up rankings for best restaurants in Latin America. Sud 777 is in a far corner of Mexico City in a residential area with the restraurant being set-up in a multi-story house. The menu was veggie forward (though not vegetarian), all sourced from their farm out back. The dishes were all excellent, from a starting pair of amouse bouches, to a brilliant braised watermelon dish (something I very much failed when trying to replicate), a marlin crudo, a beautifully soft beef cheek, and one of the most interesting desserts I've had, which was literally a roasted onion next to an onion sorbet - and it was amazing. I would love to go back to see how they've changed, if any, from their more homey core that they had at the time.

13.) Belcanto  (Lisbon - 2021)

I just went to Belcanto last fall and chronicled it fully on this blog course by course. Some of this will be a repeat. Overall, the one word to describe it is opulence, from the position near the Opera house, the gold inside, the pristine white tablecloths, and the food from delicious small bites showcasing a refined version of Portuguese cuisine, to the famous 'Garden of the Goose that laid the Golden Egg' dish, fit with a long-cooked egg covered in gold leaf. There were about 15 moments alltogether, and while some were slightly below great, most were amazing, including the gold leaf, their breads and butters, to a little gold ball of cod, to an oyster with tuna tartare and a cod pearl. The food was authentically Portugeuse, from river prawns to so many great sardines and cod, to the main dish having a beef liver nata tart. Belcanto was immaculate in its gaudiness, even though it was pumping up what is often seen as a less refined cuisine.

12.) Mume  (Taipei - 2019)

I talked in the Belly of the Beast section of how most of the ones ranked above it are more on the molecular gastronomy side - and the top three all are, but Mume is frankly not, but it is truly mesmerizing. Like Pujol it is only six dishes but each was amazing in its focus and depth. Their two starters of jicama & prawn then a plum, kombu and tuna crudo were both just beautiful. The wagyu beef tartare was incredible, with teh softest bread for you to lap it up with. The two 'mains' of braised milkfish and oxtongue were impeccable. Even the dessert of tropical 'snow' was awesome. To some degree, while I could never see myself being able to make the dishes that the top three do because I wouldn't know where to begin, these are not dishes that are out of the realm of possibility. I could make something that looks similar; what is out of the realm of possibility is any idea that they would taste nearly as good, be as clean, as refined, as perfect as 'normal' food can be,

11.) Mayta  (Lima - 2022)

I went to Mayta not really knowing how good it was, and was astounding by the quality of its tasting menu. Not the longest, but maybe the one that truly had no bad dish. A little bit later, it was ranked as the 32nd best restaurant in teh world. Hard to argue. The setting is great, with stone tables and greenery everywhere. The food was incredible, with some of the most interesting dishes I've had - from a aged, roasted eggplant with an incredible foam, maybe the best cooked fish I've ever had, and a really beautiful duck and black rice main. Even the desserts were nice. Sure, you coudl wish it was longer, but there was also no miss, no oversight, nothing but great dish after great dish.

My Favorite Restaurants: Top 35 Tasting Menus, Pt. 1 (#35 - #21)

35.) Mikla  (Istanbul - 2024)

Istanbul has a few great spots, and while I do have one ranked a bit higher, none are as reputed as Mikla. The place has all the trappings of a classic tasting menu spot - white everywhere, impeccable plating, creativity and more than anything graet use of local ingredients. My only complaint, if you can even call it that, is a seafood-forward meal where I was wanting something more hearty, but the quality of the seafood and fish makes up for it anyway. Turkey has a few spots - Mikla is right up there.

34.) Deane House  (Calgary - 2019)

I believe Deane House has closed, but at the time it was one of Calgary's top restaurants, and most interestingly when I went had a whole menu featuring various preparations of Alberta's greatest gastronomical contribution: beef. From tartare, to pate, to raviolo's, to just plain great cooked beef. They had a particular view, a particular speciality, and did a great job showcasing it. The setting also, built inside and in the grounds of a house right in the middle of the urban maw that is Calgary, was quite special as well. I'll say this about our friend's up north - there is a lot of great food in Canada.

33.) Canoe  (Toronto - 2022, 2023)

As I was saying.... Canoe took over for me as my tasting menu of choice after Canis (higher up the list) closed down. It is on the top floor of a downtown office buildign with a great view, but would be ranked similarly high if it were on teh ground floor of a low-rise (like Canis). The food was prstine, if a bit light, from a great take on oysters to a perfectly cooked strip steak finish. The best dish might have been the thickest, heartiest, most well cooked chowder I may have ever had. Canoe was a great restaurant, more than befitting taking over from Canis as my Toronto go-to.

32.) Mak N Ming  (Vancouver - 2018)

This is also the first one on this list to have since closed due to the pandemic. Anyway, Mak N Ming was a husband/wife teamed restaurant in Vancouver that served an excellent, if a bit heavy, tasting menu, all with a refined, modern Asian bent. From an excellent Ramen, to a dish they called 'dirt' which looked like a pot filled of dirt that you ate (honestly, forgot exactly what it was), to two excellent tartares. Mak N Ming was a great restaurant with a clear focus. I think it also set a good squeeze between overly fancy, "tweezer" food with just great tasting food. My only one complaint isn't even a fair one in that it was a heavy meal. Then again, they really gave you your moneys worth.

31.) Laurel  (Budapest - 2024)

Laurel is a classic spot. White tablecloths, white clad waiters. Really sharp, classic dishes with a great refinement. My favorite restaurants probably lean on more the inventive and avant garde type, but Laurel goes more for just having great food. There was no real complaints at all about Laurel - some standouts as well, including an amazing venison dish as the main, easily the best venison dish I've ever had. Also a refined, elevated version of Goulash, with a dish titled catfish paprikash, that was just outstanding. Laurel was a classy establishment that knows it super well - the adults tasting menu for Budapest, if you will. This will make more sense as a comparison when I talk about the other Budapest spot to come.

30.) Belly of the Beast  (Cape Town - 2020, 2022, 2023)

Housed in a warehouse in a area of the town being gentrified. The six course meal is served at a very leisurely pace, with the focus being on the food and its creativity. The dishes were all made with such heart and mixed a lot of interesting components - from ones like a South African take on babaganoush with venison tartare, then three giant mussels with various sauce toppings, then a beautiful chantarelle mushroom dish, a peri-peri dusted flaky hake, and a karoo lamb with a perfect sauce. The desert was even a warm, lovely cake. It wasn't the fanciest, but each dish was impeccably prepared. Pretty soon we'll start getting into restaurants that go more in the gastrology route - but there are some brilliant restaurants that are just 'normal" in a sense that still are worth going out of your way to eat at.

29.) Ryunique  (Seoul - 2022)

Ryunique is fairly new in the Seoul restaurant scene, and I think it is on the way to being even more seen as a leading restaurant in a leading food city. The food was generally beautiful, the only knocks is there were a few courses that looked better than they tasted, and their main, while excellently cooked, was a bit basic. They had a few standout dishes though, like maybe the best set of desserts that I've had at a tasting menu. 

28.) Finnjavel  (Helsinki - 2024)

Finnjavel I first saw on Somebody Feed Phil, that episode, and that visit to Finnjavel being one of the reasons I wants to go to Helsinki in the first place. The restaurant was excellent too, living up to those expectations. Nothing incredible, but a series of 9/10 dishes. Some were quite great, including their main dish - a cabbage wrapped lamb which was just delicious. Out of any restaurant on my trip, this one probably had the best desserts as well, such as a beautiful play on french toast, and a petit eight of little bites to end it. Maybe it would've ranked higher had their been a bit more playfulness but it was a seriously good meal.

27.) Den  (Tokyo - 2023)

I want to write this and not come across to negative, as all in all Den is a fantastic meal with some of teh sharpest flavors and best ingredients you can ask for. But it also astounds me it is so highly rated on Top-50 type lists. Not that it is bad. Their fish in peanut broth is something I still dream about. Their 23-piece salad, each cooked in different ways, is about as stunning as it can get. The ingredients are perfect. And if anything, for Japan it is fairly affordable a Michelin Star spot. All in all a great meal, but I think there are better places of less repute.

26.) Alo  (Toronto - 2023, 2024)

I still have longed to find the replacement for Canis in Toronto (still to come on the list), and Alo is the closest I've gotten. By trade it markets itself as French inspired, but if anything the food is more fusion with Japanese influence, and just sublime. Great preparations of tartare, of chawanmushi, of venison, of so much else, with exactness that comes from a dedicated team of chefs that are super interesting to watch up close on their chef's counter. Alo is still not Canis (both in taste and being more expensive) but it is about as good as I've found in The Six.

25.) Alaf  (Istanbul - 2024)

I was planning a visit to Alaf before realizing they had a tasting menu option. For my last meal in Turkey I decided to splurge for it, and man was it incredible. They are pushing boundaries - deserts made to look like chilies, takes on innards to be eaten like burgers, their cutesy version of "lamb kebab", and so much else. Not all hit the mark, but man were they showcasing the entirety of Anatolian cuisine, from camel tarts to skullfish. I expect only bigger and better things from this relative newcomer spot in the Istanbul culinary world.

24.) Restaurante 99  (Santiago - 2018)

We were hoping to go to Borago, which is Santiago's top rated restuarant, but 'settled' for Restaurante 99 instead, which was excellent. The food is based on local ingredients but is more of modern fusion than any real 'Chilean' focus, but it was still excellent. It was early January, so we sat outside and because of that the pictures are a bit blurry, but do show off some of the inventiveness of the menu. There was a dish with aout six or seven preparations of mushrooms, including one constructed mushroom using two different preparations to make it look like a large mushroom. There was a bowl of perfectly seasoned little cockels, two great amouse bouches, and honestly I think my favorite set of desserts ever at a tasting menu spot - one called a 'red pepper' which was a sorbet with bits of red pepper again constructed to look like a red pepper. Restaurant 99 was a great spot, our best meal on maybe my favorite trip of all time.

23.) Salt  (Budapest - 2024)

And here's the inventive. playful one of Budapest, the place that hit a lot of the right spots. It had the most courses of any spot on my most recent trip - 15. Not all of them worked, but even the ones that didn't fully, I had to admire the pushing of envelopes - such as a first little bit which was jsut a bundle of raw herbs, salt and yeast butter. But when they were on, man were they on. An incredible hen of the woods mushroom dish. Such brilliant uses of various picked ingredients, just adding taht little tartness to each dish. A dynamic bread course with the dip being duck and goose pates. A just brilliant main of pork cheek and beet. Various uses of old time yogurt and curd based desserts. They weren't there to knock you out with refinement, but with vision of a culinary history more deep than you would think.

22.) Sushi M  (Tokyo - 2023)

I wanted to splurge on one sushi tasting menu. There are more famous spots in Tokyo, and more expensive ones, but I have to say hard to think any are plain better than Sushi M. One counter, dark lighting except for single spotlights on each table space. A sushi master behind the counter calmly creating magic. What I loved msot is beyond the say 12-15 pieces of nigiri, from all types of tuna to abalone, to squid to so much else (uni, egg sushi, etc.), was how they layered in other stuff, from a cold seafood soup, to a great little amouse bouche, to even of course a wagyu beef dish in the middle. Their sake pairing was incredible as well for those who prefer that to a more traditional wine. I truly could not have had anything better than this incredible meal.

21.) La Colombe  (Cape Town - 2024)

Cape Town has a series of incredible spots, including two to come. La Colombe has been around for many years, an old mainstay in teh Cape Town fine dining circuit, but it was not until this my 7th trip that I went. Situated far away up on a winery hill, the setting could not be more gorgeous, only met by the food. If it were a few more courses, probably ends up higher on the list, but it was pure ecstasy. One of the best poultry dishes I've had, in a quail three ways. As always a brilliant lamb finish. A brilliant bread course with compound butters shaped to make to look like fruits. They mixed whimsy, elegance and refinedness perfectly.

Can Hockey Build off of the 2024 Final

Many, many lifelong hockey fans were complaining that a Stanley Cup Final game was being played on Monday, June 24th. By far the latest we've ever had (covid seasons excepted). The irate reactions to so many gaps of two days - of course most of those due to not conflicting with the NBA, that has done a 3-week long finals schedule for eons now. It was weird. It leads to a super rushed week that goes from Game 7 through the Hall of Fame class being announced, to the NHL Draft and then Free Agency. All of it is weird. But do you know what? Thist may have been the best thing to happen to the NHL.

With the NBA Finals starting first, and ending so quickly, the NHL took the sport spotlight. Sure, there are millions who don't care at all, but I saw a lot of people posting on Twitter about how great the Stanley Cup Final was. So many people watching hockey for the first time, posting about the speed, the madness, the nail-biting drama. So many people getting their first exposure to hockey with one of hte most dramatic Finals we've had in decades, with so many competing storylines that are easy for a casual. The NHL got a week in the spotlight, and man did the product deliver.

It's funny since rewind a week and the NHL was staring at a 3-0 series, much like the NBA was, but good God the Oilers earned their stripes. That rout in Game 4 felt different than the Mavs similar rout in their Game 4. Their close win in Game 5 set things up so well. The atmosphere and dynamics of that Game 6 in Edmonton, with a stadium as loud as one will ever be. And it all led, with two days of anticipation for a game many billed as the Biggest game in NHL History. From a "history" standpoint, probably an exaggeration. But from what it could mean to the league? Absolutely.

We were either going to get the biggest collapse ever, allowing a Canadian team to win a Cup for the first time in 31 years, with arguably the most talented player ever at its core. Or we get the crowning of a great Florida team, and one more "non-traditional" market that is firming itself up as a hockey hotbed (much like Florida's neighbors three hours north in Tampa). So much rode on this game, but also the chance to entertain millions of people that normally don't watch hockey.

I can't overstate the importance of that game not being a boring rout (much like the last two Game 7's were in 2011 and 2019). The last time the NHL had this much going for it in a single game was probably Game 7 in 2009 - the last great Game 7, when Crosby's Penguins went to Detroit and won against the defending champs. That set off a mini hockey renaissance (along with the rise of the Blackhawks), before the 2012 lockout and tough to love Kings kind of ruined things for a bit. Thsi was hockey's next chance, after a full week of chances, and it delivered.

That first period itself was one of the best played, most dramatic and tense, first periods I've ever watched. And from so many tweets, again many from basketball reporters, football reporters, to even, hell, football players (e.g. Reggie Wayne), it was a collective experience of ultimate enjoyment. Even if the second and third periods didn't quite live up to it, there were a few moments of brilliance that will hopefully attach enough of the first-timers to set hockey on a new course.

First was the six minute stretch in the second period without a whistle, ending perfectly with the Sam Reinhart winning goal, right after the Oilers came an inch away from taking the lead. That six minute stretch was something special. Hockey is never better than when you get one of these stretches without a whistle. Basketball is similar, in a way, but even there the game is slower than hockey. Here it was up an down, a few missed changes, some odd man rushes, some scrambles, and ending exactly a 5:59 without a whistle. In truth, it didn't end with a whistle, it ended with a goal horn.

Second was the last few minutes of the game. Yes, it would've been nice if the Oilers had a clearer chance in those dying seconds after pulling the goalie. Yes, it would've been great if Bobrovsky had to lay out at the death for a few saves, say like Marc Andre-Fleury had to in 2009. But still, the energy, the noise in the building - amplified somehow by the 40% or so that seemed to be Oilers fans. Those last seconds with the fans realizing it was over was a noise level that should grab people.

And finally, of course, the celebration of the handshake line and the Cup, the moments of all these players skating aroudn. It is almost passe to say it at this point, but the fact that the NHL hands the trophy to the players first, and you get this moment of them skating aroudn with the Cup, is just so iconic. It is the best trophy in sports. Even non-hockey fans just absolutely know this their core.

For all the people who like me are trying to make this a super important moment for the sport, if not a turning point of sorts, much of that is wishful thinking. We want hockey to be more loved. Of course, despite having some lingering "big-4"-ness, we know the NBA left it a long time ago. But if we can steal a few fans back, well we should want a bigger tent. It was so cool seeing people who don't really watch hockey tweet about the game and more pontedly tweet about how great the game is - how incredible playoff hockey is. It is that great, and hopefully this is the start of more of that to come.

The Magnificence of the 2024 Euro's

It happened almost instantly, on day two of the tournament. Albania, a newcomer to the Euro's, scored thirty seconds into their clash against Italy. The half of the fans in red and black were going insane. This after the mockingly, jokingly, snapped pasta in the faces of Italian fans pre-game. Italy of course came back with a vengeance, adn the blue half of the stadium was going insane. Albania had a few chances late, and the atmosphere was just on 11 for the entire game.

It continued more the next day, when Slovenia, in their first major tournament in years, went balls to the wall in the second half, finally scoring late to eke out a draw against Denmark. We saw in the next day when Romania scored two bangers to beat Ukraine, in Romania's first tournament in a long time. Then Turkey overran the stadium in their win of Georgia. On and on and on it went. Day after day, game after game. There's much of this tournament to go, and it's already breaking the bank of memories.

Three things define this Euro's so far. First the nature of the crowds, the atmosphere, the fan zones. All of it such a nice return of a mostly fan-less Euro 2020 (played in 2021) and the weirdness that hung over Qatar 2022 like a pall. And truthfully, while I'm sure the US World Cup in 2026 will generally go off fine, even then the atmosphere won't be the same. We ahve to savor every moment of how great this has all been.

Second, the level of bangers. Not sure if it has crossed the 2018 World Cup in terms of the total panolpy of audacious banger goals, but this is certainly coming close. Just a crazy amount of goals from outside the box, even from teams you wouldn't expect like Romania getting two screamers in their opening game. There has been some icnredible ballsiness on these shots.

And finally, and maybe most importantly, the style of play has been refreshing. We've come so long from our 2010 and 2012 nadir, when nearly every game would be some team driving 75% of possession and the otehr sitting back. Sure, there's still some of that now, but the games have by and large fed off the crowd and been more open, and certainly more dynamic, with weird awesome swings like Denmark dominating a first half and almost at the drop of a hat switching to Serbia. There's a freshness with this unpredictability.

But really, att least as the group stage is concerned, the real glory has been that first point. The fans, the atmosphere, teh chanting, the vibes. I mentioned early on that viral video of the Albanian fans breaking raw spaghetti in half in front of Italian fans on the street. In writing it seems stupid and the wrong (read: annoying) type of people may look to say its offensive. However, in reality, it was hilarious. The Italians comically overreacted in disgust. It was a beautiful moment, and there's been so many more.

It's been a while since we had a major tournament in what woudl be seen as a traditional football powerhouse. We had the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which was a celebration of all things South American football, and then the 2016 Euros in France which was supposed to be spectacular. I often think the world writ large is unfair to the vibes, atmosphere of Russia 2018, but are probably right to say what a disappoinment teh 2022 World Cup was from a fan perspcctive. Giant throngs of fans all unison in one color, mobbing the streets and open plazas of German towns: that's what these tournaments are supposed to be about.

Same with the play on the field. THis is the third Euro's since it expanded to 24 teams, and while that still leaves some unfortunate situations of 3rd place teams in groups making the knockouts, for the first time it seems like there are 24 teams worthy of being here. The gap between best and worst is smaller than ever, and the fans packing every building, and all 23 countries traveling well in Germany, has made this just a perfect brew.

I hope it never ends. It will of course. Already in the third set of group stage games, that perfect routine of a game at 9am, 12noon and 3pm has broken. But that's not to say we already haven't had the spectacular so far, with Germany's stoppage time equalizer against Switzerland (to win the group), Hungary's 90+10' winner against Scotland, Italy's dramatic goal in the 90+5' to draw Croatia and secure their place (and almost certainly end the run of Luka Modric). This tournament has had it all. Euro 2024 is a masterpiece of a tournament, six years in the making. The first real, non-bastardized major tournament post covid is making up for lost time.

That third aspect, the level and evenness of play, is super important in this as well. The most pointed example is the Manchester City players who play best in that system, just control and keeping and probing the ball, in Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne, have had fairly average tournaments. This isn't the tournament for complex, possession heavy systems. We've had teams wear down from over pressing. No, instead this has been the tournament of bangers, of 1v1 dribbles, of counters, of brilliance. I truly hope I don't overplay what is to come, but this has been a special, special tournament halfway through.

Just Let Canada Win a Cup

Most hockey fans will know that it has been 31 years since a Canadian team won a Stanley Cup. Even non-hockey sports fans are often aware of this weird dichotomy, the country that loves hockey above any other sport, that provides about half the players in the league, and that have had between 6-7 teams, good for generally 20% - 25% of the league through that period, has not won since the first year of the Clinton administration. They've come close, losing the Final in 1994 (Vancouver), 2004 (Calgary), 2006 (Edmonton), 2007 (Ottawa), 2011 (Vancouver, again), and 2021 (Montreal). Four of those losses were in Game 7 (1994, 2004, 2006, 2011), admittedly three of the four the Canadian team was on the road for Game 7. Anyway you slice it though, it is mathematically super unlikely that any group of 6-7 teams in a 24-32 team league wouldn't win the title in a 30 year span.

Made worse, for Canadians at least, is that so many of the Cups in intervening years have been won by "non-traditional" hockey markets - the markets that only have teams because the best player of all time left Edmonton. Those dastardly warm weather teams won in 1999 (Dallas - admittedly a relocation team), 2004 (Tampa), 2006 (Carolina, again relocation), 2007 (Anaheim), 2012 (Los Angeles), 2014 (Los Angeles), 2020 & 2021 (Tampa) and of course, maybe worst of all last year (Vegas), where a team that only existed for six years won a Cup.

All this leads to teh series that will be kicking off in a few days. There has maybe never been a better set-up for drama, with Edmonton, the most northernly Canadian team, with of course the leagues best player, trying to break the streak against Florida, maybe the most stereotypical example of the "non-traditional market" (at least since Phoenix is no longer with us). Granted, we've had the Canadian Hope against Non-Traditional Market in 2004 and 2006, but both of those years the Canadian team was the significant underdog, Cinderella team. Edmonton is no Cinderella, and I hope to God they win.

I'm not Canadian, though through different work projects have spent a lot of time in Canada, but in this series I am. For a few reasons, but maybe none more than that their crazy, ridiculous, color-coordinated fans, are what made me love this sport so much. I wrote a Nostalgia Diaries years ago about growing up sneaking my way into watching late nigth Western Conference games, specifically those played in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver (shout-out to San Jose, Colorado, Anaheim, etc.). Those crowds. The chants, the energy, the colors. The way they had the crowd sing O Canada - I can pull Youtube clips of the Edmonton crowd in 2006 singing O Canada and get myself energized. That is fandom.

That excitement just exploded out of the TV screen and into a young, impressionable hockey fans living room and heart. Sure, I was a Devils fan first and foremost, and their long semi-dynasty from 1995-2012 kept my interested always at a baseline, but following their 2003 Cup win, they generally were knocked out early in the playoffs. It was those Western Conference Canadian crowds, from the Red Mile in Calgary 2004, the the white-outs in Winnipeg, to the deep, bellowing goal horn of the Canucks, that got me back in and cemented hockey as my second favorite sport (granted, that alternates with baseball almost weekly). We saw it this past series in Edmonton - I've never heard a crowd come across louder through the screen than the 3rd period of that game.

That is hockey, the best distillation of it. New Jersey was not really cold enough to have the frozen ponds and what not, but even then the mythology of the backyard makeshift rinks in some Canadian farm town - that is what this sport is more than anything else. It's their time.

I want Detroit fans to experience a Super Bowl win, or Cleveland fans. The country of Canada, from 1993 to now, is basically a country of Lions fans when it comes to winning the one thing that is their national identity. The Stanley Cup is named after the old governor general of Canada, for christsakes (the one bit of Colonialism I can get behind). 

And this in reality is the right team to break the streak. Granted, the 2011 Canucks would've been a perfectly great team to do so as well, with the lovable Sedins and the rest, but then they went and played that whole series as if the weight of a country was on them. I truly hope Edmonton doesn't do that. Even aside from teh Canada thing, I've long proclaimed my staunch belief that every all time great deserves at least one ring, and Connor McDavid is very much that. Leon Draisaitl not too far behind him. The rest of that team is full of interesting stories and legacies as well - my pet favorite being Adam Henrique, the guy who had two series winning OT goals as a rookie for the magical 2012 Devils, a playoff run I'll never forget. He didn't win the Cup that year, but he;'s old enough to be the Oilers nominal OGWAC. The stories are all there.

Not that I would be sad if Florida wins - they have a bunch of great stories as well, and they are genuinely an excellent team that all things said are slight favorites in my mind. Seeing them bounce back from losing the Final last year has been great to watch. But really guys, Canada may just burn to the ground if this Edmonton team loses to Florida. But God willing that won't happen. Canada deserves this, and more than that, I just want it for them.

Real Madrid's 6 in 11, the Memories

2014

It's hard to remember now after they've won the competition more often than not, but in the eleven years preceding (2003 - 2013) they didn't win once. It was an obsession of Real Madrid's to win La Decima. For a while they never got close, losing in the Round of 16 five straight seasons, some in embarrassing fashion. But Jose Mourinho changed that, along with Cristiano. But even then it was a series of Semifinal losses - all various levels of infamy, from losing to Barcelona, to losing on PKs, to losing 1-4 in a 1st leg to Dortmund.

But 2014 seemed different. Ancelotti had the team humming in Europe. Their 5-0 two-leg win over Bayern Munich, including a 4-0 undressing of Munich in Munich in the second leg, was the stuff of legend. I was on a project in Mexico at the time. I vividly remember teh second leg playing out on a TV in teh corner of the lunch spot we were at. The first Ramos header was fun, the second was insane, and then the perfect counter attack, ending in Ronaldo's goal to make it 3-0 was ecstasy.

I was similarly abroad for the final, on a cruise with friends. They had one sports bar on the boat that showed the game, though we arrived towards the end of the second half, when Madrid was still trailing. They were dominating the game (something often forgotten). It seemed like a fait accompli they would win, and the mystique and aura of Madrid's recent times would indeed start with Ramos's goal at 92:48, but at the time it seemed like the most agonizing way to lose out on La Decima, to your crosstown rival. So much might be different if Ramos doesn't get that header. Ancelotti maybe gets fired then, losing both the league and UCL to Atletico Madrid. But isntead 92:48 happened, and everything has happened since starts from that moment.

2016

The whole Zidane 1.0 experience seems like a fever dream, maybe none more than the first title at this point. Zidane took over a talented team in dissaray, and almost instantly got them humming. He committed to Casemiro being in teh starting eleven, displacing primarily James. Real Madrid was probably the best team in Europe the second half of that season, going 15-1-2 in La Liga under Zidane, including a 2-1 in Barcelona during a 10-game win streak to close the season. They were amazing. They weren't though in Europe.

Looking back now, if there was any year where Real Madrid didn't really deserve the trophy for their level of play, it was this one, as it was fairly flimsy, but even within that there were some amazing moments. The greatest being the 3-0 2nd leg win against Wolfsburg, a hat trick by Ronaldo, to overturn a 0-2 first leg loss. That first leg was dreadful, but this was the birth of something special. Even in the Round of 16, there was a great moment after Ronaldo scored the opener in the first leg, where he runs right over to Zidane and gives him a giant hug. Vibes FC to some degree started then. 

The semifinal was a dour 1-0 two-leg win over a pre-Pep Man City. The final a fairly average performance in a 1-1 (5-3 in penalties) win over Atletico Madrid, but even in these games Zidane showed a keen ability to change up game plans and styles. In the final, after scoring first, Zidane had his team sit back a bit. I remember in that moment being fairly in awe of Zidane's ability to know how to push and pull posession vs. counter. The penalties were never in doubt, Madrid going 5 for 5 with none being close to being stopped. This was the first penalty shootout Madrid played since losing to Bayern in the 2012 semis, a shootout with three misses, including a comically bad miss by Ramos to end it. Here, Ramos got the 4th penalty and Ronaldo finished it. They weren't the best often in Europe, but they were in Spain and they were, more than anything, ust get started.

2017

Everyone has that one season that they just completely obsess over. In other sports, it was the 2002-03 Devils (they won the Cup!) or the 2009 Colts (they... didn't win it all...). For soccer, it was the 2016-17 Real Madrid team - Zidane's first year in charge, fighting off fluke allegations. The team itself fighting off fluke allegations. Instead, they had one of the best years in their history, winning the league with style, winning Europe with style, capped off with a masterclass of a Final, a 4-1 throttling of a very good Juventus team, where they toyed with them for the entirety of the second half.

This was a team on a mission - a mission to win the league for the first time in five years, and to do what no team had done before in the modern incarnation of the Champions League: go back-to-back. It started brilliantly, with extending their streak of games without a loss to 28 in La Liga before finally dropping one in Seville on January 15th. This team was so good, so deep that by the second half of the season, to conserve the stars legs for the Champions League run, Zidane played full B teams for road games. Of course, the B team included Nacho, Pepe, James, Kovacic, Morata, Bale (by then replaced by Isco), Asensio, etc. This was dominance & depth personified.

Their run through Europe was also something special, going 6-0-1 in the knockout rounds, the one loss being a 2nd leg 2-1 loss to Atleti after winning 3-0 in the first leg. It was Ronaldo at his best, with hat tricks against Bayern (2nd leg QF) and Atleti (1st leg SF), but also the team as a whole at their best. That starting XI shoudl go down in history: Navas - Carvajal - Ramos - Varane - Marcelo - Casemiro - Kroos - Modric - Isco - Benzema - Ronaldo. The Gala XI. The best team in Europe by far. 

It's become super fashionable to categorically state how Madrid is a UCL monster but was rarely the best team in Europe. I argue vehemently against this most seasons. They definitely weren't the best team in Europe in 2018 (we'll come to that in a minute) and 2022, but they probably were in 2014, 2024. I would argue they were in 2016 if we take the Zidane period of the team. All that noise aside, the one undisputable fact is taht they were the best team in teh world in 2017. A magical team, that capped it off with a truly dominant performance against Juventus in the final. Juve had given up 3 goals the entire competition - they scored 4. They could've scored 6. Juventus had some moments in the first half, including a ludicrously cool team goal, but that second half should be put in a museum for Madrid. They were so clearly the team on the mountaintop.

2018

Overtime, the threepeat got this unearned reputation that they weren't good domestically but jsut overly brilliant in Europe. It is for the mess of the 2018 season that this label stuck. It isn't deserved. The 2017 team won La Liga, and the 2016 team probably would have had Zidane been there from the start, losing out by one point after finishing on that 15-2-1 run I noted. But in 2018, tehy were just not all that good in Spain. I don't know if it was intentional, but man did they rise in Europe.

I specifically remember their quarterfinal win over Juventus. How could you not - the cementing moment being Ronaldo's first leg bicycle-kick in the rain. Madrid by then already were gone in Spain, but of course they go to Turin and win 3-0 in a driving rainstorm scoring wonder-goals. That incredible reaction of Zidane brushing his head, as much a meme moment as the goal itself. Of course, they then almost blow it, giving up that 3-0 lead before a 92nd minute penalty in the 2nd leg. I was at my eye doctors at the time, in the waiting room, just catatonic that their 3-0 first leg win would nearly be for naught. But nothing is for naught.

Same with the Semifinal first leg win in Munich, won by a brilliant goal by Marco Asensio. The 2018 team for all their faults became to date the only winner to win all three of their knockout stage away leg matches, 2-1 in Paris, 3-0 in Turin, 2-1 in Munich. That is who they were. They just knew how to win. I remember those moments more than the final, which they deservedly won 3-1 against Liverpool but the whole affair clouded by the weirdness hanging over things. I don't think we knew Zidane was days away from retiring, but the celebration seemed muted - made worse by Bale and Ronaldo both giving post-match interviews expressing their displeasure. 

The Zidane era would end, the Ronaldo era would end. For all the weirdness, the fact they threepeated is still so surreal. No one had won two straight in teh Champions League era, and now this Madrid team, with a fairly similar starting 11 each year, wins three straight. It was crazy, made even more crazy by a novice manager who happened to be one of the greatest players ever as the manager pulling the strings. It ended badly, and needed Zidane to rescue them again months later, but for a moment it all seemed so incredibly surreal.

2022

This is the one that cemented them as the run to end all runs. I still remember that second leg against Man City. I was in the airport, about to board a flight to Las Vegas (to then head to Zion). I was following the game on the airport TVs, boarding when it was 1-0 Man City (5-3 on aggregate) heading towards the end of full time. I turned it off, and boarded. The row in front of me had a guy watching the game and he exclaimed in glee that we were heading to extra time. I'll admit, it was the one time I turned my back on Madrid, and they repaid  it with two goals by Rodrygo.

I quickly signed up for a free trial of Paramount+ to watch extra time, with Benzema's penalty, and see them close it out in euphoric glee, the game ending right before take-off. It was thrilling. It was a European night in the Bernabeu. That whole run was about nights in the Bernabeu, from Benzema's second half hat trick to overcome PSG in the Round of 16, to of course Benzema's 96th minute winner to break a 4-4 aggregate tie against Chelsea in the Quarterfinals. People say Madrid escaped, but to me it was Madrid just making the right plays at the right times. We gloss over in this run Madrid winning 3-1 in Stamford Bridge, or three times scoring after Man City took two goal leads in teh first leg in Manchester. They were never overrun, just always around.

The final itself was fairly unremarkable, a 1-0 win over Liverpool where Courtois made great save after great save, and Vinicius scored a great winner. This run wasn't about the final. By the time we got to the final, the Real Madrid black magic seemed too real for anyone to have any expectation other than a Real Madrid victory. 

The other aspect of this year was the Benzema of it all. Benzema left a year later, after winning the Balon d'Or, and while Madrid didn't replace him directly, it clearly didn't really impact them too much. For that reason it's easy to forget about how ridiculous Benzema was that season. The two hat tricks in the Champions League. The oodles of league goals in a fairly easy La Liga win for Madrid. The cold blooded penalty in extra time against Man City. This was the best player in the world. He was in Madrd forever, but only reached that height for a couple seaons, but enough to make a lasting, memorable impression for the most magical of runs.

2024

It seems all so set in stone when it ended. Madrid was the clear best team in Spain, probably the best team in Europe when firing on all cylinders. They didn't fire on all cylinders in the final, but it didn't matter because it never does. Madrid just wins. Their goal was inevitable. People will probably overstate the amount to which they were "lucky" - certainly Dortmund was the better team in teh first half but they expended way too much energy to wear that crown. Madrid ruled that second half. 

But the story of this team is the ultimate set of vibes. It wasn't that Madrid didn't have harmonious locker rooms before. The 2014 team was legendarily close-knit - this before Bale got hurt and got a bit sidelined, that being the weird undercurrent always present during the threepeat. But this year it was all fun and games. Not that it wasn't hard. La Liga was easy - from the second they beat Girona towards the end of the first half of the season it was basically set in stone. But Europe was not.

For all the vibes and fun of this team though, my lasting memory will be their tie against Man City, particularly their performance in Manchester needing a result after a 3-3 draw in Madrid. They scored first. They defended brilliantly - albeit giving up the equalizer. And then, in their first knockout tie penalty shootout in 12 years, since the disaster against Munich, they were never in doubt. Modric did miss his first, but after they were given some life, Madrid hit the next four with ease. The best one to me was Lucas Vasquez, the main who has worn so many hats but stayed so resolved in his ability to come through in big moments. There was no doubt in the world he was making that penalty. There was no doubt Madrid was winning this title.

La Decima took forever, but adding the next cinco took no time at all. 10 years. Only three players remain, but far more than three won at least four of the six (many constants in teh 2014 + 2016-18 groups) or even five. The fact that though only three remain, two of which are bench players in Modric and Nacho, and one being the second choice back (Carvajal), does make this into a bit of an end of an era. Granted, with Mbappe coming on board, no one would be shocked if they win again next year. But this 6 wins in 11 years run is over, and it was amazing, it was world changing. It was Madrid.