Best of 2007

Since everyone has end of year lists, I figured I would do the same.

Top five meals:

1. (tie) Mesa Grill in Vegas and Mustards Grill in Yountville, CA (Napa Valley).

3. Shibuya in Las Vegas

4. Rose Pistola in San Francisco

5.  The Sportsman, Boulder Junction Wisconsin

Five best things I ate in 2007:

1. Buratta cheese at Rose Pistola in San Francisco

2. Lobster ceviche at Fresca in San Franciso

3. Pineapple and miso Salmon at Shibuya (MGM Grand) in Vegas.

4. Smoked Duck at Emeri’s Nola in New Orleans

5. Open face poork omelet loaded with veggies and chipotle cream at Ella’s in San Francisco

Honorable mention – Sirloin Burger at the Little Musky Bar in Arbor Vitae

*You may notice that most of the best meals or best things I ate are not in Wisconsin.  That is not a rip on Wisconsin at all.  Its more of a reflection that I didn’t eat out as much as usual when at home, maybe its because all of my vacations (New Orleans, San Francisco/Napa, and Las Vegas ate up so much of my dining finds.  To make up for that I also am listing my top 5 meals I had in Wisconsin:

1. The Sportsman, Boulder Junction

2. Il Mito Enoteca, Wauwatosa

3.  Little Musky Bar, Arbor Vitae

4. Breakfast at the Island Cafe in Minocqua

5. Zin in Delafield

Biggest Disappointments:

1. Easily my meal at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in Yountville.

2. The closing of Sol Fire and Sauce, two of my favorite Milwaukee restaurants

3. The fact that 6 months after the passing of Dennis Getto there is no sign of a dining critic being hired at the Journal

4. Most meals at chain Italian restaurants (Bravo and Carraba’s I’m looking in your general direction). It should be noted that I ate at a chain called Brio, which is similar to Bravo except the food at Brio was amazing, so not all chain Italian places are bad.

5. The discovery that Mazo’s in Milwaukee will no longer cook burgers to medium rare.

Honorable mention – the death of my favorite podcast, Gastrologia.

Must-Visit Places in 2008

1. Sanford

2. Dream Dance

3. Palmer’s Steak House in Hartland

4. Hot Dougs in Chicago

5. Kil-a-Wat (for the reincarnation of the Big Boy Burger)

Thanks everyone for visiting EatWisconsin.  Look for some major changes and more variety in 2008 including additional contributors, more chef/restaurateur interviews, and  hopefully a site redesign.