My favorite things

Selecting a sole standout off the Brasserie Zentral menu is the equivalent of asking Capt. von Trapp to choose a favorite kid (although we all know it's Liesl). The foie gras terrine? Rabbit spaetzle? Turkey schnitzel? Veal tongue salad? For me, the choice is a no-brainer, in part because it also happens to be the tastiest vegetarian dish I encountered all year, and that's the stuffed cabbage, done up chef Russell Klein-style. Klein replaces the slow-braised veal from his grandmother's holishkes recipe with nutty, chewy kamut berries tossed in an herb-infused oil. Two more chef tricks: For maximum visual interest, Klein calls upon quick-blanched, color-saturated Napa cabbage, and he punches up a bright San Marzano tomato sauce with a shot of the bar's house-made sweet-and-sour mix. Hasta la vista, pasta Primavera.

505 Marquette Av., Mpls., 612-333-0505, www.zentral-mpls.com

Super soups

With the rapid-fire parade of dishes that constitutes the Travail Kitchen and Amusements tasting menu — a dozen-plus is a conservative estimate — the general takeaway is a culinary blur. A dazzling Fourth-of-July-fireworks blur, but a blur nonetheless. Still, there are flashbulb moments that cut through the euphoric haze, and for me, it's the meticulously composed and dramatically presented soups that remain embedded in my memory, each presented with an ever-escalating flourish. I'll never forget a flavor-concentrated lobster bisque garnished with a minuscule lobster roll, or the way sage-scented panna cotta slowly dissipated into a velvety butternut squash soup. My all-time favorite? Pan-seared gnocchi and braised octopus splashed with a vividly tinted, teasingly smoky orange bell pepper broth.

4124 W. Broadway, Robbinsdale, 763-535-1131, www.facebook.com/Travailkitchen

Besting the Colonel

At his Lyn 65 Kitchen & Bar, chef Ben Rients, a Restaurant Alma vet, ingeniously informs his bar-food fare with four-star kitchen know-how. Perhaps the highest example of Rients' prowess is his delicately crispy and outrageously juicy fried chicken. Here's the shorthand drill: The birds are cured, soaked in buttermilk, poached in duck fat, dredged in a gluten-free rice flour-rice panko coating and fried in an anti-greasy rice bran oil. The labor-intensive process pays off, like you can't believe; if there's a better fried chicken in the metro area, I haven't tasted it.

6439 Lyndale Av. S., Richfield, 612-353-5501, www.lyn65.com

Bugs Bunny would approve

One of the year's most exciting revelations was Jim Christiansen's discerning, technically impressive and visually stunning cooking at Heyday. A case in point: his take on rabbit (surely the top vote-getter in the Protein of the Year contest), which unlocked subtle differences in the meat by presenting both a grilled leg and a compote enriched with foie gras, then infusing the plate with an ingenious flurry of carrot treatments. It was gorgeous, witty (carrots and rabbit, get it?), thought-provoking and beyond delicious.

Dml - Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune

2700 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls., 612-200-9369, www.heydayeats.com

Moving on up

When Hola Arepa owners Christina Nguyen and Birk Grudem nudged their mint-green food truck into a brick-and-mortar outlet, this diner was overjoyed at the prospect of accessing the couple's handiwork on a year-round basis. Their south Minneapolis newcomer did not disappoint, on so many levels (the cocktails, for starters), but just knowing that I can drop in for the arepa (a fried corn flour patty) filled with salty ham, Swiss cheese, a juicy tomato, an expertly fried egg and a creamy mango-yellow pepper-cilantro sauce makes me one happy guy. Yeah, they had me at hola.

3501 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., 612-345-5583, www.holaarepa.com

Weekend delight

Who would have predicted that brunch would become the year's biggest trend? Tongue in Cheek chef Leonard Anderson read that forecast right, making St. Paul's sleepy East Side a genuine Saturday and Sunday daytime destination. Along with a handful of quick, inexpensive bites (including a clever micro bagel and lox), what will remain forever enshrined in my cortex is the happy memory of Anderson's North African spin on shrimp and grits (another all-the-rage dining-out item), each bite jazzed by a peppy chermoula and runny poached eggs. Sunday fun day, indeed.

989 Payne Av., St. Paul, 651-888-6148, www.tongueincheek.biz

Kindest cut

One takeway from 2014 is that Tim McKee can't open enough restaurants. The James Beard award winner's latest, Libertine, celebrates the butcher cuts that have fallen the way of the rotary-dial phone. Sure, the beef and pork items are worthy of exploration, but the lamb is the real category killer. Specifically, the saddle chop — think of a side-by-side porterhouse, connected by the belly — that arrives hot off the grill, its sizzling, intensely intoxicating scent wafting up from the plate. McKee could probably make a killing in the perfume business.

3001 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 612-877-7263, www.libertinempls.com

Fried and fermented

Rabbit Hole owners Thomas and Kat Kim taught me a valuable lesson earlier this year: Everything is better with kimchi. Starting with fried rice, particularly when it's prepared in bacon fat, its smoky richness a fine foil for the kimchi's long-fermented sourness. It's the guilty pleasure to end all guilty pleasures, and just thinking about it has my belt mentally adjusting itself to the next-largest size.

920 E. Lake St., Mpls., 612-236-4526, www.eatdrinkrabbit.com

Pie time

Pie, in all of its glorious forms, flared hot and burned bright in 2014. At her Honey and Rye Bakehouse, Anne Andrus finds inspiration in her mother's and grandmother's cookbooks, and she's clearly memorized their pie chapters. Her be-all/end-all is the lavish cream pie that's infused with coconut flavor and then goes all Almond Joy with a layer of chocolate ganache. That's not all. The kitchen's flaky, all-butter crusts should be held up as a role model for pie crust makers everywhere.

4501 Excelsior Blvd., St. Louis Park, 612-844-2555, www.honey-and-rye.com

Creative crudo

It's understandable, the temptation to load up on the crisp, whole-grain sourdough epi baguette that greets each arrival at Spoon and Stable. But don't. Enjoy, in moderation, because even greater splendors await from chef Gavin Kaysen. Starting with shimmering, ultra-fresh raw scallops, imported daily from Maine, their supple texture and gentle oceanic flavor set off by the tart punch of compressed Granny Smith apples, the acidic bite — and gentle heat — of pickled Fresno chiles and fried garlic's slightly bitter cast. It's a don't-miss introduction to Kaysen's worldly cooking.

211 N. 1st St., Mpls., 612-224-9850, www.spoonandstable.com