By Warren Rojas

While the rest of the economy cooled, red hot hospitality ventures (seems like entire blocks of tempting alternatives sprouted in Reston) continued making their way onto the dining rolls in 2008.

One might think simply tracking all the incoming restaurants to our ever-expanding area—never mind actually visiting, tasting, whittling down and evaluating them all over several months—could be a considered a full-time job.

But a food critic’s work, it seems, is never really done.

This year’s Best New Restaurants list does not, however, merely placate the PR-driven properties you’ve probably already seen/heard/read about in countless other local media. As we are most proud of the undiscovered gems (Authentic Iraqi comfort food in Oakton? Been there. Seasonally-inspired, tapas-like cuisine in Leesburg? Done that.) we strive to uncover right in our collective backyard.

(May 2009)