Cozy Philadelphia, long one of the country's best small-restaurant towns, found more than a few restaurateurs willing to gamble big on massive, multimillion-dollar projects from Center City to the Main Line.

Georges Perrier and Chris Scarduzio presaged the still-growing luxury steak house boom with Table 31 in the new Comcast Center. Red-hot Jose Garces gave University City a boost with his multilevel Nuevo Mex funhouse, Distrito, the upscale taco and tequila palace that was the year's best overall new restaurant. Stephen Starr made a Parisian-style splash on Rittenhouse Square with Parc, the gargantuan French bistro that has been serving as many as 1,200 meals a day.

That's a lot of frites and fresh baguettes. But Parc was hardly the only Gallic game going. From Queen Village's Cochon and Bistrot La Minette to Eric Ripert's 10 Arts in the Ritz, Dream Cuisine in Cherry Hill, and Brian Held's surprising Rouget in Newtown, chefs turned to French comfort food as a favored theme.

There were plenty of other authentic ethnic highlights amid my dining adventures in this year's reviews: the Shanghai steamed buns (a.k.a. "soup dumplings") at Chinatown's bargain gem, Dim Sum Garden; the fiery grilled Korean meats (and karaoke) at North Philly's Everyday Good House; the soulful lamb plov and kabobs at Uzbekistan in the Russian Northeast.

There were also a number of exciting contemporary updates to traditional ethnic cuisines. Michael Solomonov put an upscale spin on Israeli street food at Zahav. Former Pod and Buddakan NYC chef Michael Schulson opened a high-style Japanese pub, Izakaya, at Atlantic City's Borgata.

And Indian food found its contemporary muse in Marcie Turney at Bindi, where she was among the largest class of women chefs I've ever reviewed in a year. Erin O'Shea's modern Southern cuisine at Marigold Kitchen, Luciana Spurio's authentic Abruzzese fare at Le Virtù, Ane Ormaechea's exquisite tapas at Cafe Apamate, and Jennifer Carroll's debut as Ripert's kitchen proxy at 10 Arts were also all well worth noting.

The BYO scene continued to blossom, with stellar additions like my favorite new funky brunch place, Cafe Estelle, where everything from the bread to the bacon is homemade. Small plates were still big, with sophisticated new Supper leading the way.

But it was really the growth in gastropubs that marked the city's craving for great food (and craft beer) in casual neighborhood settings. Graduate Hospital's Pub & Kitchen led the field, but Memphis Taproom in Kensington and cozy St. Stephen's Green in Fairmount also made a lasting impression. And great beer lists were at the heart of some more polished venues, like Le Virtù, which continued the revival of East Passyunk Avenue; Time (which also became the city's destination for newly legalized absinthe); and Cooper's, the Manayunk brick-oven pizza bistro that has given high-end Jake's a casual new sibling.

Casual will no doubt be the new watchword for restaurants in the coming year. With the financial crisis hitting the fine-dining world hard, some of the highest-profile new projects have already faltered. At Maia in Villanova, for example, one of seven restaurants I revisited at year's end to recheck ratings, the ambitious multi-concept culinary complex from the crew behind Nectar has already lost some steam (and a bell).

Meanwhile, a number of my top four-bell restaurants from years past (there were no new four-bellers in 2008) recently underwent major changes that will be assessed in the near future. There have been chef changes at the Fountain Restaurant, Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, and Le Bec-Fin, which also went a la carte. And then there was the closure of Striped Bass, the Restaurant Row seafood icon that has reopened as - what else? - a luxury steak house from Stephen Starr called Butcher & Singer.

Who knows if there's enough money in this shaky economy to support all that pricey red meat? Who knows what the future of four-bell fine dining will look like once the dust of the recession settles?

That's a story the bells of 2009 will no doubt tell.

Excellent

Bindi

105 S. 13th St., 215-922-6061; www.bindibyob.com.

Indian cuisine gets a stellar (and long-awaited) contemporary update at this stylish BYO from the owners of Lolita and Grocery. The menu takes modern liberties with traditional ideas, but the compromises are few, as each dish is vividly rooted in authentic flavors, no-shortcut preparations, and top-quality ingredients for chef Marcie Turney's best work to date. Reviewed April 6.

Distrito

3945 Chestnut St. (at 40th), 215-222-1657; www.distritorestaurant.com.