Articles & Reviews: San Jose Mercury News

12/23/2010
by Jennifer Grau, Correspondent

Our restaurant reviewer picks her 10 best dishes of 2010

Tagliatelle Bolognese at Osteria Coppa restaurant in San Mateo, Calif., on November 17, 2010. (LiPo Ching/Mercury News)

Lucky me. I have spent the best part of 2010 eating my way through the South Bay and beyond, sampling hundreds of appetizers, entrees and desserts along the way. I enjoyed many memorable meals. However, some have become indelibly etched into my sensory memory because they surprised me and reset in my mind what a food can taste like. Others were exceptional examples of familiar comfort foods. The following 10 dishes, in no particular order, have done exactly that during this deliciously memorable year....

Tagliatelle Bolognese at Osteria Coppa, San Mateo

There are as many versions of Bolognese as there are Italian nonnas who make them, but I can't imagine one better than chef Chanan Kamen's. A pasta prodigy who refined his skills making pasta at Quince in San Francisco, Kamen opened Osteria Coppa this year. His tagliatelle is textbook, cooked so precisely al dente it must be timed to the second, not the minute. The ribbons of pasta are tossed with a meaty ragu that's made with just a hint of tomato sauce. Every time I delve into a bowl of pasta now, I can't help but wish it would magically transform into this dish.