Gourmet magazine’s October 2007 issue features a guide to “America’s Best Farm-to-Table Restaurants.” gourmet.com:

RESTAURANTS WITH FARM CONNECTIONS: 2nd Street Bistro, Livingston, MT; Amherst Chinese Food, Amherst, MA; Blackberry Farm, Walland, TN; Crook’s Corner, Chapel Hill, NC; Eve, Alexandria, VA; La Provence, Lacombe, LA; Lantern, Chapel Hill, NC; Pacific’O and I’o, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii; Tree House Pastry Shop and Cafe, Santa Fe, NM
MENU CHANGES DAILY/OFTEN: Aqua Santa, Santa Fe, NM; Bix, San Francisco; Boulettes Larder, San Francisco; Floataway Cafe, Atlanta; Francine, Camden, ME; Harvest, Madison, WI; Literati II, Brentwood, CA; Queen’s Hideaway, Brooklyn, NY
CASUAL: Bay Ave. Trattoria, Highlands, NJ; Blue Bird Bistro, Kansas City, MO; Bona Terra, Sharpsburg, PA; Burgerville, locations throughout Oregon and Washington; Canele, Atwater Village, CA; Duo Restaurant, Denver; The Farmhouse, Emmaus, PA; Fife Restaurant, Portland, OR; The Flying Fig, Cleveland; The Flying Pig on Lexington, Mount Kisco, NY; Local Burger, Lawrence, KS; Market, Del Mar, CA; Prairie Grass Cafe, Northbrook, IL; Sage, Des Moines, IA; Spoonriver, Minneapolis; Steelhead Diner, Seattle; Vindalho, Portland, OR
SEASONAL (CLOSED PART OF THE YEAR): The Back Eddy, Westport, MA; Christina’s (open from February to October), Eastsound, Orcas Island, WA; Clam Box of Ipswich (open from February to December), Ipswich, MA; Five Islands Lobster Co., Georgetown, ME; Hawk’s (open from December to May), Rayne, LA; Hell’s Backbone Grill (open from March to November), Boulder, UT
URBAN: Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, Chicago; Grace, Los Angeles; Josie, Santa Monica, CA; Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, Miami; Reef, Houston; Rendezvous in Central Square, Cambridge, MA; T’Afia, Houston; Telepan, New York, NY; White Dog Cafe, Philadelphia; Wilshire, Santa Monica, CA
WORTH THE TRIP: The Farmhouse Restaurant, The Inn at Serenbe, Palmetto, GA; Five & Ten, Athens, GA; Guadalupe Cafe, Sylva, NC; Harvest Moon Cafe, Sonoma, CA; Kai, Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, Chandler, AZ; Journeyman Cafe, Fennville, MI; Restaurant Tallent, Bloomington, IN: The Turquoise Room, Winslow, AZ.
ROMANTIC/SPECIAL OCCASIONS: 610 Magnolia, Louisville; Brigtsen’s, New Orleans; The Fearrington House Restaurant, Pittsboro, NC; The General’s Daughter, Sonoma, CA; Hen of the Wood, Waterbury, VT; Joseph’s Table, Taos, NM; Le Gourmand, Seattle; Manresa, Los Gatos, CA; The Painted Lady, Newberg, OR; Paley’s Place, Portland, OR.
MEAT RULES: Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine, Fort Worth; The Corn Exchange, Rapid City, SD; L&M’s Kitchen and Salumeria, Oxford, MS; The Linkery, San Diego; Pirogue Grille, Bismarck, ND; Route 7 Grill, Great Barrington, MA; Watermark Restaurant, Nashville.
HOTELS + INNS: Cielo at Ventana Inn & Spa, Big Sur, CA; CityZen, Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C.; The Inn at Dos Brisas, Brenham, TX; The Inn at Shelburne Farms (open from May to October), Shelburne, VT; North Fork Table and Inn, Southold, NY; Rustic Canyon, Santa Monica, CA.
BAR FOCUS: Cyrus, Healdsburg, CA; FIG, Charleston, SC.
LOCAL PIONEERS: Alice Waters, Chez Panisse, Berkeley, CA; Carrie Van Dyck, Ron Zimmerman, and Jerry Traunfeld, The Herbfarm, Woodinville, WA; Peter Merriman and Neil Murphy, Merriman’s, Waimea, Big Island, Hawaii; Peter Hoffman, Savoy, New York, NY; Greg Higgins, Higgins Restaurant & Bar, Portland, OR; Peter Davis, Henrietta’s Table, The Charles Hotel, Cambridge, MA; Dan Barber, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, NY; Lucia Watson, Lucia’s Restaurant and Wine Bar, Minneapolis; Alan Wong, Alan Wong’s Restaurant, Honolulu, Hawaii; Annie Somerville, Greens, San Francisco; Patrick O’Connell, The Inn at Little Washington, Washington, VA; Alex Young, Zingerman’s Roadhouse, Ann Arbor, MI

IN THE NEWS: The Plain Dealer’s Bill Lubinger, in his last Restaurant Row column before moving to the sports department, reports, “Niko Moulagianis bummed out a lot of people when he shut his popular Niko’s on Detroit in Lakewood in late April. At the time, he said he needed a break after 14 years in the business, so he leased the space to an operator who opened a trendy half-restaurant, half- club called Bar2 that may have aimed a bit high price-wise. Well, landlord and tenant have forged a partnership, which is good news for those craving the Greek dishes they fell in love with. On Oct. 1, the property becomes Niko’s at Bar2 (15625 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-226-7050), a Greek restaurant from 5 to 11 p.m. that becomes a club until 2:30 a.m.” … Lubinger also notes the opening of Stages at the Cleveland Play House (8501 Carnegie Ave., Cleveland, 216-795-1111, stagesrestaurant.com), Gary Lucarelli’s replacement for the old Cleveland Play House Club. Unlike its private predecessor, the 180-seat Stages is open to the public at 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays whether you take in a show or not. … Other openings: Pranzo (36495 Vine St., Willoughby, 440-946-7827, pranzobistro.com), Jerusalem Grill (14421 Cedar Road, South Euclid, 216-291-9191, jerusalemgrill.com), The Reddstone (Oct. 11, in the previous Snickers Tavern space on West 76th Street), and Jazzman’s Cafe at The Akron Art Museum. … David Farkas reviews Lakewood’s Waterbury Coach House. cleveland.com … Free Times’ Douglas Trattner rounds up fall restaurant openings, including PJ McIntyre’s Irish Pub (17119 Lorain Ave., 216.941.9311), The Reddstone (1261 W. 76th St.), The Pub (19304 Detroit Rd., Beachcliff Market Square, early October), Bar Cento (1948 W. 25th St., early October) and Stone Mad (1306 W. 65th St., early November) and also notes the closing of Scott Kim’s seven-year-old Japanese restaurant Matsu, to open Sasa at Shaker Square in late October (13120 Shaker Sq., 216.767.1111). freetimes.com … The Cleveland Scene’s Elaine Cicora reviews Flying Fig (2523 Market Avenue, 216-241-4243), notes Krizman Farmers Market (8748 Mentor Avenue, 440-255-3313, krizmanfarmersmarket.com), and blogs about the new McCormick & Schmick’s (26300 Cedar Rd., at the main entrance to Beachwood Place shopping mall. 216-595-2886). … Rebecca Meiser blogs about the closing of Peking Gourmet in South Euclid. clevescene.com

Compiled by Pat Embry, WhereTheLocalsEat.com

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