Critics' Picks: Best Dishes of '08

Burger Royale at Django: one of D.V. Wagman's picks for Best Fine Dining Dishes. (Credit: Register File Photo)

Five Best Fine Dining Dishes

Note: Menu items often change at fine dining venues. While these exact dishes may not always be available, they give you an idea of the style of cuisine to look for at these spots.

W.E. Moranville:
• Burger Rossini at Django. Yes, you can live large for $16. Here’s a high-quality burger topped with a jiggly foie gras and demiglace-based sauce for a tough-times take on the elegant Euro-dish, Tournedos Rossini.

• Halibut at Alba. This East Village newcomer dazzled last summer with its moist, gleaming-white halibut, detailed with saffron, zucchini and bits of fried duck skin for a dish that was both down-home and refined at the same time.

• The Lobster Louis Salad at Splash Raw Bar. Cushy, sweet lobster, piquant Louis dressing, and crisp-as-cabbage shreds of ice-cold iceberg lettuce combine for a dreamy take on the Crab Louis salad.

• Sheeder Farms chicken breast at Le Jardin. Chicken need never be boring, especially when an all-natural bird crosses paths with an inspired chef. This opulent dish arrived beautifully draped with a bronze cream sauce and abundant with chanterelles, morels and black truffles.

• Cheese and charcuterie plate at Fleming’s. This plentiful platter makes for a very civilized way to enjoy wholly satisfying artisanal flavors without emptying your pockets. Three cheeses are presented alongside cured imported meats; olives, pickles, and mustard artfully rounded out the spread.

D.V. Wagman:
• Burger Royale at Django. Hand ground from the most flavorful cuts and topped with a sunny-side egg and propped on a beautiful bun, this almost shamefully decadent burger really raises the bar.

• Ongelet bordelaise at Le Jardin. Intense with pure, beefy flavor and rustic, toothsome texture, this one-per-cow cut of beef pairs perfectly with Tag Grandgeorge’s beautifully-prepared bordelaise.

• Linguine carbonara at Torroco! This Italian classic — one of the most glorious, rich dishes that the Italians ever invented — becomes strands of pure luxury under Andrew Meek’s watchful eye.

• Braciole di mailae at Café di Scala. For crying out loud, every time I try something new at Café Di Scala I think it is the best thing I’ve ever eaten. This herbed, garlic and sausage-stuffed pork chop, adorned with earthy porcini sauce, is the latest dish to earn that thought.

• Pistachio-encrusted American lamb chops at 801 Steak and Chop. Although its shockingly-high price catapults this dish way into the realm of “ special night out,” the way its crisp, oven-browned coating encases its juicy, rosy interior makes it worth every hard-earned penny.


Five Best Casual Dining Dishes

W.E. Moranville:
• Tacos and gorditas at Mariana’s. At Mariana’s expanded new location, it’s hard to choose between her famous super-fresh tacos or her comforting gorditas (meat, onions, crema, and cheese served between two crisp-fried corn-dough wafers). The solution? One of each.

• Jethro’s Dinners for Two. My usual dictum, “the more TVs, the worse the food” doesn’t hold true here. In fact, if any dish encourages me to endure an onslaught of screens, it’s a huge $22.95-for-two platter, with sweet-grainy-spiced ribs, smoked-to-perfection meats and thoughtful sides at this Drake-area restaurant.

• Mona Lisa Pizza at Frank’s. With tart olives, creamy ricotta, balsamic-marinated tomatoes and earthy cremini mushrooms — all subtly perfumed with rosemary — this is an artful antidote to the pile-it-on, cheese-it-up pizzas available elsewhere.

• Emberburger at Jesse’s Embers. The been-here-forever Ingersoll steakhouse endures as a cozy and completely “Des Moines” spot to enjoy this tender, melt-in-your-mouth burger with burn-your-fingers-hot fries.

• Fish tacos at Star Bar. Crisp, flaky fish, crunchy cabbage slaw and a spirited guacamole salsa get tucked into a tortilla and served with spicy black beans for a somewhat healthful but entirely satisfying alternative to the typical bar food.

D.V. Wagman:
• Avocado salad at Samurai Sushi and Hibatchi. Not only is this perfectly, buttery-ripe fruit sliced into a rosette so pretty it would be at home in a bridal bouquet, but its lighter-than-light pickled ginger dressing sings at the wedding.

• Fried chicken and mashed potatoes at The Radish. Superlative hand-fried chicken and real mashed potatoes — food that conjures up grandma and doilies and meals on Melamine — is rare these days — and restaurants that go to the trouble of making it are even more uncommon.

• Vegetable falafel at Proof. Tuck a richly spiced, fried garbanzo patty into a yeasty, duvet-soft round of grilled flatbread prepared by people who know their way around Middle Eastern cuisine and you have the yummiest vegetarian lunch in town.

• Beef arrachera at Mexico Viejo. Prepared in rustic ranch style, this tiny spot’s super-thin, highly seasoned skirt steak, grill seared and plated with a roasted jalapeño, is the year’s best reason to dine in Beaverdale.

• Birria chivo at La Pena. Sitting and savoring a steaming bowl of astonishingly tender, slow-braised goat while listening to the hardworking ladies pat tortillas and chatter in Spanish is almost as wonderful as being in Mexico itself.