Top 5 New Fine Dining Restaurants Cibo Matto Taxim Brown Trout Sunda Kith and Kin —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 New Informal Restaurants Xoco Café Senegal Zebda Han 202 Jam —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Alcoholic Things I Drank Pimlico Grid, Province El Pirata, Mercadito Old Fashioned, Bar Deville Negroni Sbagliato, Terzo Piano In Fine Spirits Cocktail, In Fine Spirits —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Non-Alcoholic Things I Drank Hot chocolate – Classico, Xoco Cranberry apple sorbet shooter, one sixtyblue Mint meritage tea, Rare Tea Cellar Mustard bbq sauce (I couldn’t help myself), Honky Tonk BBQ Dulce de Leche milkshake, Big Star —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Desserts I Ate Caramel custard-filled éclair, La Farine Banana cream pie, Hoosier Momma Sticky Toffee Date Cake, one sixtyblue (under pastry chef Stephanie Prida) Coffee and Donuts, Blue 13 Floating Islands, Café Des Architectes —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Breakfast/Brunch Dishes I Ate Malted french toast, Jam Foie gras-topped deep-fried French toast and homemade sausage, Publican Eggs Benedict, Meli Café Fannies fried egg sandwich, M. Henry Pork skin and peanut congee, Shui Wah —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Restaurant Reinventions/New Chef Takeovers Michael McDonald, one sixtyblue Martial Noguier, Café des Architectes Andrew Zimmerman, Sepia Goose Island redo, John Manion New Sun Wah BBQ, Broadway —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Sandwiches Pork Belly Confit, Brand BBQ Lemongrass tofu Banh Mi, Nhu Lan Provoleta, Cafecito Chicago style lobster dog, Lockwood Cochinita pibil, Xoco —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Soups Pho Dac Biet, Pho 888 Hot and Sour soup, Belly Shack Lobster bisque, Bucktown soup café Tomato soup (kids menu), Kith and Kin Carrot ginger beet soup, Birchwood Kitchen —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Best Fine Dining Things I Ate King Crab, Steelhead Roe, Kalamansi and Togaroshi, Avenues Chervil crepes, Brown Trout Spaghetti a la Chittara, Cibo Matto Kung Pao Chicken, Graham Elliot Chicken thighs, Kith and Kin —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Best Casual Things I Ate Curry chicken bastilla, Zebda Cordero con frijoles (lamb stew), D’Candela Debbe (lamb chops), Café Senegal Mike’s Chicken, Sun Wah BBQ Lemongrass beef salad, Han 202 —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 More Best Things I Ate Gunthorp duck liver pate, Rootstock Melitzanosalata, Taxim Crispy pata with foie gras gravy, Sunda Glazed eggplant with fermented black bean and garlic, Sun Wah BBQ Crispy pork belly, Blue 13 —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Fries of 2009 Sweet potato fries, DMK Burger Bar BBQ Debris fries, fRed Hots and Fries Frites, Publican Belgian style fries, Old Town Social Sweet potato fries, Brand BBQ Market —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Tacos Fish Taco, Goose Island Carne Asado, Carbon Cochinita pibil taco, Abuelos Steak Taco, Theory Pork Belly Taco, Big Star —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Organ Meats/Charcuterie/Sausage Gunthorp Farm duck pâté wrapped in bacon and infused with green peppercorn and dried cherries, Sepia Pork Heart, The Bristol Hot links, Uncle John’s BBQ Finocchiona, Old Town Social Brandcheesie, Brand BBQ Market —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Non-Executive Chefs to Watch Shaw Lash, Xoco Stephanie Prida, assistant pastry chef Blackbird Andrew Brochu, Kith and Kin Chris Turner, Mado Mark Steuer, Hot Chocolate —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Under-the-Radar Executive Chefs Chris Curren, Blue 13 David Carrier, Kith and Kin Martial Noguier, Café Des Architectes Michael McDonald, One sixtyBlue Brian Huston, Publican —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Restaurant Gardens Markethouse’s rooftop “martini” garden Nacional 27’s “windowbox” herb gardens Frontera Grill’s “earthbox” rooftop garden Uncommon Ground – Edgewater’s rooftop “organic farm” Charlie Trotter’s backyard herb container garden —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Cookbooks by Chicagoans/Chicago Restaurateurs “The Berghoff Café Cookbook,” Carlyn Berghoff (Andrews McMeel) “Soup and Bread: The Cookbook,” Martha Bayne (self-published) “Sweetness: Delicious Baked Treats for Every Occasion,” Sarah Levy (Agate Surrey) “250 True Italian Pasta Dishes,” John Coletta, Quartino Executive Chef, with Nancy Ross Ryan (Robert Rose) “New American Table,” C-House Restaurant owner Marcus Samuelsson (John Wiley & Sons) —Veronica Hinke
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