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2010 was an epic eating and drinking year that included trips to Charleston, SC (twice), Las Vegas, Mexico City, New York City, Palm Springs, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco (three times) and Santa Fe, plus daily forays to restaurants, bars and cafes in Southern California. Here’s my rundown of the best bites and sips. Click through to find more details and photos.
Indian Meal of the Year: Mumbai Ki Galliyon Se – Artesia, CA
Korean Meal of the Year: Sun Ha Jang – Los Angeles, CA
Korean Soup of the Year: Potato Soup – Mapo Jip – Los Angeles, CA
Lamb of the Year: Olive Tree – Anaheim, CA
Leeks of the Year: Braised Leeks – FnB – Scottsdale, AZ
Latin Meal of the Year: Rivera – Los Angeles, CA [CLOSED]
Lobster Dish of the Year: Lobster Chowder – John Dory Oyster Bar – New York, NY
Market of the Year: Mercado de la Merced – Mexico City, D.F.
Meal of the Year: Absolut Achatz – Grant Achatz @ Absolut Sensory Analysis Workshop – Los Angeles, CA
Mexican Meal of the Year: Izote – Mexico City, D.F. [CLOSED]
Native American Dishes of the Year: Kai – Phoenix, AZ
Peruvian Meal of the Year: Mo Chica @ Hatchi – Century City, CA
Pizza of the Year: Ilaria – Una Pizza Napoletana – San Francisco, CA [CLOSED]
Porchetta of the Year: Locanda Verde – New York, NY
Pork Dish of the Year (Overall): Prime Pork Chop – Waterloo & City – Culver City, CA [CLOSED]
Pork of the Year (Feet): Walter Manzke @ Hatchi – BREADBAR – Century City, CA
Pork of the Year (Hearts): Yunnan Garden – San Gabriel, CA
Pork of the Year (Shank): Bar El Sella – Mexico City, D.F.
Pork Loin of the Year: 4505 Meats – San Francisco, CA
Pork Sandwich of the Year: Pork Slap – Closed For Business – Charleston, SC
Potato Taco of the Year: ?????!!!!!
Pretzel of the Year: The Big Fat Pretzel – The Roosevelt – Phoenix, AZ [CLOSED]
Quail of the Year: The Tasting Kitchen – Venice, CA
Sandwich of the Year: Lamb Brain and Lamb Tongue – Mr. Cook – Woodland Hills, CA [now called Denj Restaurant]
Sandwich Shop of the Year: Naked Lunch – San Francisco, CA
Seafood Meal of the Year: Feast of the 7 Fishes – Trattoria Lucca – Charleston, SC
Shawarma of the Year: Shawarma Palace – Los Angeles, CA [CLOSED]
Shrimp Dish of the Year: Camarones al Mole de Jamaica – Izote – Mexico City, D.F. [CLOSED]
Southern Meal of the Year: Husk – Charleston, SC
Spanish Meal of the Year: Marche Moderne – Costa Mesa, CA [relocated to Newport Coast]
Squid Dish of the Year: Stuffed Squid – Thai Nakorn – Garden Grove, CA
Steak of the Year: Milanesa – Fonda Margarita – Mexico City, D.F.
Taco of the Year: Pastor – El Farolito – Mexico City, D.F.
Tagine of the Year: Rabbit Tagine – Ecole de Cuisine – Pasadena, CA
Tortillas of the Year: Tortillas Decoradas – John Rivera Sedlar – Taste of Santa Fe
Vegetable Dish of the Year: Roasted Cauliflower – Marche Moderne – Costa Mesa, CA [relocated to Newport Coast]
Vietnamese Meal of the Year: Dat Thanh – Westminster, CA [CLOSED]
Blog Comments
Tomo
January 4, 2011 at 9:36 PM
WOW wow wow. What an amazing list Josh! I’m so happy to have participated in the Lamb feast at the Olive Tree with you. The lamb brain and tongue sandwich at Mr. Cook sounds intriguing- I must try! Thank you so much for mentioning my ‘best of’ post in your blog. Looking forward to more delicious meals with you in 2011!
Joshua Lurie
January 4, 2011 at 10:20 PM
Tomo,
Glad you were able to partake in the lamb feast. I hope you got plenty of leftovers from the meaty cornucopia. I certainly hope to share more meals with you in 2011. Again, bravo on your terrific end-of-year list.
Kristin Friedersdorf
January 4, 2011 at 8:46 PM
What an epic list! I am really looking forward to trying a bunch of your picks. It was great meeting you at Artisan LA and thanks for swinging by the blog. Hope you’re enjoying the New Year.
-Kristin
Joshua Lurie
January 4, 2011 at 10:21 PM
Kristin,
Glad you like my Best of list. Much appreciated. What picks sound best to you?
Sean Inman
January 4, 2011 at 5:59 PM
Quite the list from Skipp! I would have to say that Kern River Citra and Bridgeport’s Hop Harvest 2010 would lead my year almost any year.
Joshua Lurie
January 4, 2011 at 6:11 PM
Sean,
It’s unanimous, Citra is amazing. You’re lucky to have tried Hop Harvest. I definitely need to plan a return trip to Portland. My previous trips haven’t been beer focused enough.
skipp
January 4, 2011 at 10:51 AM
Beer of the Year… Probably a two way tie between 2010 kate the great and a bottle of 2007 BA Decadence from alesmith we opened that might be the best beer ive ever had. runners up to Citra DIPA, PtY, Marshal Zhukov, Parabola, The Dissadent and The Manhattan Project (not really a best beer but the one whose concept stuck with me the most…). probably 10-15 more just below that…guess I was liking the booze bombs this year.
Joshua Lurie
January 4, 2011 at 11:02 AM
Skipp,
Your passion for beer knows no bounds. I only got to try about half of those beers in 2010, and definitely no BA Decadence. Glad to see you’re drinking so well. May it continue in 2011.
skipp
January 4, 2011 at 7:57 AM
Thanks for the great list Josh! No arguments here, hopefully pliny blows our socks off again this year.
Joshua Lurie
January 4, 2011 at 10:16 AM
Skipp,
Glad you like the list. Thanks. Kern River Citra was also a contender. I couldn’t get enough of that beer in December. What’s your beer of the year?
mattatouille
January 3, 2011 at 6:15 PM
How come no cafe/roaster of the year?
Joshua Lurie
January 3, 2011 at 8:51 PM
Mattatouille,
I thought about Coffeehouse of the Year and liked four cafes especially well in 2010: Variety (Williamsburg), Third Rail (Greenwich Village), Kaffe 1668 (TriBeCa) and Intelligentsia (Pasadena). Intelligentsia (Silver Lake) and Paper or Plastik (Los Angeles) were also regular stops. Still, there wasn’t one coffeehouse that was a clear-cut champ.