Just saying.

Tilth is a revelation. One of my top 5 restaurants in Seattle.

Get some take out at QFC and send a food bank the 150.00 left over.

Silly and stupid. And even at 20.00 per hour wages just out of reach.

And none of it tastes like my mom or granny when they were in full cooking mode .... most of these chefs are pretenders.

All in all I visited 15 acclaimed, ambitious, promising or intriguing new restaurants from coast to coast, excluding New York City, in late January and early February.

I identified these restaurants through extensive reading and inquiries to food lovers around the country. The work of the chefs at many of the restaurants automatically draws interest. Other restaurants had simply generated considerable chatter.

For this survey I defined “new restaurant” as one that opened between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2007. I excluded New York because I keep readers abreast of what’s happening here.

I narrowed the field in a few additional ways, to give readers of The New York Times as much fresh information as possible.

I bypassed Portland — where, for example, Le Pigeon might have lured me — because readers were introduced to new restaurants there in an article by Eric Asimov last fall.

In the Los Angeles area, I edited out Cut, Wolfgang Puck’s steakhouse, because I’d already written about it, and Osteria Mozza because I’d devoted an article to its conjoined sibling, Pizzeria Mozza.

I evaluated the restaurants on relatively equal terms. Each was visited at dinnertime. Each was visited anonymously. Each had just one meal to make its case, and each was encouraged to show its best face, in that I pointed myself toward dishes that were reputed to be, or should be, the restaurant’s strong points.

The 5 of the 15 restaurants that didn’t make my final cut were Ad Hoc in Yountville, Calif., Thomas Keller’s casual counterpoint to the French Laundry; the two-month-old Takashi, which serves a sort of Japanese-French fusion in Chicago; Tinto, with an array of artful tapas in Philadelphia; Lüke, the chef John Besh’s brasserie in New Orleans; and Comme Ça, the chef David Myers’s brasserie in West Hollywood, Calif.

I had some memorable food at each, but not as memorable as the food at my top 10 restaurants.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

What is this Top Chef thing you speak of - is that like the British show with that Ramsey chap?

I've been to the in places in Santa Barbara, LA, Vancouver, Paris, and a lot of other cities - they're usually way too pretentious, and not that good a value for food.

As my sister, a former sous-chef and restaurant owner, would say.

all right, i'm turning off my computer now.