If there's one fundamental ingredient to a great meal, it's that food always tastes better with good company. So a special thanks to all of you who have broken bread with me this year; most of these moments would have been impossible without you. These are 10 of my best food moments in Pittsburgh (in no particular order). What are some of yours?

Gourmet Burger at Tessaro's -- My boyfriend and I moved from Cambridge, Mass., to Pittsburgh in August 2006. As we pulled into the parking lot of our Bloomfield apartment, it dawned on me that perhaps we should have thought more carefully about moving a truck-full of possessions up two very steep flights of stairs by ourselves. Approximately 10 hours later, I was hungrier than I could remember being in a long time, the moving truck was empty and we needed to get out of our extremely messy apartment. Our reward? -- Perfectly charred, medium-rare burgers topped with mushrooms, caramelized onions, blue cheese and bacon.

Portuguese Almond Cookies at Cafe Zao -- After six superb (and rich) courses of Toni Pais' Portuguese-inspired cuisine, I was starting to wonder how rude it would be if I simply looked at my dessert. Then the server placed a small plate in front of me and I immediately perked up. Two crisp Portuguese almond cookies had been filled with mascarpone and chunks of fresh pineapple, dusted with powdered sugar and served with a touch of raspberry coulis. I took a bite, and then another. This delectable morsel had truly performed a miracle. The dessert was not only delicious, full of bright flavors and contrasting textures; it was also refreshing and re-invigorating.

Boscano Tartufo from the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company cheese counter -- This intense, faintly sweet pecorino is studded with shreds of black truffle. Floral, nutty and deeply earthy, it is outstanding tossed with buttered pasta, shaved over a green salad, or eaten alone, especially when drizzled with honey. The truffle taste and aroma is extremely intense, and at just over $14 a pound, this luxurious cheese is a real bargain.

Beef Cheeks braised in Barolo and Venetian spices with faro at "Savoring the Lesser Cuts," a Slow Food dinner at Lidia's Pittsburgh -- As snow fell and wind whipped outside, I was happy to be indoors in the company of so many food lovers eating such delicious food. Sometimes it is easy for the palate and the conscience to agree. Everything I ate that night was wonderful, but this dish stays with me. The contrast between the tough cut of meat and the rich preparation, the simplicity of the basic ingredients, and the complexity of the final aroma -- the transformation was almost alchemical.

Chocolate Truffle Cake with whipped cream at Legume -- I keep a running list in my head of the best chocolate desserts I've ever eaten. With one bite, this cake not only made the list, it took its place at the top. The texture was utterly perfect -- moist, rich and smooth, yet also warm and cakey. It tasted intensely of dark chocolate, and best of all, it was served with real whipped cream. Not whipped cream made in a canister, but whipped cream that had actually been whipped. I ate it slowly and possessively, lingering over every bite, the way every great dessert deserves to be eaten.

Braised Pork Ragu with potato gnocchi, tomato, zucchini and carrot at Mio Kitchen and Wine Bar -- I have eaten a lot of middling gnocchi in my life, and recently I had started to wonder -- when people proclaim that gnocchi should be "light" and "ethereal," aren't they asking too much of this humble dumpling? One bite of Braised Pork Ragu with gnocchi, and I'd had a revelation. Gnocchi could be dense and chewy, yet light and fluffy. The delicacy of the gnocchi was exquisitely balanced by the sauce, whose luscious meatiness was offset by the lightness of the vegetables and the acidity of the tomatoes.

Oxtail from the Harmony Hill Farm, purchased at the Farmers at the Firehouse market in the Strip District -- Whatever their opinion on Pittsburgh restaurants, most foodies agree that this city is a wonderful place to cook. With such fantastic, fairly priced, accessible ingredients, it's no wonder that I wish I had more time to cook. In the mood for something classic, I looked to Marcella Hazan, the doyenne of Italian cooking in America, and she answered with Oxtail Vaccinara Style (Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking), in which the oxtail is browned, then braised in a sauce of parsley, garlic, onion, carrot, white wine, plum tomatoes and celery until the meat is almost falling off the bone. This time-tested recipe was the perfect showcase for Patrick Weakland's succulent, rich grass-fed beef. I would have proudly served this weekend dinner to even the most discriminating chef.

Cappuccino at La Prima Espresso -- All too often I drink my coffee while hunched over a computer or shivering in the cold, waiting for the bus. But I never enjoy it more than when I'm standing at the counter or sitting at a rickety outdoor table at La Prima. Their perfectly proportioned cappuccino transports me to afternoons spent in tiny cafes in Florence or Paris, when I had nothing to do but while away the time with a book, a good friend or my own thoughts.

Potato and Cheese Pierogies at the Bloomfield Farmer's Market -- On an unusually warm day in October, hours after I should have eaten lunch, Gosia's Pierogies tasted about as perfect as food can taste. Sauteed in butter until golden brown with a scoop of caramelized until crispy onions, they looked and smelled incredible. It took real restraint not to polish them off on the two-block walk back to my apartment. Once home, I added a few spoonfuls of greek yogurt for dipping and marveled at the many years I had lived without this absurdly delicious comfort food.

Domori's Porcelana Bar from Mon Aimee Chocolate -- (Disclosure: soon after I moved to Pittsburgh, Mon Aimee owner Amy Rosenfield and I bonded over a love of chocolate and good food, and I occasionally worked at the store last year.)

I first tried this bar in the summer of 2004 at the Mercado Centrale in Florence, while studying with Florentine chocolatier Andrea Bianchini. That summer I learned to evaluate chocolate based on its sheen, the "snap" when you broke a piece in half, the harmony of the flavors and the way it melted. Domori is one of an elite group of producers who treat chocolate like wine, focusing on different varietals and exposing their unique flavor profiles. Very few chocolatiers work with Porcelana beans, and the bars are often difficult to find, especially in retail shops, but then I walked into Mon Aimee Chocolat and discovered that Pittsburgh just happens to be home to one of the finest retail chocolate shops in the country -- if not the world. I'm still a tremendous fan of Domori, but now I've also fallen in love with Chocolate Bonnat's Chuao bar, the Pralus Madagascar Bar, the Maglio "Africa" Bar and, most recently, Amedei's "Blond" Bar.

Tessaro's, Bloomfield, 412-682-6809; Cafe Zao, Downtown, 412- 325-7007; PennMac, Strip District, 412-471-8330; Lidia's, Strip District, 412-552-0150; Legume, Regent Square, 412-371-1815; Mio, Aspinwall, 412-781-3141; Farmers at the Firehouse www.slowfoodpgh.com/farmers.html; La Prima, Strip District, 412-281-1922; Gosia's Pierogies, Latrobe, Penn., 724-205-9938; Mon Aimee Chocolat, Strip District, 412-395-0022.