We were going to award the Best New Restaurant award of 2005, to Jack Falstaff which opened exactly a year ago, and which we reviewed here on SFist after our third visit. Although by no means does JF offer a perfect restaurant experience, we found it to have a little spark, a little je ne sais quoi, a little magic something that we just couldn't resist the allure of. Unfortunately, we read just a few days ago that the chef, Jack Ormsby, on whom we had a rather large crush, has left the Plumpjack group, for good.

This sudden news throws our award ceremony into a state of disarray . We can't bestow the crown on Jack F's head since we are now in the dark about what its future might hold. No problem, local food bloggers to the rescue. We asked them instead to give us a list of new restaurants that they can't wait to return to in 2006...