‘Twas a fine, fine year to be hungry in Seattle. For ten days I’m reminiscing about just how fine, in my annual recap of the top ten plates of the year.

#7 Call 2011 the Year of the Pie Shop …but the one that had my socks rolling up and down was more butter and sugar than bricks and mortar. A la Mode Pies was pie maestro Chris Porter’s online bakery—you order, he’d deliver—so my first taste of his signature apple pear ginger pie with the all-butter crust came directly to my door, in a box smartly tied in a bow. Best pie I’d ever tasted: from the gnarled golden top crust, whisper-light and flavorful, through the sweet surprised-by-ginger filling, all the way down to the toothsome bottom pastry. Unbelievable. Last month Baker opened a bona-fide shop on Phinney, right across from the zoo. I think he got tired of driving to my house.