We joke around in the office that our Best Of issue, which is coming up in June, should be called the “Best Places Our Friends Told Us About” issue—because the most valuable tips always come word of mouth. First, we start with our own personal list collected from the past year and then we start polling the people whose opinions we respect, for everything from their new secret spots to their perennial favorites. Finally, we fan out and give everything a try. To be honest, the hardest part isn’t coming up with the ideas, but whittling it all down. Playing favorites can actually be a rather painful experience.


Lamb curry, tandoori fish (see it wafting my way?) and dahl.

Once we’ve gotten this far, we call the Eat + Drink summit (this year, summit attendees were me, Jessica and Jordan, our wine and spirits editor) and brainstorm over good food. Which means that I just had a very good (I didn’t say best, lest I give anything away here) Pakistani lunch at cozy little, Tenderloin-based Lahore Kahari, which, of course, was recommended by a friend. The very homemade (i.e. delicious and made by one guy, with the lengthy wait you'd expect) meal included a tandoori fish topped with a vinegary cabbage that I highly recommend and a great lamb curry. (Of course, as it is when you sit in an enclosed Pakistani joint with little ventilation, you take the eau-de-tandoor with you for the rest of the day and into the night, if you can’t get home to change and shower. Pakistani lunch=bad evening date.)


Great minds: Jordan Mackay and Jessica Battilana.

The long and the short of this is not so much to tip you off to a good restaurant to try, although I highly recommend a trip to Lahore, but to encourage you to send us any tips for eating and drinking our way—ASAP (think everything from markets, to dives, to wine classes, to restaurants). The more the merrier! Leave your bests in the comment field.