Best Steak

There are perhaps a half-dozen absolute "bests" foodies everywhere can agree on -- the primary excellence of Scottish smoked salmon, the ne plus ultra of Parma prosciutto -- and Kobe beef is one of them. This fabled tribe of Japanese cattle is raised on a rich diet of pasture grass, rice, beans, and beer, given a daily raw-gin rubdown, and bred to be the most lushly marbled beef in the world. The result is a steak nearly as buttery and luscious as foie gras. The only restaurant in the Bay Area to serve it is the Osaka Grill, where they treat their Kobe with the respect it deserves. (They'd better -- the stuff'll run you $130 before the evening's out.) Using the quick-sear method to prevent the beef's precious inner fat from melting away, the restaurant's skilled chefs slice and dice the steak over a hot teppan before your eyes, presenting you with a truly euphoric dining experience, hot ribbons of silky, smoky fat sending mood-altering waves of pleasure throughout your unsuspecting body. In other words: good steak.