I spent enough of 2016 making a big list—The Fooditor 99, now available at Amazon and for Kindle!—so I’m not going to belabor what’s in that guidebook. But I’ve been making ten best lists for over a decade now so I might as well keep at it. Here are my ten favorite things I ate, most of which will not come as a surprise to readers of The Fooditor 99:

10. Jianbing, as described in The Fooditor Guide to Chinatown’s Richland Center Food Court: “Start with what looks like a burrito wrap, but is actually a flour crepe, fry egg directly on the crepe, stuff it with some things like lettuce, scallions and a schmear of hoisin sauce, wrap it up and you have a simple, fresh-tasting and absolutely delicious breakfast food.”

9. Black and white pizza from Nomad at Green City Market. Never let it be said that the Trib’s an-X-a-day-for-a-month didn’t produce at least one discovery for me. Thanks, Louisa.

8. Cantaloupe with lime leaf and chile, anise-cured egg dessert, etc., The Loyalist and Smyth: I seem to be a bit of a rarity in that I think the fine dining Smyth has great things ahead of it but is a little obscure, a little tough to puzzle out just yet… while I love The Loyalist, the more casual side, pretty much unreservedly. But that cantaloupe, so simple yet magical, stuck with me all year as a perfect example of chefs taking stuff at the high point of its season and dialing it up just a little past nature’s perfection. The burger’s good too, have you heard that?

7. Assorted Thai dishes at In-On Thai and Immm Rice and Beyond. We’re in a little Thai renaissance, including Paula’s, Tom Yum Cafe, JJ Street Food and others, but two stood above the rest. The tastiest one, alas, is closed now because the Lakeview building it was in was torn down—that’s In-On Thai. (There are hopes it will come back; read more here.) Immm Rice and Beyond is more challenging and not always as obviously pleasurable, but as discussed here, the street food-oriented buffet line offers a very different view of Thai food from any other place I know of.

6. Any fish plate at Snaggletooth. To quote The Fooditor 99, “It’s like Jewish deli sushi.”

5. Tasting menu at Hanbun. It was exciting to go to Oriole and Smyth & The Loyalist at the beginning of illustrious careers, but going to the strip mall in Westmont to eat Dave Park’s fine dining food with Korean flavors was in a whole ‘nother ballpark of not-for-long obscurity. Just do it.

4. Eggplant, broccoli with hummus at Giant. You can hear me on a Fooditor podcast a few months back saying I felt Giant was overlooked (which it was by Michelin). To judge by everybody’s ten best lists in the last week or so, it’s everybody’s favorite restaurant now. These are the two dishes that I still think about and want to emulate at home.

3. Plin, risotto with white truffle, etc. at Osteria Langhe/Arancini at Animale. I managed, somewhat by chance, to have three terrific birthday meals—Publican Anker, one of the year-end’s most promising meals; lunch at ever-reliable Sepia; and then Osteria Langhe. And the last, at the height of white truffle season, was just blissfully good and it was a pleasure to share their warm hospitality with my family. I’m a fan of their spinoff Animale, too, even as it continues to evolve its model.

2. Tasting menu at Oriole. Relaxing, people you want to cheer for, deliciousness.

1. Japan. Obviously it’s not fair to put an entire country where you spent ten days as an entry on a list, but just as obviously, what greater food experience did I have, could I have had, than immersion in this food-obsessed, perfectionist country? I wrote about Tokyo here, and my most exceptional experience in Kyoto here, but I think about it nearly every day.

A few runners-up to mention: Justin Behlke’s Thurk pop-up would have made this list except he’s not doing them any more (I don’t think) as he takes on duties at Kitsune, so I’ll save a space for him next year; had an excellent meal at Parachute with a terrific broccoli and date dish that proves it’s only gotten better; I still think about a brisket biscuit at Bang Bang Pie & Biscuit that kind of socked me out for the rest of the morning but was still so good; my new favorite burger is at Small Fry; the perfect whole fish at Leña Brava; El Che, the sexiest new room in town; Hunter Owens won me back over to burritos after years of declaring Chicago a taco town, at Burrito Juarez; Saigon Bistro, much better than those cranky crabs, thanks Keng; I’m glad to see the comfy and utterly agreeable Cafe Marie-Jeanne making other peoples’ ten best lists, and I’d make room for Spinning J’s right next to it; the Quiote pop-up at Eataly; Julbord, for the first time with the whole family, at Tre Kronor; and it was kind of a pop-up (but it comes every year, so you could have it next year), but the cassoulet dinner at Publican Quality Meats left a whole table blissed out, me included.

Ten best for: 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003