Every year for at least the past five Michael Bauer has lamented the cuts he has to make in order to keep his Top 100 Restaurants list down to 100. And, once again, he's written a blog post making a similar lament, saying again this year, "I could easily have put in 150 without diminishing the quality." And, he says, he tried to convince the higher-ups at the Chronicle to let him expand it to 150 this year, "saying that we could tie it to The Chronicle’s 150th anniversary." But, alas, "It didn’t happen, so I had to whittle."
Certainly some tough calls have to be made given how large and food-obsessed the Bay Area is, but the number 100 is starting to feel needlessly arbitrary. Denizens of the South Bay and deeper East Bay are regularly disappointed to see almost zero representation on the list, given the food dominance of SF proper, Oakland/Berkeley, Marin, and wine country. And this year, some very solid restaurants that Bauer himself likes quite a lot Sons & Daughters, Bar Tartine, and Town Hall were culled, and several restaurants he mentioned last August as deserving spots on the list Jardiniere, RN74, and Campton Place did not make the final cut either.
Even as it is, as of a couple years ago, Bauer makes extra room on the list by piggybacking Perbacco and Barbacco in a single entry, which are next door to each other and affiliated but fairly different restaurants. Same with Chez Panisse and Chez Panisse Cafe, and Pizzaiolo and Boot & Shoe Service in Oakland, which are sheer across town from each other but share an owner and most aspects of their menus.
Making the list a clean 100 names, as it has been for the past 20 years, is neater, sure. But the Bay Area's food scene and overall palate has grown far more sophisticated and varied in the past two decades, and Bauer's right to try push to expand it.
A Top 200 might become too diluted with middle-of-the-road fare, and standards have to be kept pretty high in order to maintain a spot on the list as it is. But artificially keeping it to 100 means, for one thing, bigger and splashier, expense-account type restaurants like Boulevard and Slanted Door are going to overshadow scrappier but nonetheless high-integrity operations like Sons & Daughters. And longtime Bauer favorites like Gialina in Glen Park and Bistro Don Giovanni in Napa have reserved spots on this list that another critic likely wouldn't hold for them. Not to mention the fact that the dominant cuisines of "New American," "California," "Cal-Med" or whatever you want to call them end up overshadowing plenty of deserving, regional ethnic spots. Representing Mexico on this list, for instance, is the generally disappointing Mamacita in the Marina, which Bauer still adores, along with Nopalito and Comal and Nido in the East Bay. Hawker Fare is the only Thai spot. And for Chinese, all we have is Yank Sing and Hong Kong Lounge II.
The full list will arrive to subscribers in this Sunday's print addition, but you can view it all here online now.
