10 best dishes our food critic ate in 2019

Chef/owner Daniel del Prado has a mackerel obsession, and the oily, dense fish ($15) contrasts beautifully against fiery Fresno chiles and the crunch of fried chapulines (aka grasshoppers), imported from Oaxaca and surely one of the most talked-about ingredients of the year.

This do-it-yourself Laotian snack ($13) is a flavor burst of well-seasoned deep-fried rice, ground pork, fish sauce and chopped peanuts that's spooned into crisp lettuce leaves and topped with fresh herbs. "Once you start eating it, you can't stop," said chef/owner Ann Ahmed. She's absolutely right.

Yes, the dry-aged, bone-in rib-eye is magnificent (ditto the Denver, Flat Iron and New York Strip steaks), but here's another measure of a first-rate steakhouse: The side dishes are equally memorable. This hedonistic half-and-half blend of spuds and slightly funky cave-aged Gruyère ($13) is one sterling example; the plate of crisp, golden and utterly miraculous hash browns ($13) is another.

Just when the diner-style double-patty cheeseburger was taking on a been-there/done-that aura, chef Nick O'Leary skillfully made it feel brand-new, and at a palatable price ($9.50). Even better, O'Leary and co-owner Josh Thoma opened a Rosedale outlet, delivering first-rate burgers to shoppers resigned to dreary chain output.

Every dish at chef/owner Gavin Kaysen's intimate tasting-menu-only restaurant has a back story, and this one had a doozy: It's based on a signature preparation from the arsenal of legendary French chef (and Kaysen mentor) Paul Bocuse. Where Bocuse made hare the centerpiece, Kaysen used octopus, then fashioned a unique, intensely unctuous sauce using pig's blood, wild rice and red currant vinegar.

While chef/owner Facundo Javier Defraia is an exceptional empanadas maker, he also has a knack for pizzas, baking delicate, oval-shaped crusts until the edges blister and then glisten with olive oil and twinkle with sea salt. Toppings follow many don't-miss combinations, but the pear-dill-pine nut-Gorgonzola combination ($16) is Hall of Fame-worthy.

The options change weekly, but chef/owner Jon Wipfli — laboring out of a trailer/food truck setup — is performing minor barbecue miracles. What's best about this heaping helping of smoked goodness ($20) is that, whatever the assortment, it offers a superb BBQ 101. If anyone deserves to matriculate from a vehicle into a brick-and-mortar operation, it's Wipfli.

Last year's Star Tribune Restaurant of the Year kicked off a brunch service that places this puffed-up pancake/popover crossover in the spotlight. Tapping the intense heat of his kitchen's wood-burning hearth, chef Thomas Boemer offers three beautiful variations ($12 and $13), starting with a classic ham-and-egg version.

My Scandinavian DNA finds open-face sandwiches irresistible, and this beauty ($21) was tops in its class. The house-baked sourdough, a model of baking acumen, is piled high with tons of sweet, ocean-fresh crab and very little else, just judicious pops of lemon, tarragon and espelette peppers. Perfect.

This meatless version of the Afghani staple ($14) is a prime example of chef/owner Scott Graden's affinity for both vegetarian cooking and globally inspired flavors, lending heft to sweet winter squash with harissa, dukkah, mint, tangy smoked yogurt and a nest of crispy fried shallots. No wonder this Lake Superior landmark has been drawing crowds for 20 years.

Moroccan salmon at Fhima's Minneapolis, French toast at Rose Street Cafe, Sunday night fried chicken at St. Genevieve, breakfast sandwich at Lowry Hill Meats, deep-dish pizza at the Fitz, bacon-Cheddar biscuit at Betty & Earl's Biscuit Kitchen, shrimp and grits at Grand Catch, rhubarb ice cream at Pumphouse Creamery, "Abundance Board" at Kieran's Kitchen Northeast and the Baltimore sandwich from Carbon Coal-Fired Pit Beef.