Lists

Plum, Jardinière, RN74 All Drop Off Bauer’s Top 100

Sorry, guys.
Sorry, guys. Photo: Chron

Huzzah! For the first time since the invention of the internet, Michael Bauer has bestowed on us the details of the changes to his Top 100 restaurant list without making us buy a newspaper or wait until the Chron’s traditional web embargo ends on Tuesday. On Thursday he revealed his seventeen new additions to the list, which included AQ, Claudine, Bar Tartine, La Ciccia, and State Bird Provisions. The inky paper version dropped yesterday, and this morning Mr. Bauer lists out the restaurants that he had to jettison this year to make way for the new, saving us the trouble of comparing the lists ourselves.

He nixed fifteen restaurants in total, based either on recent chef changes or on recent return visits that weren’t quite up to snuff. The surprises here include longtime Top 100 stalwart, Jardinière, which he found too expensive and not as exciting as in years past — though he still left them with a three-star review. Similarly, RN74 he found way too pricey for its own good on his last visit, so they drop off as well. And also he nixed Daniel Patterson’s very popular Plum in Oakland, saying his “revisit was lackluster” following the departure of chef Charlie Parker.

Bauer also cut several restaurants that he only added last year: Angèle in Napa, where the kitchen is “in transition”; Bourbon Steak; Ristobar; Station 1; and Zero Zero. Additionally, he deals a double blow to Zero Zero owner Bruce Hill, nixing his Larkspur restaurant Picco as well.

Oakland’s À Côté drops off the list once again, despite Bauer having found it on an upswing in 2011. And while he adds the new restaurant from Franck LeClerc and chef Briget Batson, Claudine, he makes room by removing their earlier opened venture, Gitane.

Unfortunately for all these folks, not making Bauer’s cut can have an effect on their bottom lines. But there’s always next year!

Here’s the full new list (no waiting until Tuesday!) and below, the full list of this year’s deletions.

À Côté

Angèle

Bar Jules

Bourbon Steak

Gitane

Jardiniere

Kaygetsu [closed]

Picco

Plum

Ristobar

RN74

Rosso

Station 1

Ubuntu

Zero Zero

The Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants [Chron]
The 15 restaurants dropped from the Top 100 list [Between Meals/Scoop]
Earlier: AQ, Nojo, and Bar Tartine Among Bauer’s New Additions to the Top 100
Saison, Mission Chinese, Zero Zero All Added to the Chron Top 100; Commis, Not So Much [Grub Street - 2011]

Plum, Jardinière, RN74 All Drop Off Bauer’s Top 100