Jennifer Silverberg

The "Hot Mama" wings at O! Wing Plus: 2011 was a good year for wing fans.

​This week, I counted down my top ten dishes for 2011, a list drawn mostly (though not entirely) from restaurants that opened this year. In October, I ranked the five best new restaurants in St. Louis for 2011 and awarded an honorable mention to five more new restaurants.

Even accounting for the overlap between the two lists, they cover a lot of ground. Still, as Gut Check closes the books on 2011, I thought I'd mention a few more restaurants and restaurant trends from the past twelve months of reviews worthy of note.

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Jennifer Silverberg

The pork ribs at Salume Beddu, the #1 dish of 2011

​The indescribably awesome Jennifer Silverberg has put together a slideshow of my top ten dishes of 2011. (Only #6, the house-cured prosciutto at Taste, a brief summer special, is missing.) Above is the dish of the year, the pork ribs at Salume Beddu. After the jump, you can check out the Chengdu spicy beef from Joy Luck Buffet and the seared scallop from Salt.

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I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes from the restaurants that I reviewed in 2011. Look for a slideshow featuring most of the winners on Wednesday, December 28.

Jennifer Silverberg

From left to right are Cary Exler and Salume Beddu co-owners Ben Poremba and Mark Sanfilippo.

​An occasional special at the acclaimed south city salumeria, which began serving lunch this spring, these ribs are the most beguiling -- and delicious -- thing I ate all year. The dish begins with a dry rub called ras-el-hanout, a Moroccan blend of more than twenty different, warming spices; ginger, mace, clove, nutmeg, cardamom and even a little ground-up rose petal among them. After curing, the ribs are steamed at low temperature for three to four hours and then, when you order them, given a quick charring. The flavor is almost indescribable. An initial hit of olive oil and lemon slices through the browned exterior, then gives way to the complexity of the ras-el-hanout, whose warmth and pungency fills out the pork's natural blend of savor and sweetness. The meat is so tender that if you didn't know, you might assume it had cooked low and slow over smoldering wood.

- from "Grand Salami" May 26, 2011

Salume Beddu (3467 Hampton Avenue; 314-353-3100)

I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes from the restaurants that I reviewed in 2011. The top dish will be revealed on Tuesday, December 27, and look for a slideshow featuring most of the winners on Wednesday, December 28.

Ian Froeb

Wes Johnson, owner and chef of Salt, Riverfront Times' "Best New Restaurant" 2011

​Chef Wes Johnson sears a single plump scallop, dresses it in a cracked-mustard sauce and then seals scallop and sauce with a puff of cedar smoke inside a Mason jar. The aroma strikes you as soon as you open the jar and then, having whetted your appetite, quickly dissipates. It's a clever trick ― it isn't Johnson's own, nor does he claim it to be ― and it would be nothing more than that if the scallop weren't so tasty, its buttery sweetness nicely offset by the sharply flavored sauce and your memory of the woodsmoke.

- from "Duck Yeah" July 28, 2011

Salt (4356 Lindell Boulevard; 314-932-5787)

I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes from the restaurants that I reviewed in 2011. The top dish will be revealed on Tuesday, December 27, and look for a slideshow featuring most of the winners on Wednesday, December 28.

Jennifer Silverberg

The "Hunter's Egg," an antipasto at Mad Tomato

​The "Hunter's Egg," one of the antipasti on the menu at Vito Racanelli Jr's latest venture, is an egg poached in tomato broth and then served in that broth over thick polenta, with tomato, al dente white beans and chopped pancetta. It could easily be a satisfying main dish for one. It is rich, yes, with the egg yolk and the creamy polenta, but the brightness of good tomatoes keeps it in check. This is the sort of dish you crave on the first cold morning of fall.

- from "Hear, Hear" September 1, 2011

Mad Tomato (8000 Carondelet Avenue, Clayton; 314-932-5733)

I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes from the restaurants that I reviewed in 2011. The top dish will be revealed on Tuesday, December 27, and look for a slideshow featuring most of the winners on Wednesday, December 28.

Jennifer Silverberg

The smoked prime rib sandwich at Bogart's Smokehouse

​Yes, pork is the main attraction at this terrific barbecue joint from Pappy's Smokehouse pitmaster Skip Steele. Give the prime rib a try, though. You can order it naked, with sides, and enjoy the thinly sliced, impossibly tender, mildly smoky meat soaked in its own rich juices. But for the full effect, opt for the hoagie sandwich version, on which strands of smoked onion bring just the right amount of bite -- and a bonus hit of smoke -- to the party.

- from "Bogart This Joint" April 28, 2011

Bogart's Smokehouse (1627 South Ninth Street; 314-621-3107)

I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes from the restaurants that I reviewed in 2011. The top dish will be revealed on Tuesday, December 27, and look for a slideshow featuring most of the winners on Wednesday, December 28.

Jennifer Silverberg

The burger at Home Wine Kitchen

​One of the few mainstays on chef-owner Cassy Vires' ever-changing menu, the burger shows the commitment to quality she brings to every dish. It's easily one of the best in town, grass-fed ground beef beautifully seasoned and cooked medium rare, topped with cheddar cheese, bacon and -- why the hell not? -- a fried egg. Remarkably, as strongly flavored as those three toppings are, the taste of the beef sings clearly and powerfully.

- from "Take Me Home Tonight" September 22, 2011

Home Wine Kitchen (7322 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-802-7676)

I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes from the restaurants that I reviewed in 2011. The top dish will be revealed on Tuesday, December 27, and look for a slideshow featuring most of the winners on Wednesday, December 28.

Laura Ann Miller

​A one-off summer special that captures the essence of Gerard Craft and Adam Altnether's restaurant: two slices of toasted bread, each rubbed with garlic and the cut side of a tomato that soaks it in pulp and juice, and then topped with a gossamer slice of the prosciutto Altnether began curing from a prized Mangalista pig back in February of 2010. The prosciutto is salty, porcine perfection, like silk on the tongue, while the tomato's acidic bite adds a burst of summery brilliance.

- from "Flavor of the Month" June 9, 2011

Taste (4584 Laclede Avenue; 314-361-1200)

I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes from the restaurants that I reviewed in 2011. The top dish will be revealed on Tuesday, December 27, and look for a slideshow featuring most of the winners on Wednesday, December 28.

Jennifer Silverberg

​Joy Luck Buffet isn't a new restaurant, but getting tipped to the authentic Szechuan menu at this otherwise unassuming Chinese joint in Brentwood just west of Hanley Road was a highlight of my year. Dive right into the Szechuan-peppercorn sensation that the Chinese call ma la ("hot and numbing") with a bowl of Chengdu spicy beef. Though it isn't listed as such on the menu, this is a soup: thinly sliced beef in a broth of the deep red hue usually associated with a child's drawing of a fire truck. The broth packs the expected one-two punch of chiles and peppercorns; the flavor is rounded out by the beef and accented with a subtle sour note.

- "What's in a Name" February 3, 2011

Joy Luck Buffet (8030 Manchester Road, Brentwood; 314-645-9982)

I'm counting down my ten favorite dishes from the restaurants that I reviewed in 2011. The top dish will be revealed on Tuesday, December 27, and look for a slideshow featuring most of the winners on Wednesday, December 28.

Ian Froeb

The red beans and rice at Riverbend Restaurant & Bar

​As is traditional in New Orleans, red beans and rice is available only on Mondays at this small Soulard spot. It is worth planning a visit around: The sauce itself has a rich, porky flavor, with smoked sausage adding brightness and spice. The beans are perfectly al dente. As with most of the dishes here, there is (intentionally) only a whisper of heat, but both Tabasco and Crystal hot sauces are available, and the menu explicitly states, "If the chef catches you shaking hot sauce onto one of his creations, he will not be offended."

- from "Louisiana Purchase" September 15, 2011

Riverbend Restaurant & Bar (701 Utah Street; 314-664-8443)