HOW I PICK A TOP FIVE
by Margit Bisztray, Food Critic

Hello all. Have you ever wondered how I pick a Top Five restaurant? Me too! No, just kidding. But I thought in this newsletter I’d try to explain how I go about writing a Top Five show.

Usually, though not always, it begins with one restaurant I really want to feature. This will come about because I go somewhere and have an excellent experience: my kind of dining experience. The décor or setting will grab me–––beautiful lighting, a view, chairs I want to take home–––and the service will make me glad I came there, and the menu will have something on it I’m curious to try. It’s like when you meet someone you know you want to become better friends with, or someone you like more-than-friends. You instantly have their best interests in mind. If I like a restaurant, I want to help them by telling people to go there. At any restaurant I recommend, I have at least one dish it’s worth going there just for the sake of having. It can be the pickle chips. It can be the venison. It’s a dish I latch onto and it becomes my reference point for that place. In case you’re not sick of me saying it: the banana pudding at Harbor Docks, Destin, on Thursday. Or the fried oyster Caesar salad at Schooner’s, Panama City Beach. White ahi sashimi at Rendez Vous, Seaside, with one of the single serving POP Champagnes. Blue Heaven’s barbecued shrimp and Key lime pie in Key West. The shrimp and crabcake at the Rooftop Café, Key West. The kumamoto oysters and the cheese plates at Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta, or any of Joel’s sorbets or desserts. She-crab soup at The Library in Myrtle Beach. Bread Pudding at Commander’s Palace…the list goes on and on.

Then there’s the personal aspect, which has to do with the owners and staff. I love meeting the chefs, owners, managers, long-term employees at these places. They add the character, the personality, and I connect with each one for what they are. Every restaurant I’ve featured and ever will feature has someone behind it I really like, and really enjoyed meeting. I often introduce them to you!

When a category doesn’t begin with a single place I build others around, it begins with a particular concept I like, like the wine bar show I did for the Emerald Coast. I’d like to do “best small plate dining” in pretty much every location, because that’s how I like best to dine (think about it: you taste the most that way!) But in addition to “trends” like those, I like to feature places that do the classics right. Face it, if everyone turned to tapas, sushi and ceviches, we’d have no more spaghetti Bolognese with a side of greasy garlic bread, and that would be a very sad state. I want to celebrate what’s new and being done well, but also what should never be changed, and stay exactly the way it is.

I’m sure there are more methods and reasons, too. Sometimes it’s just a theme catered to who most of you are–––families on the Emerald Coast, golfers in Myrtle Beach–––but the idea is, a good restaurant appeals to everyone across the board, because it does what it sets out to do, exceptionally well.

Many happy dining experiences to you!
- Margit

Margit's Top Five - Atlanta
Margit's Top Five - Emerald Coast
Margit's Top Five - Key West
Margit's Top Five - Myrtle Beach