Farm-to-table on menu all over

It was a Green Acres theme this year for the Philadelphia dining scene, as restaurants from city to suburb stuffed their farm-to-table wheelbarrows with a rich bounty of local ingredients.

Some were driven by an inspiring passion for seasonal greens and sustainable fish. Others were simply moved by trend. And if the chef wasn't wearing his 4-H badge on his sleeve, his PR marketing machines certainly were, with an agro-concept frenzy that saw a crop's worth of new ventures - from cocktail bars to conference centers to food trucks - with a "farm" or "garden" sprouted in the name.

The best of the lot gave us restaurants that should flourish into welcome fixtures as their kitchens cycle through a full year of local heirloom produce, from The Farm and Fisherman, the city's best new BYO, to lovely Talula's Garden, the high-profile collaboration between Aimee Olexy and Stephen Starr on Washington Square that, after a rough spell of chef changes, has finally settled into a satisfying groove.

It was an exceptionally busy year for the prolific Starr, who had two other projects reviewed (a charming English pub, The Dandelion, and the disappointing beer garden Frankford Hall), with two more openings (Il Pittore and Route 6) to be reviewed in 2012.

But 2011 was a year when, more than ever, other players began to surge forward. Tiffin owner Munish Narula delivered the year's most stunningly ambitious opening with Tashan, the contemporary small-plate update to Indian cuisine on South Broad that gave otherwise locally-obsessed Philly a welcome dose of exotic Bollywood glitz.

Chip Roman, of Blackfish, branched out to Chestnut Hill with a small-plate tasting menu at sophisticated Mica, then opened Ela, a collaboration with Jason Cichonski (on tap for review next year). Inventive, seasonal small plates have also been on the menu at a.kitchen, whose biggest draw has been the Philly return of talented ex-Talula Table co-owner Bryan Sikora.

Former Jose Garces hand Tim Spinner brought his Nuevo Mex mastery to Fort Washington with Cantina Feliz, as a prelude to a city sibling (La Calaca Feliz) to open next month in Fairmount - a neighborhood that is finally getting a long-overdue renaissance of openings. Fishtown and the nightlife nexus at 13th and Sansom Streets all saw continued growth in 2011.