The Twenty Ten Halftime Report

JUL 1 marks the halfway point of Twenty-Ten and, thus far, even without the impetus of an A to Z type challenge, The Foodie has had a rather epic six months. Looking at the tally on the right hand side, even I was amazed at how many times I'd gone out to “Noteworthy” places 49 times in 6 months?!? That's an average of 8+ places a month or a little more than twice a week - that's just not right. Somebody OBVIOUSLY has a problem, if you know what I mean. Plus, the train aint slowing down: #50 happens tonight when I head into The City to try SPQR for the first time.

Speaking of which, The Foodie has been particularly good about trying new places this year. Both in terms of existing places I simply hadn't gotten to yet (Absinthe, Commis, Fifth Floor, Cheese Board Collective, The Artist Formerly Known As Taylor's Automatic Refresher, etc.) and brand spanking new places that don't even rate ratings yet (American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, Baume, Smuggler's Cover, Humphry Slocombe, etc.). Not only does that trend continue tonight with SPQR, but The Foodie would be shocked if Thermidore, Baker & Banker, Marlowe and Boot & Shoe Service weren't knocked out this Summer (if not this month).

But Foodie? How does one find places that are so new that they aren't in the guides when your blog is named after said guides? Good question! The answer: The Blogosphere! And I aint talkin' about Yelp. In my humble but deadly accurate opinion, Yelp is a poorly constructed weapon of last resort leaking waste all over the interwebs. The resources I use -and have the shiny icons right on my Chrome toolbar to prove it- are Eater SF (which isn't quite as good as it used to be), Inside Scoop (which is basically run by the guy who USED to run Eater SF...which explains why it isn't quite as good as it used to be) and, to a lesser extent, OpenTable and the brand spanking new BlackBoard Eats. I would have included Michael Bauer's Top 100 List too, but since he's part of Inside Scoop it's a bit redundant. If you're a serious foodie, I'm aware you already know about these sites. Nothing to see here...move along to the next Blog Entry. But if you don't scour the Information Super-Highway on a daily basis for restaurant dirt, 411 and deals then they can definitely point you in the right direction, because when places like American Grilled Cheese Kitchen or Plum (The Coi Guy + The Ubuntu Guy) even think about starting up, Eater SF & Inside Scoop will be all over it like an Avatard on a limited edition replica chunk of Unobtanium signed by J-Cam.

The Foodie's Twenty Ten Halftime report has been brought to you by: Duck Fat, Popcorn Ice Cream and The Vuvuzela of Knowledge.