Dining On Doomsday: Name Your Last Meal

So in case you haven’t heard, the world is supposed to end tomorrow. No, for reals this time. And we’ve got it from an absolutely unimpeachable source: some “fringe Christian radio group” led by 89-year-old Marconi preacher Harold Camping. What’s more, camping is nothing if not exact. He claims that the rapture will begin Saturday, May 21 at 6pm Eastern Standard Time.

And while yes, 6pm seems a bit early for a civilized last meal, there’s still tonight. And in honor of the coming apocalypse (which the Centers For Disease Control is almost positive will be zombie-related), Esquire got 20 big name chefs on the horn and asked them what their last meal would be (brains not included).

Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, the man who cooked for my wife and I on our 5th wedding anniversary at Frasca Food + Wine in Boulder, Colorado is going to sit down with a plate of frico caldo, a Friulian version of hash browns made of shredded Yukon Gold potatoes with Montasio cheese and onions, fried in a skillet. Eric Ripert wants nothing more than a smoked salmon croque monseiur with caviar (such simple tastes…). Elizabeth Karmel from Hill Country Barbecue in New York City just wants one more PB&J cupcake.

Esquire even reached out to Philly, asking Robert Aikens from The Dandelion what he would be eating before the world came to an end. His answer? The fish and chips from The Dandelion (I would’ve gone with the Pint of Prawns, personally, but to each his own…).