What Foodies Liked About 2009

Yesterday's Dining section of the NY Times mentioned some great dishes that NYC restaurants produced throughout the end of 2008 and most of this year - 2009. I'd like to add my own spin on that by mentioning a few of my my favorite foodies hangouts and stuff that caught my eye - and palate this past year.

Brooklyn has become a big hangout for Manhattan foodies in recent years. It's no wonder that its' duck meat loaf from the famed borough restaurant Buttermilk Channel has made the NY Times top ten. This is a dense, concoction of ground duck meat, panko bread crumbs, raisins and onions. Vietnamese cuisine is big in New York, and at it;s best right now. The classic banh mi from Baoguette is another rave, This is a combo of pork belly , pate along with daikon on a famed Tom Cat Bakery baguette. Oyster pan roast from the John Dory, one of NYC's hottest seafood restaurants and the prime Manhattan from Prime restaurant also made it. the city's hottest pizzeria CO and their heavenly and hearty meatball pizza was given a shout out too.
Desserts also made the list . Locanda Verde's maple budino was mentioned. This is a custardthat is redolent of maple syrup and egg yolks.

Le me add some of my own here. Since I'm a Jersey girl ,my big discovery was a small out of the way diner by Jersey City's Liberty State Park.It is called the Liberty Cafe. On the outskirts of my state's largest city, this was like a place down the Jersey shore. I it was near the lower bay, almost ont he water front and quiet. a variety of dishes. Their Manhattan clam chowder was the best - spicy,thick, more on the same page a s a Portuguese cioppino. I also discovered McLoone's in Long Branch thanks to a summer lunch with a friend. This was a great place to relax and watch the ocean below. The Italian wedding soup was superb and just the right size. I plan on heading back several times int e new Year. Another new found fave - was the Monna Lisa bakery in the Hackensack River town of Little Ferry. This was Italian baking at its' best and most of my Lent and Easter was spent here. The pastries were not soaked in rum or heavy cream. They were light and spongy with only puffs of whipped cream on them.

So here it is, some the Times best and my own from the year past. I hope to see more restaurants opening in this spanking new year (and decade) of ours.Times may be bad but we still gotta eat. I hope a lot of restaurateurs realize that.