I'm reading through this list and one thing immediately occurs to me: I'm probably never going to visit any of these places.

The Zagat 2008 America's Top Restaurants Dining Journal has chosen the top 11 restaurants in the country, based on food, cost, service, and decor. Out of a possible score of 30, all of these restaurants scored a 29 (the only place to score a perfect 30 was the McDonald's in Fresno, CA, but it wins every year and is no longer eligible).

Among the restaurants chosen: Bacchanalia in Atlanta, GA, Jean-Robert at Pigall's in Cincinnati, OH, and Restaurant Nicholas in Red Bank, NJ.

Food Network Iron chef Cat Cora is going to chat on Zagat.com live at 2pm today. You can submit questions here (and as of right now there aren't many questions so there's a good chance yours will be answered, so head on over).

Cora is the Iron Chef I don't know much about. The only place I've seen her is Iron Chef America, and I didn't know her background or that she was mentored by Julia Child (!), so I'll be checking in on the chat today.

• Instead of lettuce, try some hearty, leafy vegetables.
• These contractors not only remodel your kitchen, they'll cook you a meal.
• Right now, people running in tomorrow's Boston Marathon are probably eating a lot of carbs.
• The 2007/08 Zagat Guide to Boston restaurants has a new look.
• It's cookie time for Boston Red Sox fans.
• This week's recipes: Fresh Fruit Tart, Pan-Broiled Salmon, String Cheese and Avocado Salad, Lemony Oven-Roasted Potatoes, and Chicken Sausage, Mushroom, and Raisin Risotto.

The concept of a restaurant guidebook is becoming increasingly outdated. The books are rarely up to date and, although they can be carried around by travelers easily, just can't offer the user the same kind of immediate response - and an interactive one, at that - as online, user-driven restaurant guides. Chowhound, Yelp and Citysearch are some of the leaders of this genre, along with similar user-review driven online forums. Zagat, which was unique in the restaurant guide book field in that it based its "reviews" on user commentary, recently decided that it needed to move to a similar online format, where users could offer real-time opinions, in order to remain competitive.

Or, at least, to attempt to remain competitive.

Is there any more room left in the restaurant discussion board field for a newcomer? Given that people have expressed dissatisfaction with the way that Chowhound is run (and they way that the site looks), there just might be.

[via eater la ]

I was noodling around in my files and food magazines and ran across some info that I thought would make a good food trivia quiz.

Food Trivia Quiz

1. When and where did McDonald's open its first drive thru?
2. Who turned the world on to Blackened red fish?
3. Who are Tim and Nina and what are they known for?
4. In 1982 what became ET's favorite candy?
5. When was the Slurpee introduced?
6. What is Alice Waters known for?
7. Who was the first Ronald McDonald?
8. What cities recently banned the sale or use of certain food products.
9. What storm caused the devastation of one of the top food destinations in the world?
10. Where was the original home of Subway?
11. Who wrote "On Food and Cooking" the book that was the catalyst for the combining of the culinary arts and science?
12. When did the Blooming Onion first appear on a chain restaurant menu?
13. When did the Food network first start broadcasting?
14. When and where did the first Starbucks open?
15. The first dishwasher was introduced to the public in 1893. What decade did it finally catch on?
16. What was the first diet soda?
17. What was the "Space Age drink" and when was it introduced?
18. Waring invented the blender in 1937. What year was the one millionth blender sold?
19. What was the cereal Mikey likes?
20. Who wrote "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"?

Don't peek at the answers! They're after the jump.

The Zagat Survey recently released some stats from its new 2007 edition of America's Top Restaurants. According to Zagat, the citizens of Houston, Austin and Dallas/Ft. Worth dined out the most, all about four times per week. (Houston also frequently tops the Men's Fitness list of America's fattest cities.) The average meal is also a little cheaper in Houston ($27.04), compared with some of the more expensive dining cities on the survey, such as New York City ($39.43) and Palm Beach, FL ($38.56). Also, west coast diners apparently tip a percentage point or so less than East Coast diners, according to Zagat. Average tips out west hovered around 18 percent, while averages on the other side of the country were around 19 percent. There are still plenty of chowhounds out there too, apparently; 63 percent of those surveyed said they would drive 45 minutes each way for a good meal. Restaurant News Resource has the full Zagat press release with lots more info.

The folks at Zagat recently compiled a list of the top 100 hotel restaurants in America for an article in USA TODAY. Ratings were based on food quality, décor and service. The French Room in The Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas, made the top of the list, which is available here. The list, complete with reviews, addresses and phone numbers, is also available for download as a notes file for your iPod. I went ahead and loaded it onto my iPod and, indeed, I was able to browse the list with my little scroll wheel. I'm not sure why this list needs to be on anyone's iPod, but nevertheless, it's available. Of the 100 restaurants listed, 20 are in California and 13 are in Massachusetts. At number three on the list is The Dining Room at Little Palm Island Resort (right), a luxury resort in the Florida Keys that can only be reached by boat. More complete Zagat guides are also available for other mobile devices like PDAs and cell phones.

USA Today recently collected a list restaurants with high Zagat ratings near major U.S. airports. Their top pick was Chez Nous, less than 15 minutes away from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental. While the list offers one or two recommendations for about 20 U.S. airports, Zagat was stumped for good places near the terminals in Philly, Orlando and Detroit. On a similar note, Ask Metafilter today featured a thread about which airports around the world have the best food. So far, it doesn't look like anyone has mentioned Miami International's La Carreta, an excellent Cuban cafeteria in Concourse D.

Zagat doesn't survey only diners anymore. To see what industry insiders, including chefs and restaurant owners, wanted to see and wanted to stop seeing in food in the next year, Zagat went straight to the source.
From Anthony Bourdain to Rick Bayless, they want to see:

• Artisanal cheeses and organic foods; more innovation and less repetition; authentic Vietnamese, tapas, Mexican and Japanese; customers who ask for advice; an increase in passion in both service and food

From Gordon Ramsey to Ming Tsai, they could do without:

• Truffle oil; electronic distractions; overly detailed menus; "concept" and formula restaurants

On the fringes of the survey, Tony Bourdain is asking for more smoking sections and Mark Furstenberg (owner of BreadLine in DC) wants more butterscotch pudding, but it seems that at least some food trends are headed in the direction that chefs want. Organic foods are used more than ever and there is an increasing emphasis on regional, "authentic" cooking, but only time will tell what the New Year will bring.