The Art Director's Dozen: Best Dish Photos of 2009

Sara Kerens

Spring rolls at Lemongrass.

​As we near the end of 2009, it's time to take a look back at all the content we produced for all of you and highlight some of the more memorable, distinctive or popular items. Obviously, this is par for the course this time of year, but allow me to offer up some especially nice looking shots that as art director, stuck in my head longer than the week it ran in print.

The first installment of this end-o-the-year showcase are my favorite Dish photos that ran in print, all taken by our esteemed and dedicated Dish photographer Sara Kerens, who visits every restaurant our esteemed critic Dave Faries reviews, bringing us delicious slices of every establishment in our weekly online Dish Slideshows in addition to shot in the printed product. Yet unfortunately, not every week's printed Dish review lands on a color page, so we don't get the full chromatic vibrancy some of these beautiful shots demand.

So with this set of top twelve Dish shots from 2009, I hope to give a little extra attention to some of these shots that deserve to be seen in their crisp, resonant RGB format. An added note: all these shots are taken on-site at every location, with the actual food and services provided by each establishment. There are no camera tricks, fake food substitutes, or closed sets; all is simply shot as seen, capturing the best of what each place has to offer. Prepare to feast your eyes. The slideshow's here.