The Top 10

We're calling it a comeback. Not only because our anonymous food critic reprised her culinary marathon, landing in no fewer than 17 cities to taste-test menus at the most tantalizing restaurant openings across the country (polishing off 226 dishes along the way). Or because our Top 10 list is back by popular demand. We’re talking about the revivals and reinventions that burst onto the dining scene this year, from a Vietnamese offshoot splashing up pho with canoe-cut bone marrow to reshuffled dream teams coaxing us to make up for lost meals with herbaceous tasting menus. The joy of eating out is back, and – dare we say – more delectable than ever.