2010 Best of Food GPS

Food Drink Guide

These dishes represent my most memorable food and drink experiences from the past year.

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.

Bagel of the Year: Onion – Murray’s – New York, NY
Banh Mi of the Year: BBQ Pork– Starry Kitchen – Los Angeles, CA [CLOSED]
Beer of the Year: Russian River Brewing Pliny the Younger
Bar of the Year: Mayahuel – New York, NY [CLOSED]
Beer Bar of the Year (New to L.A.): Tony’s Darts Away – Burbank, CA
Beer Event of the Year: L.A. Beer Week Festival
Beer Float of the Year: Boneyard Bistro Floris Apple with Bourbon-Salted Caramel-Cinnamon Ice Cream – L.A. Beer Float Showdown II
BLT of the Year: Lobster BLT – Upstairs 2– Los Angeles, CA
Brazilian Meal of the Year: Moqueca – Oxnard, CA
Bread of the Year: Sangak – Asal Bakery & Kabob – Woodland Hills, CA
Breakfast of the Year: Hominy Grill – Charleston, SC
Brewery of the Year: Eagle Rock Brewery – Los Angeles, CA
Cannoli of the Year: Valentino Vin Bar – Santa Monica, CA
Cantina of the Year: Cantina La Mascota – Mexico City, D.F.
Ceviche of the Year: Razor Clam Ceviche – John Dory Oyster Bar – New York, NY
Churro of the Year: Churreria El Moro – Mexico City, D.F.
Cocktail of the Year: Boca de Vaquero – Mayahuel – New York, NY [CLOSED]
Corn Dog of the Year: District – Phoenix, AZ
Corned Beef Hash of the Year: The Pantry – Santa Fe, NM
Croque Madame of the Year: Hatfield’s – Los Angeles, CA [CLOSED]
Dim Sum Meal of the Year: City View – San Francisco, CA
Duck Dish of the Year: Duck Club Sandwich – Tattooed Moose – Charleston, SC
Dumplings of the Year: Zhong’s Dumplings – Shufeng Garden – San Gabriel, CA [CLOSED]
Egg Dish of the Year: Crispy Egg – Petrossian – West Hollywood, CA
Espresso of the Year: Honey Badger – Intelligentsia – Los Angeles, CA
Farmers Market Find of the Year: Flor de Agave – Santa Barbara Farmers Market
Filipino Meal of the Year: Magic Wok – Artesia, CA [now called Crispy House]
Focaccia of the Year: Focaccia del Giorno – Pane Bianco – Phoenix, AZ
Food Event of the Year: Artisanal LA – October/December – Los Angeles, CA
Food Truck of the Year: The Manila Machine [CLOSED]
French Toast of the Year: Canele – Atwater Village, CA [CLOSED]
Fried Chicken of the Year: Crispy Fried Chicken Thighs – Zero Zero – San Francisco, CA
Goat Dish of the Year: Birria – Tepeque – Huntington Park, CA [CLOSED]
Grain of the Year: Farro with Lobster and Mussels – Trattoria Lucca – Charleston, SC
Hamburger of the Year: Black Label – Minetta Tavern – New York, NY
Hamburger of the Year (Honorable Mention): Green Chile Cheeseburger – Bobcat Bite – Santa Fe, NM [now called Santa Fe Bite]
Hot Dog Restaurant of the Year: Show Dogs – San Francisco, CA [CLOSED]
Hummus of the Year: Fattit Hommus – Olive Tree – Anaheim, CA
Ice Cream of the Year: Brown Brown Bread – Scoops Westside – Los Angeles, CA

GUIDE CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

Blog Comments

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!

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.

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

Kristin,

Glad you like my Best of list. Much appreciated. What picks sound best to you?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks for the great list Josh! No arguments here, hopefully pliny blows our socks off again this year.

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?

How come no cafe/roaster of the year?

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.

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