No Brooklyn Restaurants in Sifton's Top 10

Sam Sifton, whose keen eye for social detail changed restaurant criticism forever in his two-year run as the New York Times chief restaurant critic that ended in October, has posted his Top 10 list of new restaurants for the year. And guess what? There’s not a Brooklyn restaurant on the Brooklyn resident’s (and native’s) list. (This despite a year that Sifton says was defined by an approach that more-or-less originated in Brooklyn: It was a “strong year for smart-casual cooking, the sort of food that takes a lot of work to prepare but is often served by people in untucked shirts and flash sneakers.”) No matter. Only one non-Manhattan spot–Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sechuan in Flushing–made the cut. So what of new Brooklyn restaurants? The Times Top Ten list of cheap restaurants includes both Bed Stuy’s Do or Dine and Williamsburg’s Best Pizza. Over on Eater, Williamsburg managed to attract all the attention, with the blog’s panel of experts giving shout-outs to Isa, Allswell and the made-over St. Anselm. Our favorite meal at a new restaurant in Brooklyn came at the end of the year at the newly opened Walter’s which, in addition to a crowd-pleasing menu, deserves credit for ending the curse of the corner location at Cumberland and Dekalb. Other new Brooklyn names that you think deserve special mention?