By Rick Karlin

Contributing writer

The 2007 Golden Spoon Awards (and a few Flying Forks)

I don’t know about you, but I am glad to see 2007 go, if only for the fact that it means this is the final year of the Bush dictatorship, um, I mean presidency. It just felt like we were living in a master-slave relationship, and not in a good way. But, just as all clouds have a silver lining, the Bush years have meant one thing. The weak economy has made many restaurants offer great deals to encourage diners to give up some of their hard-earned cash. Consequently, you’ll fine less fine-dining spots and more restaurants in the mid-range being honored as recipients of our annual Dining Out awards. That makes this year even more special as we present our 10th Annual Golden Spoon Awards.

Best of the Wurst
Even without an ready-made pun available, I’d be presenting a Golden Spoon to 17 West at the Berghoff, 17 W. Adams, (312) 427-3170. The original Berghoff closed and the city mourned, but the newly re-imagined restaurant, run by the founder’s granddaughter, Carlyn Berghoff, keeps the best of the legendary eatery and updates the menu for the 21st century. I raise of glass of Berghoff’s best brew in her honor.

Best Stick to the Ribs Fare
Opening with little fanfare, but still garnering a loyal founding, Smoque, 3800 N. Pulaski, (773) 545-7427, showed what a nice Jewish boy with a dream and a slab of pork can achieve. Some of the best BBQ in the city, and the baked bean side dish is the stuff of legend.

Best Imported Pizza
It’s not classic Chicago-style pizza, but the pies at Piece, 1927 W. North Avenue, (773) 772-4422, are among the best in town. Even if you’re a diehard fan of stuffed or pan pizza, all I am saying is give Piece a chance.

Best Burger in Town
There may be places more upscale or more expensive, but there ain’t a better burger in town than those at Kuma’s Corner, 2900 W. Belmont, (773) 604-8769. Not only are the burgers perfectly cooked, but the variety of toppings available is mind-boggling. All sandwiches can be prepared with a traditional ground beef patty or with ground turkey or on a grilled chicken breast or veggie burger. The staff is also the most eager to please, a nice change of pace.

Best Healthy Fare
The folks at Green Zebra, 1460 W. Chicago Avenue, (312) 243-7100, make healthy eating appetizing. The inventive dishes and relaxing atmosphere make for a pleasant experience, as long as you don’t mind parting with a bit of green. It’s expensive, but then again, when isn’t the best costly?

Best Place in a Lousy Location
Tucked away in a corner of the Merchandise Mart facing Kinzie, but not visible from the street, bluprint, (312) 410-9800 is a hidden gem. Drive up the service ramp, park your car (in the, pssst!, free spots) and you’ll find a little bit of heaven in the middle of the city. It’s almost like Dorothy walking out of her Kansas farmhouse and into Oz. The service and food are both topnotch so it’s packed at lunch, but the dinner following hasn’t developed yet. Get in while the getting’s good.

Hitting theTrifecta
The folks that own Ringo, 2507 N. Lincoln, (773) 248-5788, a great neighborhood spot known as much for its great sushi as it is for its $20 all-you-can-eat deal on Monday nights, have opened two other terrific eateries, each with a distinct personality. Tsuki, 1441 W. Fullerton, (773) 883-8722, is a funky place that offers inventive cuisine, while the recently opened Ai, 358 W. Ontario, (312) 335-9888, is more upscale. (Watch for a review of Ai next week.)

Best Reconceptualization
HB, 3404 N. Halsted, (773) 661-8769. When the Hearty Boys sold their storefront restaurant to their chef, he could have coasted along with the same menu. Instead he took the HB from Hearty Boys and turned it into Home Bistro. That’s a perfect description of the restaurant. It’s home-cooking, if your mother was a four-star French chef. As a bonus, the prices are reasonable and the breakfast menu is to die for.

Hottest Area
Who would have thought that the corner of Broadway and Lawrence would be such a hotbed of culinary activity? The hookers and junkies have made way for a number of new cafes. Demera, Ethiopian, 4801 N. Broadway, (773) 334-8787, is still working out the kinks. Meanwhile, Fat Cat, 4840 N. Broadway, (773) 506-3100, and Marigold, 4836 N. Broadway, (773) 293-4653, add comfort food and upscale Indian dining to the mix, respectively. Crew, 4804 N. Broadway, (773) 784-2739, pulls in a good lunch crowd for its great pub fare while neighboring Fiesta Mexicana, 4806 N Broadway, (773) 769-4244, has a strong following for its no-frills south of the border menu.

Hottest Trend: Irish Pub Fare
Never in my Wilde-st days would I have guessed that any of the British Isles would provide the trendiest fare. Mrs. Murphy’s and Sons, Wilde, The Gage and O’Donovan’s all ventured beyond corned beef and cabbage. What’s next—Scandinavian fusion?

Best of Town & Country
The country (all right suburban) is easy. Of all the places I’ve visited, Maijean, 30 S. Prospect in Clarendon Hills (630) 781-8900, provided the biggest surprise. All the urban snobs (I’m including myself in that category) need to visit. If you don’t have a car, rent one for the trip or take the A Train—Metra also stops just a short walk away. I don’t care how you get there; just haul your butts out to Clarendon Hills to check out Maijean for French bistro fare presented just as it is in Paris—minus the attitude.

Picking a best of city is harder. In the end I couldn’t decide between an old favorite, Opera, 1301 S. Wabash, 312-416-0161, and Boka, 1729 N. Halsted, (312) 332-6070. Neither place is newly opened. Opera continues to offer some of the best pan-Asian cooking around. My nephew, visiting us from South America, called it the best restaurant ever, and he’s a world traveler. Boka offers up food that is inventive but never weird. Instead of thinking “I wonder why the chef paired those two ingredients?” I thought, “I wonder why no one ever used those ingredients together before? They’re perfect together!” And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a world of difference.

Just as there must be a yin for every yang, a feng for every shui, there must be losers if there are winners. Here are the recipients for my Flying Fork Award for the worst dining experiences of the year:

The X Marks the Spot Award 
X-Scape Lounge, 2346 W. Fullerton, I should have been forewarned when I saw the sign. If they couldn’t spell Escape what else could they not do right? Then the empty dining room should have tipped me off. (The truth is it did—we were about to leave, but the owner spotted us and escorted us to our table.) The uncomfortable seats, the inept service and the horrible lighting could have been saved if the food was fantastic. It wasn’t.

D’oh Award
O’H, located in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont, features every bad stereotype about hotel food, all in one place. It was like a museum of dining disasters; from the overpriced appetizer to the inept service to the food that all tasted the same, to the fellow diners in cheap suits drinking overpriced wine.

Fall from Grace Award
Halsted’s, 3441 N. Halsted. I was blown away the first two times I visited the strip’s newest eatery. After that, each visit proved less successful. Hopefully that will change. The restaurant must have realized the problem. They’re already advertising that they have a new manager. 

Who’s a Top Chef? Award
Local boy, Dale Levitski  (spelled it right that time, Dale) not being named “Top Chef” was a surprise.  Sure, it’s some compensation knowing that he came in second and that his competitor Hung is also gay. But come on, it was Dale, folks, he was by far more talented…unless that’s not what they meant by “Top Chef.”