2012 Top 5 Favourite Restaurants

Back to the annual Chicago Addick Top Five and next up is restaurants. My five were all in the United States, but each one very distinguishable. Here were my Top Five Restaurants of 2012:

1. Spago, Beaver Creek, Colorado
With mountain views and the brown-and-white cowhide seating (photo) offering a taste of America’s west, the food was both imaginative and excellent. We went another night for Happy hour and snacked on great pizzas.
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2. Portofino, Buckhead, Georgia
I always think it is hard to make Italian extra special, but this place with it’s lovely outside terrace was. The food was northern Italian and superb and the Italian reds, which we got mightily stuck into, were sensational.
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3. Trenchermen, Chicago
Had only been opened a few days when we went and myself and three mates sat at the bar and ate some beautifully concocted dishes with narration from the chef himself. Trenchermen, named for someone that eats heartily and often to excess, occupies a space that was once a Turkish bathhouse. Can’t wait to go back.
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4. Hillstone, Coral Gables, Florida
This has featured in my Top 5 before and I desperately would love to live near one. Hillstone is a chain but it has something for everyone. On our last visit the menu had shrunk a little, but the food was tremendous and I also discovered that they make cracking margaritas.
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5. Tomo, Buckhead, Georgia
Buckhead is a foodie’s delight and on our recent visit we ate at this Japanese restaurant. The food was exquisite and every dish brought intense flavours. The knowledgable waitress had me trying all sorts, with the stand out being the Kampachi Serrano. A great place that was originally a strip mall sushi bar before chef Tomohiro Naito moved upscale.
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