The Year That Was

By November, Olav Peterson had left Euro -- which should have been a death knell for the place but wasn't. The kitchen went to sous chef Marc Carmean, and the restaurant still struggled along, trying to find its legs. We lost Duffy's Shamrock but gained the new WaterCourse.

And finally, in mid-December, when most restaurateurs are just trying to survive the season, there were two restaurant openings: Vita, at 1575 Boulder Street, and the aforementioned Montecito. That, if nothing else, shows what a promising year it's been for restaurants, particularly if they're in the hot neighborhoods of Sixth Avenue, the edge of Highland or 17th Avenue.

What else have we learned this year? We've learned that simplicity sells, that Americana and regional cuisines are both hot, and that no one has to call their restaurants "New American" just to get foodies through the doors anymore. Places like Steuben's and Montecito, the continued success of Cafe Star and Mel's, and even Cowbobas (which I count as American because it's so kinked for its melting-pot neighborhood) have proven that. Also, places that are most definitely not American -- like Super Star and Limon and Parallel Seventeen, the nouvelle Vietnamese small-plates restaurant right next door -- have worked brilliantly and seen staggering success based almost entirely on word of mouth. Smaller has also proven to be better. A sixty-seat restaurant like Duo is easier to keep a handle on than a 200-seat operation. And a twenty-seat house, like the simplicity-incarnate Tables at 2267 Kearney Street, is even better -- provided the rent is low enough.

We've also learned what doesn't work: drama, uproar, concepts that look better on paper than they taste on the plate, basement locations, restaurants that have more people in their PR department than in their kitchen, fusion restaurants that aren't based -- at least loosely -- on culinary history. And Euro.

All things considered, it's been a pretty wild year. I can't wait for 2007.