Restaurant review extravaganza 34 page 2

D’Amico Kitchen

For quite a long stretch, in the restaurant world, at least, where time is measured in a ratio like that of dog years, D’Amico Cucina was the pinnacle of fine dining in the Twin Cities. From the late ’80s to perhaps the mid-’90s, Cucina’s luxurious Italian fare, elegant dining room, and top-notch service made it one of the best spots for deal-making and celebrating among the moneyed class. More >>

Jana Freiband

“D’Amico Kitchen follows up legendary era with chic Italian”

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Nashville

Suzy Wong’s House of Yum

It’s Best of Nashville season, so over here at the Scene we are speaking in superlatives in advance of the 20th annual BON throwdown, which is sure to be the best one yet. Imagine all that best-ness crammed into the Parthenon. With hundreds of the city’s finest entrepreneurs, performers and professionals in one place, it makes you wonder what might happen if some of those honorees were to exchange business cards. It could be the beginning of some beautiful friendships–or at least some efficient vertical integration: Best Bar meets Best Gym, anyone? Best Place to Buy an Engagement Ring meets Best Divorce Attorney? Imagine the possibilities. More >>

New York

KeBeer Bar & Grill

It’s been nine years since Zum Schneider debuted on Avenue C, kindling a minor craze for German beer gardens. This being New York City, many are entirely indoors. Now you can snack on sausages with a foamy stein at a dozen rollicking places in the Lower East Side, Astoria, Williamsburg, Fort Greene, and the West Village. But in Brighton Beach? I was incredulous when I spotted KeBeer one evening as I descended from the Q train. The place sat at the foot of Coney Island Avenue, in a storefront formerly occupied by Eastern Feast, one of the city’s earliest slingers of Uzbek charcoal-grilled kebabs. More >>

Orange County

Fora Restaurant

n a city as vast as Long Beach, the best restaurants are usually the tiny ones owned by the chefs who cook your food. Since most are so often hidden in disparate parts of the city, I liken them to truffles in a forest of crimini mushrooms. Hans Till’s Fora Restaurant is one of those proverbial Long Beach truffles. It is hard to spot, even though it’s on restaurant row in Naples. As you drive by, you won’t see Fora’s postage-stamp-size sign until it’s too late. But trust me: Fora’s beef stroganoff is worth the inevitable U-turns and the hunt for parking. More >>

Phoenix

Petite Maison

Cozy wasn’t what I was in the mood for until a couple of weeks ago.

But then somebody flipped a switch — the nights dropped from balmy to crisp, my wardrobe shifted from tank tops to light layers, and my appetite went from cool gazpacho to comforting French onion soup. More >>

Jackie Mercandetti

“Chef James Porter, formerly of Tapino, bounces back with delightful French fare at Old Town’s Petite Maison.”

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San Francisco

Beijing Restaurant

The little building at the corner of Alemany Boulevard and Ocean Avenue has housed a number of restaurants over the years, none of them a destination for anyone outside the immediate neighborhood. But at the beginning of this year, fresh paint was applied outside (brick red) and in (creamy yellow), and new signs were hung, proclaiming the new occupants to be Beijing Restaurant. Slowly but surely, word got out that interesting Chinese food was being served here. That buzz was pushed along by the many photographs of Yao Ming, the outsize Houston Rockets star, which line the restaurant’s walls. Yao reportedly liked the food so much that he has made a point of showing up here when he’s in town. More >>

Seattle

Bantaba / Korean Tofu House / Eloi Traditional Caribbean Food / Laredos Grill / Bratz

For every restaurant I review in the paper, I visit at least a couple more places that don’t merit full-length treatment. Some are too small and specialized, others mom-and-pop joints too mediocre to bash. Others I don’t cover because there’s only one great dish at the place. More >>

St. Louis

Taste by Niche

You likely need no introduction to Gerard Ford Craft. Since opening Niche in 2005, Craft has ascended to the summit of the St. Louis dining scene, earning accolades not only from local diners and critics, yours truly included, but from national observers as well. In 2008 Food & Wine included him in its annual list of “Best New Chefs” and in a subsequent issue featured him cooking for Napa winemakers. Earlier this year Craft was one of five finalists in the “Best Chef — Midwest” category of the prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards. Though he didn’t capture the honor, he was the first St. Louis chef ever to make the final cut. More >>