The 100 best things we ate (and drank) this year (41-50)*

47. Prosciutto topped with ponzu sauce, crunchy toasted shallots and charred asparagus @ Wakamono

41. Broccoli rabe @ Chopal Steak & Kebab
Yes, the ornate wooden chairs at this Pakistani mainstay are ridiculously uncomfortable, the giant tables force you and your dining companion to sit about six feet away from each other, and BYOB is frowned upon. But the ginger-studded, citrus-tinged, silky-smooth broccoli rabe is worth the hassle.

42.Yekuanta firfir@ Blue Nile Ethiopian
Out of everything this newcomer has to offer, its greatest contribution to Chicago’s African dining scene is undoubtedly this delicious dish of charred jerk beef mixed with injera and berbere sauce.

43. Raisin walnut bread @ Red Hen Bread
There’s a reason that nearly every great restaurant in town serves this stuff on their cheese plates: it’s good enough to end all raisin hateration. Spread some stinky blue cheese on it and raisin naysayers are speechless.

44. Mango flan @ May St. Café
Just one small disk of this decadent dessert is enough to send you reeling into a blissful sugar high. But that doesn’t mean you won’t eat the other two on the plate.

45. Pork chop @ Tarantino’s
It’s not so much the pork that makes this dish—though the juicy thing is delicious on its own—but rather the chutney, rife with cinnamon and plump, balsamic-kissed grapes.

46. Scallop tart @ Cafe des Architectes
With its thin pastry crust, golden scallops and crown of herbaceous greens, this simple, sophisticated classic is a reminder of how damn good the French are at this cooking thing.

47. Prosciutto topped with ponzu sauce, crunchy toasted shallots and charred asparagus @ Wakamono
Like every dish at Henry Chang’s slick, stylized eatery, this one is as beautiful to look at as it is exciting to taste.

48. Lobster with hush puppies @ Scylla
Of course, “lobster with hush puppies” doesn’t even begin to describe this dish, but “lobster with hush puppies and a shot of lobster bisque topped with savory panna cotta” is too wordy. Oh well, words rarely do chef Stephanie Izard’s food justice anyway.

49.De migas@ Ritz Tango Café
It takes just two bites to devour one of these paper-thin ham-and-cheese sandwiches. But it’s exactly their simplicity and size that makes them so charming. (That and watching Argentinians tango while you eat.)

50. 48-hour braised beef @ Ambria
In case the name of the dish doesn’t make it clear enough, allow us to reiterate that this meat is braised for 48 hours—48 hours—rendering the meat so tender that there’s no need for a knife. Is there really anything else you need to know?

60. Sage margarita @ the Pump Room

51. Limoncello @ Filippo’s
Owner Anette Delbret has a history of occasionally pouring a complimentary shot of this sweet, house-made digestif for tables that promise not to drive afterward. Trust us, it’s worth taking the El.

52. Spaghetti with Moreton Bay bugs @ Il Covo
Even if we could find them anywhere else (which we can’t), we’d still stick to chef Luka Lukic’s preparation of these buttery crustaceans from Australia. Otherwise, we’d have to also forgo the bed of excellent house-made pasta underneath them.

53. Pan-roasted chicken with corn fritters @ Backstage Bistro
We wouldn’t recommend relying on a college student to provide your next meal, but we’d let the kids at this culinary student–run operation at the Illinois Institute of Art cook for us any day. And if they’re cooking this Southern-style chicken, complete with warm corn fritters, a peppery barbecue sauce and smoky Hoppin’ John (a mixture of pork and black-eyed peas), we might even give them an A.

54.Les friture d’artichauds@ Le Petit Paris
That’s French for “artichoke fritters,” but when they’re made by chef Michael Foley and paired with his tart lemon mayonnaise, they speak a language all their own.

55. Ricotta-huckleberry pancakes @ bin wine café
With ricotta giving them a light airiness, huckleberries adding sweetness and citrus curd lending a tart, acidic punch, these are the antithesis of the sticky, cloying manhole covers you’ll find at most other brunch spots around the city.

56. Doughnuts @ Oak Park Farmers’ Market
The beauty of this market’s famous treats isn’t that they’re tossed in sugar and placed in your hands just moments after being fried. Well, actually, that is the beauty. But it’s also beautiful that the profits go to a different charity every week, and that you’ll undoubtedly stock up on an array of fresh fruits and vegetables after you binge. So these are that most elusive kind of doughnut: the kind that are completely guilt-free.

57. Smoked shrimp @ Calumet Fisheries
Since 1928, this fish house has been smoking and frying up seafood for addicted Far South Siders and Hoosiers. The extra-large shrimp spend about a half hour over cherry and white-oak wood in the smokehouse out back, resulting in a juicy, smoky, peel-and-eat snack.

58. Imperial Brown Goose Reserve @ Goose Island Brewpub
Limited-edition beers come and go. C’est la vie. But we have a feeling we’re going to need restraints when the 200 cases of this December release run out. A blend of Goose’s 2004 Christmas Ale (aged 19 months in Jim Beam barrels) and 2005 Christmas Ale (aged nine months in Heaven Hill barrels), this bourbon-laced goodness is the best locally produced beer out there.

59. Bacon @ Custom House
At least three times as thick as ordinary bacon, these dry-cured, house-smoked slices of Gunthorp Farm pork belly are the sole reason we’ve decided to only eat bacon at steakhouses from now on.

60. Sage margarita@the Pump Room
Mixologist John Kinder’s stint at the Pump Room was short and sweet (but definitely not cloying), and his best work of the year was this sophisticated, wintery take on the classic margarita. Rimmed with spiced lavender dust and packed with a double-punch of sage (via muddled sage leaves and sage-infused agave nectar), it was the only cocktail in town worth $15. But don’t worry: Kinder may not be at the Pump Room anymore (he’s now serving the cocktail at Patrick’s Restaurant), but he’s a nice guy, so he left the recipe behind.