Top Bites of 2016

Another year down on the books as a delicious one. 2016 was filled with more eating than writing. A look back of our favorite local bite of the year on All Over Albany also brought back delicious memories from this past year, including some from our travels:

Eat Drink SF: A trip to San Francisco this past summer included a stop at the Bay Area's premier food, wine, beer and spirits festival. The best of SF's restauranteurs gathered for an epic tasting and the highlight of it all was this heavenly bite from Brasserie S&P. A dollop of creamed corn brought out the sweetness of the fresh, briny raw scallop and a pop of pickled blueberries brought it all together. I selfishly went it for seconds, it was that good. 

Duartes Tavern: Our West Coast trip brought us to the quaint little town of Pescadero, home of the iconic artichoke soup. It's California in a comforting, creamy bowl. The earthiness of the fresh artichokes in this soup is unlike anything we've had before. Asking for a swirl of spicy cream of green chile (an off the menu tip from Yelpers) further enhanced the flavors. 

Maharaja: Our favorite Indian restaurant has a mean weekend brunch buffet. What's unique about Maharaja's is that they include their Indo-Chinese fusion fare plus these diy pani puri!

Troy Kitchen: We love the choices at Troy Kitchen! Fell head over heels in love with the fried chicken from Allie B's Cozy Kitchen and couldn't get enough of the crepes at La Petite Crepe. Now there's Hoist Sandwiches with a pork belly banh mi that's calling our names! 

Chester's Smokehouse: There are too many delicious things from this place. We're big fans of the bacon ribs, liverwurst, and slim chesters (their own better version of a slim jim). Their homemade pierogies makes a frequent appearance at our dinner table, but it's the smoked chicken bacon potato ones that we can't stop thinking about. It's so good!