Spruce made many appearances on Brody's manifesto. Christine Kesler, 9/29/07
Before we fully dive into the Week in Reviews, let's first visit Meredith Brody's Year in Reviews, and that's exactly what the SF Weekly manifesto is: a look back at the year's best restaurants and dishes ... Every single one of them:
Here's a romp down memory lane. Or maybe we should call it forget-me-not lane, because as soon as I write about a splendid serving of food, I have to consciously stop obsessing about it, in order to have an open mind (and palate) for the next delicious thing that I hope will be set before me.Why do we highlight Brody's year-end list? Well, while some reviewers are content with sharing their top ten restaurants of the year and others are happy with reminiscing on their top ten meals of the year, Brody thinks outside the entire box store and by our count, mentions a walloping 34 restaurants and over 85 memorable dishes (give or take). Who needs a Top 10 list when you can have a Top 87 list? [SFW]
Paul Reidinger is the first to take a crack at 1300, the posh soul-food restaurant holding down the corner of the Fillmore Heritage rejuvenation project. Though there is no shortage of hiccups, from spotty service to subpar dishes, most of the problems should be able to be overcome in time: "These are usually teething troubles, and the best thing about teething troubles is that you outgrow them to have a long run, which you're pretty sure you will. You're jazzed." [SFBG]
John Birdsall declares Oakland to be the new San Francisco as he visits Flora, where he gives out a pair of stars, with the hope for improvement: "For all its anchor location and impressive facade, Flora feels more bohemian neighborhood cafe than big-city boite. And while Flora's bar is already good enough to rate as a destination in its own right, the cooking still feels tentative, some two months after opening. That's unusual for a kitchen packed with seasoned talent, starting with Schnetz, who oversees things, to executive chef Jason Moniz, who racked up good reviews for his small-plate cooking at Nectar Wine Lounge in San Francisco and Burlingame, to experienced line cooks culled from both chefs' past experience." [CCT]
Elsewhere: rounding out the year-end "best of" lists, we have Michael Bauer's Top 10 of 2007, Patricia Unterman's Top 10 of 2007, the Merc's Aleta Watson's 10 Most Memorable Meals, 7x7's 7 Best Tastes and Lady Tablehopper's List of Things That Should Stay in '07.
On the Blogs: Shuna Lydon loves Samovar Tea Lounge, the Bunrab crew does its thing at Magnolia, Chef Ben is at A Bon Port Cafe and the FFB is at Florio.
