As the food writer for SDM since 2011, Troy has been compiling the “Best Restaurants” list in San Diego Magazine for the past 15 years. All year long, he eats throughout the city and keeps a running Notes document filled with the best restaurants and dishes and drinks he finds. It operates like his personal leaderboard.
He shares that list in the issue every year alongside the readers’ picks. He’s putting this year’s list together right now, out June 1.
For this episode of Happy Half Hour, he pulls back the curtain on the process. How this massive issue comes to be. He also reveals his short list for a couple categories—Best Burger, Best Italian, and Best New Restaurant. Then asks the audience for their recommendations to go try as he finalizes his picks.
“Everyone tells me I have to try North Park Beer Co’s burger, so I’ll start there,” Troy says. “What else am I missing? Tell me my picks are dumb, show me the error in my burger ways.”
More from the episode:
02:25 – The story of how Troy nearly killed “Best Restaurants” when he and Claire took over San Diego Magazine, and what made him change his mind.
05:20 – The criteria for making his picks. Michelin only takes into account food—not ambiance, plating, or service. Troy takes in the ambiance. “I go to a restaurant to be transported, otherwise I’d eat fried chicken in my backyard,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean it has to be a million-dollar buildout. One of my favorite ambiances is Fathom Bistro, which is a tiny hot dog stand on a fishing pier.”
Troy also takes into account the values/ethics of a restaurant. “If I’ve got a tie and I know one chef treats people really well and buys as sustainably as possible, I’m going to go with that restaurant,” he says. “We eat with our mouth but also our heart—values matter.”
04:52 – How he doesn’t overvalue his own opinion. “I’ve been studying food for a long time and have been lucky to eat out a lot, try food from some of the best chefs in the country,” Troy says. “But I don’t eat with your mouth. I don’t propose this is the ultimate list or any such hooey. It’s just my list that I give to family and friends I care about whenever they ask, ‘What’s the best Thai restaurant in San Diego?’”
03:20 – The annual question of whether or not lists like these are pay for play. “Not even close—you don’t work for 20 years getting an audience to trust what you say and then throw that away,” Troy says. “I have so much respect and gratitude for the restaurants who support what we do at SDM. But I don’t think they want me doing that, either. I trust they want to support a real media co that doesn’t bullshit people. If they’re just trying to buy the list, it’s probably not a long term relationship anyway.”
SDM’s annual Best Restaurants issue is out on June 1. You can vote now at BOSDVote.sdmag.com.
