100 best things we ate and drank in 2008 (in no particular order)

Photo: Martha Williams

7 The Vedder dog at Rockstar Dogs
This dog is more about the obnoxious mount of Merkt’s sharp cheddar in the bun than the dog itself, which is why it’s named after a cheesy musician. (Consequently, it tasted even better when it was called the J. Timberlake.) —DT

8 Margherita pizza at Antica
Antica’s margherita may raise red flags with extreme Neapolitan pizza snobs. But for the rest of us, the crisp crust and piquant sauce only raises endorphins. —DT

THE FUTURE OF PORK BELLIES
This might be the year of the rat according to Chinese astrology, but take a glance at menus around town and you’ll quickly see this year belonged to the pig—specifically, its belly. Pork belly long has been revered in Asia, and for a taste of the traditional forms we head to Chinatown, where Ben and Wan Cai Li of 9 Double Li cure pork belly with brown sugar and salt, then brush it with hoisin and stir-fry the slab slices with wood-ear mushrooms and snow peas. In the tiny, weekend-nights-only hideaway 10 Nara Lounge in the West Loop, pork belly is served Korean-style as samgyeopsal, cut into quarter-inch-thick strips and grilled, with a paste of sesame oil, ground black pepper and salt alongside for dredging. Helping to bridge the belly’s foray into contemporary cuisine, Bill Kim uses it with reckless abandon at his buzzing noodle shop 11 Urban Belly; when he combines thick hunks of the stuff with kimchi and hominy for stew, it brings us to our knees. Over in Lincoln Square at 12 Tallulah, chef Troy Graves achieves greatness with similar flavors, but his kimchi gets served with a luscious, fist-size slab of pork, equal bites of tender meat and near-melting fat. The belly even invaded downtown dining this year, showing up at newcomer 13 Mercat a la Planxa as velvety slices of sous vide–cooked pork. Given downtown’s culinary reputation (it’s not exactly a paradigm in keeping up with the trends), we think it’s safe to say pork belly has officially arrived. —HS

ELSEWHERE IN PORK NEWS
14 Pork and scrambled eggs at Hon Kee
For those (rare) moments when you’re sick of eggs with bacon, this Chinese classic mixes eggs with rich bites of roasted pork instead.
15 Tasso sandwich at Big Jones
This satisfying handheld entrée is as notable for the sweet, housebaked “Sally Lunn” bread as it is for the house-pickled-and-smoked Tasso ham. (If you don’t see it on the menu, relax—regulars know they can request it any time.)
16 Cochinita rillettes at Mexique
When the French invaded Mexico in the 1860s, relations between the two countries weren’t exactly the best. But at chef Carlos Gaytan’s restaurant—which puts out fusion dishes like this sumptuous bowl of fatty, orange-kissed pork—the countries seem to be getting along swimmingly.
17 Braised pork shoulder at Duchamp
The simplicity of this dish—a hunk of shoulder in a bowl with some ragout—doesn’t even hint at the expert skill it takes to make it so tender and juicy.
18 Pork chop at graham elliot
As much as we love Graham Elliot Bowles, we sometimes do not love his antics. Pairing Pop Rocks with foie gras and turning it into a lollipop? We’ll stick with Blow Pops, thanks. We might have had a similar reaction to this pork chop, which is topped with a root-beer barbecue sauce and sprinkled with CornNuts. But it turns out these ingredients have an affinity for each other that only a chef who plays with his food could find. —DT
19 Braised Berkshire pork cheeks at HotChocolate
In the last year, we’ve been so impressed by chef de cuisine Mark Steuer’s savory dishes that we’re getting full before Mindy Segal’s trademark desserts hit the table. Much of what he’s cooked this year has been memorable, but a recent fall dish knocked our socks off. Luscious braised Berkshire pork cheeks team up with little pillows of sweet-potato gnocchi, while strands of bitter spigariello (Italian leaf broccoli, similar to rapini) and little hunks of Hook’s Blue Paradise blue cheese balance the flavors. You won’t mind skipping your 87th hot chocolate so you can fill up on this. —HS

BROKEN YOLKS
Kuma’s Corner may have made the over-easy-egg-as-topping popular last year (and we’ve already named it one of the best burgers in the city, so settle down, Kuma fans), but this year we saw 101 versions of the runny yolk. At newcomer the Bristol, ricotta-studded egg bursts out of a 20 brown butter–topped raviolo with the poke of a fork. At the Gage, broken yolk flavors the 21 corned-beef hash below it. At Soul in Clarendon Hills, smoky 22 oxtail meat mingles with black-eyed peas and rice that soaks up the yolk from a poached egg. And at Avec, an egg is cracked onto 23 fava puree–slathered pizza topped with smoked sardines and wisps of arugula. (Somewhere, a greasy-spoon griddle man is responding with an indignant “Hmph.”) —HS

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