Oh boy do I love these end-of-year top ten lists. Though it is a struggle for me to narrow down... Here it goes, in no particular order:

10). CB&J Sandwich with side of stilton mac 'n' cheese (Hopleaf)
9). Chocolate-coffee ice cream sandwich (DMK Burger Bar)
8). Pumpkin whoopie pie (Fraiche)
7). Pork potstickers (Lao Sze Chuan)
6). Fried green tomato sandwich (Big Jones)
5). Wood-grilled burger with housemade beef bacon (Vie)
4). Pasticceria Natalina (Baba au rhum)
3). Tortilla-crusted tilapia tacos (Carbon)
2). Foie gras cupcake (more)
1). Chickpea fries (Piccolo Sogno)

It was hard to reduce this down to 10 things, which says how lucky we are in Chicago to have such a thriving restaurant community, especially small ethnic places that bring us dishes we might never otherwise get to try. These are in no particular order as I couldn't decide what to put first.

1.) Veal Heart with pickled cherries and farro, beefy wonderful goodness with the cherries and farro adding to the taste and texture - The Publican

2.)Soft Shell Crabs with Curry, always crispy and perfectly cooked with a wonderful subtle curry sauce that compliments without overwhelming. I know these are frozen, but they still taste amazing - Spoon Thai

3.)Corned Beef Tongue Bruschetta, wonderful spicing, perfectly cured, great flavor and texture, there are so many good things to pick from here it was hard to choose, but this stood out - Mado

4.)Chef's Special Sushi and Sashimi choices, the fish surpasses everyplace else in the city for freshness, much of it is flown in from the Tokyo market- Katsu

5.) Corn on the Cob soup, like eating the best, freshest, hot buttered corn in liquid form - North Pond Cafe

6.)The "Wings" XXX, always perfectly cooked and with a subtle heat that builds, but doesn't overwhelm the taste buds - Great Sea

7.)Ginger Custard Pie, a real surprise although it shouldn't be, ginger is tricky and they handle it perfectly - Hoosier Mama Pie

8.)Kugelis and Bacon Buns, these time consuming dishes will no longer be made except in peoples home kitchens and Chicago is the worse for their loss - Healthy Food Lithuanian R.I.P.

9,)Nutella Shake and Griddled Burger, the shake has a wonderful, rich, creamy taste that compliments the burgers charred edges. I haven't eaten a burger shake combo since high school and I'm going back to it - Edzo's

10.)Silvio e Gabrielle pizza, a wonderful combination of Prosciutto de Parma, arugula, mozzarella and tomatoes, paired with the celery, granny smith and shaved parmigiano salad it's my go to meal every couple of months. They also do a great potato and rosemary pizza - Trattoria DOC (Evanston)

It's been fun to see the common threads emerge from this...thread. There are quite a few (very wonderful) things I expected to see--lots of love for Vie, Mado, Publican, Zaragoza and Hoosier Mama, for example.

The list-making has made me realize that the 75-day-aged bone-in ribeye at David Burke's was probably my biggest 2009 restaurant oversight. I plan to remedy that soon.

Also, I didn't think of 2009 as the year of zucchini-squash blossoms--stuffing them is far from new--but it may have been. Kennyz and ronnie_surburban seem to have enjoyed some last year:

ronnie_suburban wrote:
Fiori di Zucca al Drago
Gaetano's
This stuffed zucchini blossom made me feel like I'd never even had one before.

Kennyz wrote:7. Stuffed zucchini blossoms at Anteprima

A quick Google search turns up more writing on stuffed zucchini blossoms in 2009 than in recent years. And when pressed by Gapers Block last month to come up with my best of 2009 (this kind of list-making is agonizing for me; I'll be revising my list into February), the first dish I thought of was the fried squash blossom with house-cured salt cod brandade and shallot soubise amuse I had at Vie last July:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Flowers...yummo!