Heartland's Best of 2004

[ronnie_suburban]

Let me start this off...

I caught this list of Chicago's Top 10 New Restaurants at citysearch.com, earlier today.

I was delighted to see some of my favorites from this category, like Green Zebra and Miramar, make the list. I was also suprised, based on the broad consensus of bleh reviews it's received, to see Le Lan make the list at #2.

Comments? Other lists to share...perhaps one of your own?

Let's list the lists here

=R=

[Judith Gebhart]

Let me start this off...

I caught this list of Chicago's Top 10 New Restaurants at citysearch.com, earlier today.

I was delighted to see some of my favorites from this category, like Green Zebra and Miramar, make the list.  I was also suprised, based on the broad consensus of bleh reviews it's received, to see Le Lan make the list at #2.

Comments?  Other lists to share...perhaps one of your own?

Let's list the lists here

=R=

←

As serious cooks and very interested restaurant goers, we have eaten once this year at Green Zebra and once at Le Lan. We have yet to sample Miramar. This is a new listing? Where is it located?

We were pleased with Le Lan for our first visit. We thought it very pricey, very noisey but worth a second try. Interesting that it landed a #2 spot on the 10 best restaurants this year.

Green Zebra was another matter. We are true fans of Spring. Green Zebra was less interesting dish by dish. Some items we felt were almost unpalatable. Some were tasty but not up to the caliber of Sean's menu items at Spring. We might return but I would go dragging my feet. Maybe the chef has tested and altered his initial offerings. We hope so. Our Chicago favorites are now focused on new serious chefs: Homaro Cantu, Grant Achatz and maybe the new chef at Avenues. We have yet to sample his talent. The remarks we have heard are mixed. That will not deter us. We are usually interested in France, Spain, and BC Canada. Chicago is our home and we want to protect our newest, finest talents which we feel is evidenced in Grant and Homaro. Respectfully, J Gebhart

[ronnie_suburban]

Hi Judith,

Miramar Bistro is in Highwood, so it's only in Chicago as far as the 'dining scene' goes.

Tarka (one of our UK forum hosts) really enjoyed her trips to Le Lan, which she documented here. But after her experience, I can't remember reading or hearing any other positive accounts of it--until yours, here.

I'm really surprised by your experience at Green Zebra. Being a fan of Spring, that was probably a big let down for you. I do recall reading at least one other negative account of a dinner at Green Zebra, so its popularity is certainly not unanimous.

Also, this list is from citysearch...nothing against them but they're not exactly my "go to" choice for info or opinions...still good fodder, however

=R=

[Suzi Edwards]

*coughs* Pluton at number three *splutters* I had a meal of such amateurish service there I could barely believe it. Boring food, boring room, terrible service. The saving grace of my meal there was when another diner in the restaurant sent me a glass of wine. I think they could see that I was really struggling to keep smiling inspite of service that wouldn't have been out of place in an episode of "Fawlty Towers"

Clearly Moto should be at number one. No question. I went back and had the GTM there again during my trip but never posted about it as I got really, truly terribly drunk and didn't take any notes. 2005 will be the year of Alinea and Moto. Avenues cannot be mentioned in the same breath if you're talking about creativity. It's like comparing apples with oranges.

I'm surprised that Le Lan is at number two, despite the fact that I really enjoyed both of my visits. I do need to go back, probably when I'm over at Christmas and see how they have settled in. I also really want to return to Green Zebra. I had one of the meals of my trip there and have recommended it to many people, all of whom have loved it.

My top five Chicago places in 2004:

1. Trio, for making me completely revaluate what food is all about

2. Moto, for making me laugh and eat paper

3. Green Zebra, for the carrots with black truffles

4. Spring, for the heart of palm salad

5. Trio Atelier, for making me think that moving to Chicago is a good idea

My bottom four Chicago places in 2004 (I'm on a deadline and can't think of 5):

1. Pluton, for not having the first idea of what service is actually about

2. Tru, for cruelty to goldfish

3. Wow Bao. because all of them taste the same

4. De Cero, because you do't know how to make a margarita

[ronnie_suburban]

Caught this wrap-up of 2004 Twin Cities food scene in the on-line version of today's Star Tribune:

When chef Stewart Woodman and several key staffers departed Levain in March, owner Harvey McLain made his smartest decision since hiring Woodman a year earlier: He called in Steven Brown. Arguably our most accomplished homegrown chef, the adventurous Brown kept Levain operating at a peak performance level, but not without imparting his own looser, edgier imprint. Levain isn't the year's only conspicuous reinvention.

=R=

[ronnie_suburban]

Phil Vettel of the Chicago Tribune wraps up 2004 in food:

The guy I feel sorry for is the dishwasher: Small plates were all the rage in 2004, with such places as Trio Atelier, Avec (which opened in late 2003), L8, Vermilion, Sangria Cafe and others serving appetizer-portioned plates as fast as foodies could gobble them down--which was pretty fast. Meanwhile, the area's tapas restaurants, which have been serving small-plate dishes for years, wondered what all the fuss was about.

Year in Food (at metromix.com, free subscription required)

=R=

[tetsujustin]

Shawn McClain opening another restaurant?

My guess is that he's always up for another challenge, and he has enough talent in the back to spread around, so lets just keep our fingers crossed.

Happy New Year and I wish Chicago another festive year in the restaurants.

[ronnie_suburban]

Here are my top 10 meals of 2004 in no particular order. Not all of them took place in the Heartland, but I consider that to be a mere technicality:

Trio (under Chef Achatz)

--Glorious Tour de Force dinner which redefined my food universe

Green Zebra

--Best new Chicago restaurant I tried in 2004

Opera

--Substance, flash and panache

Carlos' Restaurant

--Amazing journey of a meal, great service, a culinary force

Miramar

--Excellent bistro fare on the north shore. Who would have guessed?

Tex-Az Grill (Phoenix, AZ)

--Textbook TX Roadhouse food done right, by transplanted Texans

Cubs vs. White Sox bet/dinner made by Guajolote

--Cassoulet with home-made sausage, chicken liver flan, squash soup...Wow!!!

Smoked Brisket at NeroW-fest

--Patting my own back here. Best smoked brisket I've ever made or eaten.

Nuevo Leon

--My favorite Mexican in Chicago. Stand-out meal in August. NL never disappoints.

Sun Waa BBQ

--Fantastic Chinese-style BBQ on Argyle Street

Honorable Mention:

Trio Atelier

Prairie Grass Cafe

Wildfire (Lincolnshire)

Los Comales

=R=

[adoxograph]

I'm going to follow the lead of our leader here, if for no other reason than maybe we'll get some more lists this way - I'm always one for cheerleading. :)

My top 10 tastes of 2004:

1. White Truffle Milkshake at the Capitol Grille, Nashville, TN (mad props to chefseanbrock on this one - this is one of those haunting flavors)

2. The Meat that converted me back - Ronnie, that was damn good brisket.

3. Chef Jean-Pierre Wybauw's chocolate candies with chocolate nib in them, snuck out of the chocolate room at school. Best candy, pilfered or otherwise.

4. Graduation dinner at Le Titi - because when the entire staff knows you, and they are all trying to make sure you have a great meal, it's really, really difficult not to.

5. The return of good thin crust pizza to my life.

6. That cheese bread recipe from school, the one that I used the applewood-smoked gruyere in, the one that didn't make it off the train...

7. Lobster sous-vide with floral aroma - Capitol Grille makes two on the top ten, what can I say? :)

8. The Metallica Roll at Indie Cafe, despite the name.

9. Portillo's sausage and italian beef combo with hot peppers - the first one I had since converting to a pescatarian diet 5 years ago. It was juicy.

10. The bottle of champagne that got passed around during the photo of the graduating class at FPS....

OK, someone give me some ideas for tasty things for 2005....

[Devotay]

There is life outside Chicago, y'all.

For the high end stuff:

Lucia's Restaurant and Wine Bar - Minneapolis

L'Etoile - Madison

Harvest - Madison

Handke's - Columbus

The Refectory - Columbus

Lydia's - KC

For the great grub

Battle's BBQ - Ames

Zingemann's - Ann Arbor

Baldy's - Iowa City

And as for Chicago, I love Wishbone, and had a great meal at Red Light last time I was there.

In addition, here's a shameless plug for an aquaintance of mine who runs a restaurant & food website in Chicago - simplyfoodchicago.com

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks, Chef, for the list and the link.

Of course we're all fairly certain that there's life outside Chicago.

I hope your post will inspire more Heartlanders -- from other parts of the region -- to post their own lists.

=R=

[Zeemanb]

Okay, here's some Kansas City specific info off the top of my head.....

There's a lot more great stuff than this, but these are all places that meant a lot to me for one reason or another during the year. So the awards for meals in my corner of the universe for 2004 go to.....

Lidia's- over the past couple of years it has become my "go to" restaurant when I want a dependable higher end meal in KC. I love the food, the room, the service, it's just my all around favorite.

bluestem- in tribute to a horrible diamond commercial...."I love this restaurant, I love it...I love it....I love it...". Absolutely my number one "special occasion" restaurant. Last week when I was celebrating the special occasion known simply as "Wednesday", I came up with my own personal philosophy on bluestem. Most people I know who have eaten there consider it a special occasion destination based on price point. But for me, even if I had the money to dine there more frequently, I think of it in terms of a a favorite song. Every once in a while a song will come along that you just lock into and click with. It hits you on many levels, but you don't want to overdo it because you want it to hit you like it did the first time every time. bluestem is the dining equivalent of that song for me.

Pachamama's (Lawrence, KS)- not a new restaurant, but new to me, and it's already in my regular rotation. A new menu from top to bottom every month, with fun and filling dishes. Creative yet strangely familiar combinations of ingredients.....and that molten brown sugar cake is literally the favorite dessert of my entire life.

Taj Mahal- for me it's the Indian equivalent of that little neighborhood Chinese takeout place everyone has. Some very happy and very friendly people run that place, and that Chai is just so damn good.

Bulldog- way above average bar food and bartenders that actually know their booze. I'll support any nice restaurant/bar that has the guts to try and survive downtown (without dancing nude women...not that there's anything wrong with that) after dark. And during my first visit when I asked if I could light up a cigar, and the answer was "anybody who has a problem with it can go drink somewhere else", is okay by me. Not for everyone I'm sure, but comfy places where you can smoke and swill good scotch are always high on my destination list.

And last but not least......

Mug's Up (on 23rd St. in Independence)- this place is MAGIC! Goopy, cheesy, greasy loose meat sandwiches with onion ring and homemade root beer! It's a real drive-in, unchanged since whenever the hell it opened before I was born. None of those fancy schmancy intercom systems and backlit menus. You park, read the menu, the girl comes by, takes your order and delivers it remarkably quickly. You enjoy overtipping just because it's basically impossible to spend more than six bucks on a meal! In all seriousness, highest praise for this culinary institution.

Jerry

[loki]

Lidia's- And they have a very large selection of Grapa's and wonderful people willing to share them with. I met a couple while bar-hopping back to my hotel nearby - on foot. They were wonderfully hosptible. Then the bar manager or maybe the restaurant manager brought out a special reserve Grapa and shared it with us. Next time I have to try to food!

[NeroW]

Ronnie, totally agree on that smoked brisket. God, that was a great party!

Opera would also make my top 10 metro Chicago list. Of course I am not what you might call "well-dined."

[snowangel]

In no particular order

Heartland. Russo's passion is evident. He's happy to come and talk after you've dined. His staff feels this same passion.

Vincent. Consistently wonderful. The space is magnificent.

Udupi. Inarguably, the best Indian food in the Twin Cities. Cheap, to boot. Who care that it is vegetarian?

Krua Thai. I think this is the best Thai restaurant in the Twin Cities, and it goes way beyond the typical pad thai, same old curries and Tom Yam.

Mercado Central and Mercado Burrito.

Both of these are terrific. You can eat at food courts with to die for food, and shop at other vendors. Near as I can tell from previous EG posts on Maxwell Street, we have it here every day of the week.

Pho 79 for pho. Doesn't get any better. It's a wonderful prescription for a head cold.

My local Asian market for Bahn Mi. Doesn't hurt that I can get everything else Asian I need here. Fabulous fish, shrimp and meat counter with all sorts of odd bits, and they know me well enough to just flat give me bones that other customers don't want (they bone for no additional charge). And, that bahn mi. Heaven on a bun for $1.75.

I must include one fast food joint. Zantigo. Anyone remember that chain from those many years ago? Well, there are a smattering of them in the Twin Cities. Their green chili is really good.

Cafe 128. We've had many a memorable meal at this place. Each one as good, if not better than the last one. My only complaint is that it gets noisy.

Dim sum at Mandarin Kitchen or My Lee Hoa. Although we had great dim sum at Yummy, I'm more partial to the other two joints.

So, this is really more than 10. But, the Twin Cities have a lot to be proud of!

But, of everywhere I ate this year, my favorite remains the dock at The Cabin, under the northern lights.

[dahlsk]

I have to also add some Twin Cities favorites from 2004 to the list. City Pages this week also did this story, the top 13 dishes of the year. It certainly make me drool!

Vincent-everything is consistently wonderful, from the burger to the fish and beyond.

Zander Cafe-my favorite place to go regularly, and I can walk there, too! I love the duck confit ravioli with squash they added recently.

Cheng Heng-still my favorite spring rolls and the plear salad is so fresh and lively.

Nami-this is my favorite Japanese place right now. The appetizers, sushi and entrees were all great, as is the space.

A Rebours-the scallops and bison with parsnips were both great recently.

The Sample Room-great small plate of bratwurst with spicy mustard, perfect for an afternoon of nibbling.

dahlsk

[KendallCollege]

My best of 2004 between my new home (chicago) and my old one (wisconsin)...

1. Sanford (milwaukee)

2. Kevin (chicago)

3. Bistro jean paul (green bay)

4. Gilberts (lake geneva)

5. Biro (sheboygan...my hometown)

6. Immigrant room (kohler/sheboygan)

7. Tess (milwaukee)

8. L'etoile (madison)

9. Evergreen (sheboygan)

10. Eve (milwaukee)

my list of restaurants that i'm looking forward to a meal in 2005 are all located in chicago except for 1...and they are...

1. Alinea

2. Northpond

3. Moto

4. Avenues

5. Tru

6. Japonais

7. Aruns

8. Naha

9. Green Zebra

10. Bacchus (milwaukee)

[Neal J. Brown]

Edited due to uncontrolable font issues.

Since I work in the industry, I don't get to eat out a lot, but of the places I did eat, these were memorable.

1. Elements (Indy)-Props to my old boss, we don't get along in the kitchen...but if his restaurant weren't in Indy, he'd be famous! (Grilled Quail Spring Rolls)

2. La Masoinette (Cincy)- WOW, transcendent french, The Beard Foundation knew it all along!!!

3. Tru- For the inspiration...need I say more?

4. La Margarita (Indy)-Good Sunday Soccer, Cold Corona, Chiliquilles that melts your heart and Carne Adobado that melts your tongue.

5. Yummy (Now Sheng Yueng) (Indy)- Best Dim sum I have ever had, every time.

6. Red Light- great control of product, every element of most dishes were cooked to perfection. I really enjoyed the food here, the service however, left the bad aftertaste. (Damn Servers...J/K)

7. Shanghai Lils (Indy)-The only chinese imperial meal I have ever had, very memorable, the "Ground Pork Szechuan" was so, so, good. The real reason I give it props is to promote the Place, they are ahead of the curve in Indy and need the support.

There is the short and sweet, all were good...but the cream rises to the top!

Heres to a Flavorful, Finger licking, 2005!!!! Cheers!

Edited January 8, 2005 by Neal J. Brown (log)

[bentherebfor]

I guess I'll throw in my ten cents worth...

Top 5 Meals of '04

Charlie Trotter's - Chicago

I mean c'mon. Should food really be allowed to be that good? The coconut ice cream was to die for!

Trio Atelier - Chicago

Because the flight of salt was so cool.

Carlos' - Chicago Area

The meal was amazing. The crab rissoto was better.

Moxie - Cleveland

For the best creme brulee I've ever tasted.

Francesco's Hole in the Wall - Chicago Area

I stumbled into this place for lunch one day and left having one of the best meals I've ever tasted. The menu changes twice a day! Amazing pasta.

And Then There Were Those Who Came Close

Spring - Chicago

Because the escargots were so good, but nothing else was particularly amazing.

Sergio's -Cleveland

The coconut cake is truly inspiring. I'm not sure exactly what it inspired me to do, but I can tell you that it was definitly inspiring.

Edited January 9, 2005 by bentherebfor (log)