Here are the 12 most satisfying dishes I ate in 2008, regardless of cuisine or price level, excluding Los Angeles. The Top 12 is listed by restaurant, in alphabetical order.

1. Egg – Brooklyn, NY – Country Ham Biscuit

North Carolina native George Weld partnered with Steve Tanner on this unassuming Williamsburg. Even without visible signage, the duo’s eatery has become a Williamsburg favorite due to its beyond-reasonable Southern-tinged menu.

Egg may be my all-time favorite breakfast spot, in no small part due to Weld’s killer Country Ham Biscuit. The country ham comes from Colonel Bill Newsom’s Hams in Princeton, Kentucky, known to be about the best in the nation. The biscuit would be excellent solo, but with the salty slab of ham, sweet homemade fig jam and melted Grafton cheddar, it was insanely good. The breakfast sandwich came with a side of stellar Anson Mills grits, from South Carolina, plus two chile-flecked, char-grilled sausage patties that delivered some legitimate heat.

2. High Cotton – Charleston, SC – Pan-Fried Rabbit Livers

It took over eight years to have dinner at High Cotton, a downtown Charleston standby that delivered one of the only meals to elicit a rave review from my father in the past five years. The duck purloo that he loved so much wasn’t on the menu, but just about every other dish that Executive Chef Anthony Gray and his crew produced was excellent, especially the Pan Fried Rabbit Livers. The rich but terrific starter featured crisp-crusted chunks of tender organ meat on white corn grits, dressed with a rich mess of smoked bacon, sweet pepper relish, roasted garlic and Marsala jus.

3. Incanto – San Francisco, CA – Pig’s Trotter, Bacon, Foie Gras and Figs

Mark Pastore was such a hardcore food junkie that he decided to leave a successful tech career in 2002 to open Incanto. It took until 2003 for his Noe Valley Italian restaurant to really start churning, when offal-loving chef Chris Cosentino took the helm of the kitchen. Cosentino and Pastore have made it their mission to prove that no part of the animal should go to waste, and based on my appetizer, I’m a believer in their approach. Possibly the richest plate of food of all time combined gelatinous pig’s trotter, slabs of foie gras, strips of bacon and roasted Calimyrna figs. The dish’s flavor was staggeringly good, but I couldn’t help but feel my arteries clogging.

Our waiter suggested I pair the pig’s trotter with a glass of Verduzzo Friulano, 2004, La Tunella. The amber-hued dessert wine was sweet, but not over-the-top.

4. Japonaise Bakery & Café – Tustin, CA – Strawberry Croissant

Cream Pan has been a popular Japanese bakery for years. As a result, in 2008, the owners were able to buy the adjacent strip mall space, dubbing it Japonaise Bakery & Café. Now the original space, still labeled Cream Pan, churns out pastries to supply the next-door café. There’s always a line, and favorite baked goods are known to sell out by noon. Arrive early, since some pastries qualify as required eating.

The pastry filled with sweet potato paste and black sesame seeds, topped with a slice of candied chestnut, was impressive, but the open-faced strawberry croissant was even more remarkable, with chilled vanilla custard, discs of strawberry, stunningly flaky pastry and a dusting of powdered sugar. My only quibble: strawberries are well out of season, and the discs had no flavor. In the summer, when strawberries are at their peak, the croissant is bound to be even better.

5. Lamberts – Austin, TX – Mustard and Brown Sugar Crusted Niman Ranch Ribeye

Décor at the best Texas barbecue places is typically limited to mounted animal heads, and some spots don’t even bother with modern luxuries like silverware, so the prospect of consuming “fancy barbecue” was a little daunting. Still, Louis Lambert and chef-partner Larry McGuire have generated plenty of national buzz from Austin’s reborn Second Street District. My concerns melted away when our waitress handed us menus. If a restaurant is willing to print the meat-cutting chart of a pig, they clearly have good intentions.

Many of the oak grilled meats sounded delicious. My brother ordered the Mustard and Brown Sugar Crusted Niman Ranch Ribeye, served with a whole roasted garlic bulb. The steak was terrific, crusty on the outside, juicy within, with sweetness from the brown sugar and subtle spice from the mustard. The roasted garlic was nearly caramelized and highly spreadable.

6. Marche Moderne – Costa Mesa, CA – Bouillabaisse

Florent Marneau and wife Amelia opened this contemporary French bistro on the third floor of ritzy South Coast Plaza in spring 2007. Despite the location, the couple has managed to cultivate a loyal following at their culinary oasis.

My Bouillabaisse could have easily fed two people. The ambrosia-like fish broth contained large portions of fresh seafood flown overnight from the Med, including John Dory, rouget (a crisp-skinned fish similar to red mullet), dorade grise, dorade rosé, calamaretti (miniscule calamari), mussels, clams, rouille (garlic paste), fingerling potatoes, fennel and leeks. The dish came with a few interesting accompaniments, including a pot of additional rouille, tapenade, roasted cherry tomatoes, lemon preserve and millimeters-thin toast. The entire dish was staggeringly good, but the highlights were the firm fillets of luscious fish, tender calamari and slabs of fennel.

7. Mil Jugos – Santa Ana, CA – Cachapa Con Queso Blanco

Situated in downtown Santa Ana, a block from the bridal shops and churro carts, resides “the best and only Venezuelan home cooking in town.” Norah Briceño runs the vibrant café with her mother Solange, who makes everything from scratch.

We were dazzled by the Cachapa Con Queso Blanco, a moist sweet corn pancake folded over a soft slab of sweet white cheese (queso blanco) and fresh cream. Norah noted that cachapas are considered fast food in Venezuela, items to be eaten on the street after a night out at the clubs. Cachapas were also available filled with shredded pork, shredded beef, or sliced ham, but it’s hard to imagine a version besting this simple wonder.

8. The Salt Lick BBQ – Driftwood, TX – Family Platter

My father attended grad school at the University of Texas in the late 60’s, long before urban sprawl began encroaching on the surrounding Hill Country. Every spring, my father, brother and I converge on Austin to gorge on barbecue, driving through Hill Country to eat at many of the same restaurants that were available to my father forty years ago. Before driving to the airport and heading our separate ways, we always stop at the Salt Lick, a now legendary barbecue restaurant that has reduced two family members to tears. We always order family style dinners ($18.95 per person), all you can eat pork ribs, brisket and pork sausage. As always, the brisket was luscious. The ribs were practically lacquered, with caramelized skins. The sausage had taut skin and massive flavor. For “dessert,” we requested refills with burnt ends, the prized outside pieces of brisket that are chewy from smoke-buffeted applications of sauce.

9. Sea Rocket Bistro – San Diego, CA – Pan-Seared Opah and Grilled Sardines

Dennis Stein and Elena Rivellino opened their ultra-local ocean-centric bistro in red-hot North Park on June 1, naming Sea Rocket for a variety of wild arugula that grows on San Diego beaches. On our visit, Chef Christy Samoy prepared an outstanding Pan-Seared San Diego Opah, with a terrific char and juicy flesh that was similar to swordfish, but sweeter. The plate also held L-shaped streaks of chimichurri and “a medley of seasonal vegetables,” a luscious mix of onions, zucchini, peppers and carrots. Stein was nice enough to let us replace mashed Yukon Gold potatoes with lima bean salad drizzled with tangy lemon-infused Temecula avocado oil.

Sea Rocket Bistro offers the option to top any dish with a trio of grilled San Diego sardines. Our “bait” was excellent, not nearly as pungent as the second-rate canned variety. The skin had a nice sear, so it was a little crispy. They came on skewers, and you know that food always tastes better when it’s on a stick.

10. Sol Pops – Portland, OR – Basil Lemon Paleta

At the Saturday Portland Farmers’ Market, we found a sky blue paleta cart beneath a canopy of green “leaves.” Sol Pops partner Bob Pullen explained that paletas are Spanish for “little shovels.” He, Noah Cable and Aaron Harmon work three days per week at different area markets. SOL stands for (S)ustainable (O)rganic (L)ocal. Pullen, a Western Culinary Institute grad, said his brother’s friends started making paletas in ice cube trays, and he was brought in to contribute a “culinary approach to the process.” It’s working.

The blackboard menu changes depending on what the trio finds at the market. Today, the offerings included cucumber lime jalapeno, strawberry lemonade and coconut agave. The cost: $3 apiece or 2 paletas for $5.
Mango lavender had an intense mango flavor, and the lavender seeds imparted an aromatic perfume, but the superior paleta was clearly basil lemon, which was sensational, containing what must have been two ounces of finely chopped basil.

11. Thanh My – Westminster, CA – Venison Curry

This Bolsa Mini Mall landmark was one of the first Little Saigon restaurants, the name derived by combining the first names of the owner and his wife. The 29-year-old restaurant has somehow managed to remain vital. Years ago, I ate Thanh My’s venison curry, and never forgot the experience. Years later, Nai Xao Lan hoac Nai Nuong was still outstanding, featuring thin strips of lean grilled venison meat cooked with rice vermicelli and strips of black wood ear mushrooms in a sauce of curry, onion and coconut milk. The addictive dish was showered with peanuts, mint leaves and whole red chilies. We were given a warm baguette, which we tore and slathered with curry, venison and veggies.

12. Trattoria Lucca – Charleston, SC – Crispy Chicken “Mattone”

Talented Italian chef Ken Vedrinski is no longer involved with Sienna, and Daniel Island’s loss is Charleston’s gain. For the past three months, he’s owned Trattoria Lucca on a residential stretch of Charleston and his plan for the city is just beginning. In late 2009, Vedrinski plans to open a refined Italian seafood restaurant in the nearby Cigar Factory building. In the meantime, Vedrinkski already has one of the best restaurants in Charleston, Italian or otherwise. Crispy Ashley Farm Chicken “Mattone” was a ridiculously moist, herbaceous half-chicken plated with Dried Figs, cuts of Cipollini Onion, and Olive Oil Roasted Root Vegetables, including carrot and parsnip spears and a bed of mashed turnips. It’s hard to tell from the photos, since they aren’t to scale, but the portions were definitely hearty. The chicken came in a dish that was over a foot across.

Related Posts

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2. 2007 Top 10 Dishes Outside Los Angeles
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4. Top Yam Dishes in Los Angeles
5. 2008 Top 12 Meals Outside Los Angeles

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