NYC chefs wouldn’t want any old loaves and fishes for their final meal.
For the actual Last Supper — commemorated this Thursday — Jesus supposedly dined on tilapia, bread, honeycomb, greens, possibly lamb and wine.
The son of God probably wasn’t too fussy, but two milleniums later, when it comes to their own final feasts, popular chefs have very specific ideas. Have a look:
Marc Murphy
The Landmarc chef, whose cookbook “Season With Authority” is out next month, says he’d want a bowl of spaghetti carbonara with a “perfect” Italian red wine.
“Carbonara was one of the first dishes I learned to make, and it is one of the most indulgent,” he says. “It’s a sin worth dying for.”
Anita Lo
“My last supper would definitely have sweetbreads and truffles, two of my favorite ingredients. Nobody makes them better than David Waltuck of Élan [restaurant],” says the Annisa chef. “It would be a sweetbreads dish with freshly shaved truffles that he makes special just for me!”
At her own restaurant, Lo is known for mixing Asian and French fare, and her final feast would do the same.
“There would also need to be sushi,” she says, “either something that I caught myself, or from Sushi Nakazawa that featured lots of uni.”
Geoffrey Zakarian
The Lamb’s Club chef, who relaunched Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel in the fall, would want a bowl of fresh pasta with white truffles.
“It celebrates the earth and simplicity and what wonderful things God left us to enjoy,” he says. “I would also want a charred rib-eye with barrels of Pétrus [wine]. It’s the basic man-food-fire equation updated.”
Maria Loi
Her new restaurant, Loi Estiatorio, serves the simple fare of her native Greece, and that’s just what she’d want for her last dinner.
“I’d have freshly baked crusty bread with Greek extra virgin olive oil, feta cheese, dried Greek oregano from Mount Taygetos, a perfectly ripe tomato,” she says. “These were my favorite things to eat as a child.”
Eric Ripert
The Le Bernardin chef is best known for his seafood preparations, but for his last repast he‘d want something from the land.
“Black truffles with bread, olive oil, salt and some good Bordeaux,” he says. “It’s not your typical last meal. It’s very simple, but it’s something very special.”
Missy Robbins
She’s soon to open an Italian place called Lillia in Williamsburg, and, fittingly, she’d want penne arrabiata and New Haven pizza — plus chocolate chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. “I would wash it all down with bubbly!” she declares.
Wylie Dufresne
Dufresne is famous for his molecular gastronomy creations, but he’d opt for something more pedestrian.
“I’ve always known that my last supper would be a cheeseburger with a fried egg on it, accompanied by a bottle of red wine,” he says. “The burger would have to be rare, the yolk runny… For added decadence, I would have a side of crispy Popeye’s fried chicken.”
Donatella Arpaia
“I would pick handmade spaghetti with fresh tomato and basil sauce, along with freshly baked focaccia, some thinly sliced prosciutto and burrata,” says Arpaia, who recently opened Prova pizzeria.
“My first taste sense memory when I fell in love with food was spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil one summer in Capri. It was love at first bite, and I want it to be my last bite as well.”
Daniel Boulud
The toque with restaurants from here to Beijing has lots of far-flung ideas, but if he had to narrow it down, he’d stay close to home.
“If I could only have one meal, I would choose DBGB — I would gather my closest family and friends and serve all the sausages inspired by many of my favorite destinations, such as the truffle boudin blanc with creamy pommes mousseline from Lyon, the red-curry-spiced Thai sausage; the Tunisian lamb and mint sausage and the sweet Italian pork sausage with fennel and chili flakes,” he says.
“And I would top all of that with a good bottle from Burgundy!”
Terrance Brennan
“I would start with Ossetra caviar from the Caspian Sea on buckwheat blinis, with Krug 1990 to celebrate life. Next would be a seafood plateau, with plenty of Belon oysters,” says the Picholine chef.
“Then I would move on to margherita pizza with just-made mozzarella.”