December 15, 2018 The Year in Dining 2018 Restaurant critic Pete Tittl, Californian staff and community members look back at the Bakersfield restaurant scene 2 The Bakersfield Californian Saturday, December 15, 2018 The Year in Dining 2018 This year’s guide gives up plenty to chew on BY STEFANI DIAS
[email protected] ood is a special topic since, unlike other ne- HENRY A. BARRIOS / THE CALIFORNIAN cessities in life, it’s actual fun to discuss. Along Sung Suh of ReMix Asian Kitchen holds a North Shore shrimp plate. Suh says the shrimp plate is found on the North with common getting-to-know-you ques- Shore of Hawaii. He serves it with his own potato and macaroni salad and his special coleslaw. Ftions like “What do you do for a living?” and “Are you married?,” people usually want to know where you like to dine or what you enjoy eating. While many people don’t make it past the con- versation stage, some hit the keyboard to com- pose love letters to their favorite restaurants and dishes. Foremost is The Californian’s restaurant Pile on meat or go plant-based: critic Pete Tittl, who in this guide shares with us his best-of lists for 2018. He starts by looking at trends, which ran the gamut from meat-centric barbecue — enjoying a local revival — to the continued rise of plant- Diners have best of both worlds based alternatives. The latter is not only good news for the vegetarians and vegans in the com- BY PETE TITTL restaurants this year, and you find rather than full time.