Lists

Aqua, Gitane, and Ubuntu Drop Off Chron’s Top 100; Adesso, Frances, and Nombe Join the List

In this version of the cover, the restaurant names are blurred...
In this version of the cover, the restaurant names are blurred… Photo: Chron

Michael Bauer made some familiar complaints about how hard it was whittling down his list of the Bay Area’s 100 best restaurants, and he’s threatening to turn it into a Top 150 next year. For 2010 he still had to cheat a little, combining listings for Barbacco and Perbacco; Picco and Pizzeria Picco; and piggy-backing Boot & Shoe Service onto the Pizzaiolo listing. He crowns eighteen new entries, and a few older honorees who dropped off have reappeared (Étoile, Chapeau); thus he also had to make some tough choices, letting a few of his favorite but under-performing children fall off the back of the bus.

Among those who got slashed, Marzano in Oakland, who’ve likely been outshined too much by Adesso and Boot & Shoe Service; Kokkari, which Bauer earlier accused of getting “middle age spread”; and Ubuntu, which apparently has lost its shimmer since the abrupt loss of exec chef Jeremy Fox. See our summary of new additions and omissions below.

Last year’s list is still linked here on SFGate, and the new list should go live at the same URL come Tuesday.

New Kids on the Block
Adesso (Oakland)
Baker & Banker
Barbacco
Boot & Shoe Service
Chapeau
Etoile (Yountville)
Flour + Water
Frances
Frascati
Limon
Neela’s (Napa)
Nombe
Osteria Stellina (Point Reyes)
Press (St. Helena)
RN74
Sante (Sonoma)
Scopa (Healdsburg)
Solbar (Calistoga)
Tipsy Pig
Wexler’s

Those Who Didn’t Make the Cut
Aqua
BarbersQ (Napa)
Bistro Aix (temporarily closed for renovations)
Buckeye Roadhouse (Sausalito)
Fonda (Albany)
Gitane
Kokkari Estiatorio
Martini House (St. Helena)
Marzano (Oakland)
Matterhorn
Moss Room
Nettie’s Crab Shack
Nick’s Cove (Point Reyes – you’ll recall this excerpted but unpublished pan)
Sea Salt (Berkeley)
Ton Kiang
Ubuntu (Napa)

Aqua, Gitane, and Ubuntu Drop Off Chron’s Top 100; Adesso, Frances, and