Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- I am heavier than I was last year. For that I blame the French. After eating at over 100 New York restaurants in 2008, here are some of the year’s best meals and deals, a number of them French.

In January, Bar Boulud fed us truffle-studded Lyons.

Daniel Boulud’s casual spot opposite Lincoln Center could be the only new restaurant in recent history to serve this city something it lacked so dearly: outstanding terrines and pates.

Some are extravagant: Scottish grouse, elk, wild boar, pheasant and foie gras. Just $15. Others are even more extravagant: truffle juice, port and foie gras. Just $13. This is the French response to small plates.

Later that month, Adour poured us sparkling Normandy.

Sure, there are wines from Champagne, Bordeaux and Alsace at Alain Ducasse’s return to Midtown East, fully equipped with an iPhone-style wine bar. I prefer the bubbly pear wine from Northern France ($17): a hint of sweet, a wallop of fruit, matched with a delicate pear dessert ($15). This is Ducasse on the cheap -- he charges 26 euros ($35) for sweets at Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo.

In August, Allegretti made us inhale Provence.

The Flatiron district restaurant comes equipped with Alain Allegretti, a Ducasse-trained chef. His fish soup smells like a saffron-spiked ocean and his creme brulee, like fields of lavender. This is food disguised as perfume.

Dehydrated Vegetables

In October, Montrachet was reborn as Corton.

Drew Nieporent renamed his Tribeca landmark after another expensive Burgundy. He tapped Paul Liebrandt as chef and charges $76 for three courses. It seems an absurd price for a recession until you try his salad -- a platter of pureed, crisped, butter- cooked and dehydrated vegetables -- and realize this could be the cheapest of the city’s great French restaurants.

The French love us back. The Michelin Guide, perhaps taking its cue from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, an Americanophile, bestowed a coveted two-star rating on Momofuku Ko, a 12-seat East Village restaurant that serves deep-fried pork rinds, deep-fried short ribs and deep-fried apple pie.

Ko is the best (and most subversive) thing to happen to American fine dining since Thomas Keller’s Per Se -- and dinner’s only $100 for 10 to 11 courses. Chang could charge more given the demand.

Tom’s Dinner

Maybe Michelin will give a few stars to Tom: Tuesday Dinner as well. If they can get in. Craft’s Tom Colicchio opens his restaurant only once every other week, and it’s booked until February. The changing menu has seven to nine courses for $150. Our menu included an offal interpretation of the soup and sandwich: braised duck-heart stew with a bone-marrow panini.

They say comfort food reigns supreme in tough times. That explains why the West Village’s Little Owl still books up weeks in advance. That’s fine with me because I prefer the underrated Commerce, a few blocks from the Owl. The gastrodiner dishes out perfectly al dente orecchiette with tripe, trotters and oxtail.

American dining is porkaholic as ever. Irving Mill replaced its chef and gave us Ryan Skeen who makes Momofuku’s pig obsession seem mild. Skeen gives us killer boudin noir and a hamburger made with fatback for funk and flavor.

Destination-worthy Italian is affordable and available tonight. No need to fight the busy signal at Babbo.

The New Class

Want rustic Italian? Try Terroir and its life-changing pork- blade steak. Want Italian with cocktails? Bar Milano transforms strawberries, balsamic vinegar, gin, basil and lemon juice into a fragrant, bracingly tart, food-friendly libation.

Skip the crowds at the overhyped, overpriced Scarpetta, where Scott Conant overcooks his $24 spaghetti and tomato sauce. Instead try Tudor City’s Convivio, which is never as full as it should be. Chef Michael White is the city’s next Mario Batali. His offal-studded menu is just $59 for four courses. The pork- face terrine jiggles in your mouth. The gnocchetti with uni are dense, sweet and briny.

How about some Japanese noodles? Jean-Georges Vongerichten serves coarse, snappy cold soba for $14 at Matsugen in Tribeca (or try the prix-fixe menu: $35 for seven courses). The East Village Ippudo makes ramen broth so porky it tastes like a whole herd of hogs shed their fat into each bowl.

Finish at Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar. Christina Tosi deep- fries her eggs, serves salty cereal milk without cereal and cookies studded with coffee grounds and potato chips. The French might recoil at such a patisserie, but that’s fine with me, because this is still New York.

Top New (Or Revamped) Restaurants of 2008

    1. Bar Boulud
    2. Corton
    3. The New Momofukus: Ko, Bakery & Milk Bar
    4. Tom: Tuesday Dinner
    5. Convivio
    6. Allegretti
    7. Matsugen
    8. Tie: Wine Bars at Adour, Terroir; Cocktails at Bar Milano
    9. Irving Mill
   10. Commerce

(Ryan Sutton writes about New York City restaurants for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Ryan Sutton in New York at rsutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 16, 2008 00:01 EST