So what kind of year was 2007 in the restaurant world? New York Times writer Frank Bruni wrote an interesting wrap-up this week that neatly explains something that is easier to feel than to describe. In New York, it has been, Bruni says, "a year in which low-key charm usurped flashy drama, small was big, and idiosyncratic shrines replaced haute temples as go-to destinations for gastronomes in the know." Have you noticed this in your city?

More of Bruni's thoughts can be found here in his article, "Let's Eat, Not Fuss." He also reviews two new places in Wednesday's paper: Shorty's .32 and Smith's. Bruni one-stars both of these "high American" places in downtown Manhattan. They are reviewed together because "they’re the kinds of restaurants, gentle and comforting, that you want to fall into at the end of a shivery winter day."

Peter Meehan, our definite favorite reviewer of 2007, does a writeup of an Austrian meat palace whose menu "lends itself to snacking" -- another favorite thing of ours. The co-chefs used to be at Monkey Bar: "Both men have spent most of their careers in more ambitious uptown kitchens than the one at Katja, but it’s clear from eating there — where they both wait on tables — that they’re having more fun now."

The L.A. Times does two reviews, both of which fall into the category of place Bruni was talking about. They are smaller, unassuming, understated, uncluttered, to pluck a few key words from the reviews.

One is "The Find," which also hints at its cool, hard-to-find status: Casa Maya, a Yucatecan SoCal spot that's a "modest cafe" or a "blissfully satisfying stop" (it's in a small town).

The other one is Bashan, a mom-and-pop in Glendale serving "sophisticated bistro fare" that "doesn't demand a special occasion," according to Times writer S. Irene Virbila (a close second to Peter Meehan in Hot Plates' estimation). Go for the fish, the burrata and to support the cute, youngish couple who run the place.

In Washington, Tom Sietsema likes Cafe 8, located on 8th Street SE -- in a neighborhood restauranteurs are banking on big-time. Cafe 8, which replaces Ellington's on Eighth, features pide (pronounced pea-day, as Sietsema points out), which is Turkish pizza -- the best thing on the menu, he says.

In Upper Northwest D.C., the neighborhood called Palisades is not exactly loaded with watering holes -- which is why it's so nice that Starland Cafe on Macarthur Boulevard has been replaced with the new Kemble Park Tavern. It's got upscale pub food, thank goodness, and parents are apparently already flocking there to drink beer and feed their tots.

Lastly, and with a nod to tomorrow's meaty wine-and-spirits column, we'll point you to this feature about Washington's fairly new status as a wine-bar town. "Wine bars' moment clearly has arrived in the nation's capital: The wine-focused Proof opened in Penn Quarter in July, Veritas followed in Dupont Circle in September, Vinoteca opened at 11th and U last month, and at least three others -- Cork near 14th and S streets, Enology at Wisconsin Avenue and Macomb Street and a wine bar section of Sova on H Street NE -- are set to open in the first half of next year," Juliet Eilperin writes for The Washington Post. She's a sharp one, too, especially with this observation: "In a town as geeky as Washington, wine knowledge is an easy sell."