The Edible Year : Cilantro replaces radicchio, everybody eats Italian and the whole world finally recognizes L.A. as a great restaurant city.

This was the year that the restaurant roller coaster began chugging to a halt. For the last decade, the Los Angeles restaurant business has been riding a curve of dizzying growth. In that time our restaurants went from laughable to lovable in the eyes of the rest of the world while we raced from restaurant to restaurant as if we would never get enough to eat and our chefs became as famous as the movie stars they fed. Critics became accustomed to reviewing a hot new restaurant every week.

But in 1990, Los Angeles didn’t have a lot of hot new restaurants. We were more remarkable for cloning existing ones than creating new ones; you can count the big-deal restaurants that opened on your fingers. And no wonder; after years of having patrons begging for the privilege of a seat at their tables, local restaurants suddenly have tables going begging.

The irony is that this is happening as the rest of the country is starting to say that Los Angeles is the most dynamic restaurant town in America. In fact, Los Angeles is the most dynamic restaurant town in America--but not for the generally recognized reasons. What makes L.A. such an exciting place to eat is not its home-grown produce, open grills, innovative food or sleek design. What distinguishes L.A. is its wealth of ethnic eating places.

There is no place in America where you can eat food that is as interesting, ethnically authentic--or as inexpensive. Today the real restaurant excitement is in all the great little places serving Thai, Korean, Indian, Salvadoran, Indonesian, Indian, Mexican, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Japanese food (to name just a few of the global tables to which we are invited). Things have changed. The upscale roller-coaster ride is over. What this means for big-deal restaurants remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: this time next year, this list will be considerably different.

Menus

Dishes Too Embarrassing to Ask for Out Loud:

Hot passion (dessert at Noa Noa)

Pollo libertino (free range chicken at Il Mito)

Banana Savannah (banana and chocolate pie at Bayside 240)

The Fine Print:

“We do not own a can opener!” (La Salsa)

“Noa Noa concerns itself with ecological and environmental issues.”

“Pipes and Cigars are to remain unlit during business hours.” (Red Car Grill)

“We actively recycle.” (Drones)

“Each soup is a statement unto itself.” (Robata)

Wretched Excess:

Blueberry fettuccine with lamb (Rosebud Cafe)

Grilled marinated duck livers on soba noodles with Port wine-Basil butter (Moonraker)

Mixed seafood, lotus root and yam starch noodles in saffron cream broth (O’Toto)

Vanilla chicken with apricot-leek fondue (Lunaria)

Chinese almond duck sausage with Sichuan blood orange salad and hot mustard glaze (Eureka)

Spinach salad bathed in anisette dressing topped with warmed goat cheese, bacon and grapefruit (L.A. Nicola)

It All Started With Lawry’s The Prime Rib--or, the attack of the one-dish restaurant:

The Turkey Basket

Benita’s Frites

Killer Shrimp

Salad by the Pound

California Chicken Burger

Playing With Food

No, really, we meant to serve Italian food all along:

Pasadena’s Cafe Jacoulet spends $2 million redecorating and turns into Tra Fiore (but keeps the same chef); Santa Barbara’s Norbert’s turns into Allegro (but keeps the same chef); meanwhile, North Hollywood’s Barsac Brasserie opens with a French name but an Italian menu. And French restaurants from Belle-Vue to l’Ermitage started serving angel hair pasta in tomato sauce.

It was a Smashing Year:

Smashed potatoes, turnips, black beans, plantains. When it came to restaurants, mashing vegetables just wasn’t good enough.

Parsley of the ‘80s: radicchio.

Parsley of the ‘90s: cilantro.

Return From Elba:

Tulipe: Napoleon of salmon and wild mushrooms.

Patina: Napoleon of white fish and cabbage with lemon sauce

The Tower: Napoleon of halibut, smoked salmon and sorrel in sea urchin sauce.

Notes From All Over

Last Impressions: Le Bilboquet, the restaurant that closed before it could be panned.

Restaurant architecture, The Sequel:

Last year the room had to have dimension; this year the food has to have it. Tall food around town: tower of scallops with truffles and stand up cannelloni at Patina; Tra Fiore’s layered sashimi; the potato dome at Citrus; almost anything at The Olive.

Now you see him, now you don’t. Or, where is Guy Le Roy this week?

Chefs are moving faster than the speed of light. Guy Le Roy, for instance, who was at Chapo and Delicias for a total of about 6 weeks apiece, is headed to the kitchen at the soon to open Boheme.

Go West Young Chef:

Money Magazine said L.A. was the best restaurant town in America; the Zagat Guide said it was the most influential. Which must be why all of the following came to California: Remi, Bice, Mezzaluna, David Slay, Patrick Clark, Jonathan Waxman, Thomas Keller. Seconds:

Restaurants that reproduced: Mon Kee, Border Grill, Chaya, Pacific Dining Car, California Pizza Kitchen, Versailles, Daily Grill, Remi, Mezzaluna, Bice, Bistro Garden, Madeo.

De Rigeur restaurant accessory of the year: Diva lights

De Rigeur table accessory of the year: house-made bread.

Unwanted Testimonials Department: Liz Taylor says that despite her diet she often goes to Johnny Rockets for a “big juicy cheeseburger.”