Best Restaurants: The Ones Left Off the List

"I just have one question for you. Why didn't Marco's Supperclub make the cut?"

Arts & Culture editor Brangien Davis asked me that question about a month ago, after reading through our Best Restaurants lineup of "Restaurants that Stand the Test of Time." And frankly, it wasn't the easiest question to answer.

Coming up with the finalists for this section of our Best Restaurants issue was harder than you might think. So, I'm hoping that by giving you, our readers, an inside look at how that process works, it might help explain why some of your favorites aren't on the list (but feel free to nominate/comment away on which ones you feel are sorely missed).

When we started compiling our favorites in each of the categories (20+ years old, 15+ years old, 10+ years old and so on), we had dozens of delicious options, especially in the 10+ and 15+ year categories. We compiled this list way back in September, when the real work--ie, the eating--for this issue began. Lorna Yee, Sumi Hahn and I made it our business to eat at every single restaurant on our list to decide which of them were as good as we remembered. And you know what? Many of them just weren't. And it's likely the reason your favorite old gem just didn't make it onto the list.

Have you ever had a delicious meal at a restaurant, brag about it to your friends for months, and then realize one day that that meal you loved so much occurred over a year earlier (and that maybe your opinion of the place isn't all that current anymore)? We've all done that. But for this issue, that just wasn't going to cut it. We wanted to be able to stand firmly behind our choices.

But then, it wasn't just about the food, either. We wanted to include restaurants that somehow changed the dining landscape when they opened. Restaurants that brought something new to our collective experience. That's why you find restaurants like Wild Ginger on the list: thought it's not groundbreaking today, Wild Ginger was hugely influential for the first decade of its existence.

In other words, it was complicated. Some of my personal favorites that just didn't make the cut: Eva, Hosoonyi, Nell's, Kwanjai, Jade Garden, Bis on Main. All delicious, all restaurants I've loved and enjoyed in the past and today. And of course, there are many others.

But I'm more interested in hearing about the one's you feel are missing, and why. And if you think we included a restaurant that isn't deserving, please, spill it!