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Rounding out their year of travel and restaurant reviews, Gayot has put out their list of the top restaurants of 2006. Interestingly enough, the way they attempt to give credibility to their list is by putting down bloggers and people who, in their opinion, are too young inexperienced to know a good restaurant when they see one. But to be a really top restaurant, it should be able to appeal to all types of people, not just those who are old with potentially outdated ideas of what high quality cuisine should be. That being said, their list actually has quite a few good picks on it and certainly seems to be in touch with current dining trends. In fact, it pretty much looks like they just picked out some of the hottest spots in the country to make up their list. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Some highlights from their list include the following, but click here to read the whole thing.

• CHICAGO
  - Alinea, TRU
• HEALDSBURG, CA
  - Cyrus
• LAS VEGAS
  - Picasso, Restaurant Guy Savoy
• LOS ANGELES
  - Mélisse, Patina
• NEW YORK
  - Alain Ducasse, Daniel
• SAN FRANCISCO
  - Gary Danko, Michael Mina
• WASHINGTON, D.C.
  - CityZen, Michel Richard
• YOUNTVILLE, CA
  - The French Laundry

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In Details magazine, Ed Levine recently laid out a list of the best pizza places in the country at the moment. The criteria for the best pie changes from person to person and city to city, but Ed's criteria - crisp but tender crusts, fresh mozzarella, high-quality tomatoes, and a touch of salt - are standards that every pizza lover can agree on and should expect from their pies. Ed's list includes: PIZZERIA BIANCO, Phoenix, NY

• DI FARA, Brooklyn, NY
• TOTONNO'S, Brooklyn, NY
• UNA PIZZA NAPOLETANA, New York, NY
• FRANK PEPE PIZZERIA NAPOLETANA, New Haven, CT
• SALLY'S APIZZA, New Haven, CT
• AL FORNO, Providence, RI
• PICCO, Boston, MA
• 2 AMYS, Washington, D.C.
• PUNCH NEAPOLITAN PIZZA, St. Paul, MN
• NOSTRANA, Portland, OR
• SERIOUS PIE, Seattle, WA
• MOZZA BAR, Los Angeles, CA
• PIZZERIA PICCO, Larkspur, CA
• PIZZAIOLO, Oakland, CA

There are only two small problems with the list, although the lack of inclusion of The Cheese Board is just my own bias and perhaps should not be counted. The real problem is that , aside from the St Paul pizzeria, the only restaurants listed are on either cost. Now, the South isn't necessarily known for their piazza, but there are plenty of Chicagoans who are willing to, loudly, defend their city's top pizzerias. It could be that the best pizzas are only found towards the country's coasts, or perhaps there just haven't been any volunteers willing to take Ed around to the best that the midwest has to offer to see if it holds up to his standards.

[via the food section]

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We already took a look at the world's most expensive restaurants for this year, but Forbes has added to their compilation of the priciest restaurants with a list of those located in the US. Unlike the global list, which takes into account the price for only a main course, drink and tip, the US list includes the prices for fixed-price tasting menus, which are definitely the most popular way to eat at top eateries. And those prices are going up. There are new and better ingredients to be used and higher expectations that must be met by these restaurants. "We're seeking out smaller producers with better products, and with that comes a higher expense of preparing them in the kitchen. It creates an upward pressure on menu prices," said one restaurant owner, who also noted that it was fortunate the economy is strong enough to sustain restaurants that serve the such high-priced meals.

At the top of the list is New York City's Masa at $446, followed by California's The French Laundry at $254 and Chicago's Alinea at $168.

The rest of the top ten are after the jump.

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Generally, the scariest thing about amusement parks is not the haunted house or the gravity-defying roller coaster. It's the greasy, overpriced food - and when the funnel cakes are the only thing drawing people in, you know that there has to be a change. Six Flags is using some scary food as a way to attract customers to their parks during their Halloween Fright-Fest celebrations. The promotion entails eating a live Madagascar Hissing Cockroach in exchange for front-of-the-line passes at some parks, including Six Flags Great America, although at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, eating a roach will get you free admission.

To no one's surprise, PETA is not thrilled with this promotion, but some theme park visitors are loving it. "They do taste like chicken," said one visitor. An eight grader at Great America said "I've been here too many time, I just want to eat cockroaches."

You'll have to check with your nearest Six Flags to see if they're offering the deal. Six Flags representatives said that those with shellfish allergies might want to avoid the roaches, though there are no other problems associated with eating them.

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After having successfully brought the coffee shop chain Tully's to Japan and helped to make coffee tremendously popular there, Kouta Matsuda is returning to the United States with the hopes of returning the favor with a different beverage. He has a chain of successful cafes in Japan that specialize in matcha. With his drinks, he is hoping to do for green tea what Starbucks did for coffee.

His company, Foodx Globe, recently opened its first US Koots Green Tea cafe in Bellevue, Washington, just outside of Seattle. Decorated in bamboo and Asian prints, the cafe specializes in a variety of drinks all made with matcha, a powdered green tea, and other Asian drinks. The menu includes offerings such as matcha Americanos and white chocolate matcha lattes, in addition to black sesame smoothies and tapioca pearl teas.

While specialty teas are growing in popularity, matcha is a fairly new player in the US tea scene. It has been helped along by Starbucks green tea lattes and frappuccinos, but bringing a coffee drinker over to the "green side" might be an uphill battle. Matsuda is planning his expansion slowly, with a few choice west coast locations to open over the next year or two.

[Image Seattle Times]

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