Y&H wasn't the only one with thoughts on the Steptoe & Johnson vs. Rogue States verdict. Take a look:

Above the Law: "Steptoe & Johnson is one of the few large law firms with a Twitter presence, but the firm has yet to tweet about how it chewed up and spat out Rogue States Burgers."

Comment on Above the Law's story: "I hope the location used by the burger joint is converted to a day care center with hundreds of screaming, shrieking kids who throw baseballs against Steptoe's walls from 7AM til 6PM."

The Examiner: "The ruling may be a knockout punch to one of the best in Washington, DC burger circles. USA Today recently named the top burger spot in each state and the District of Columbia — the winner from our nation’s capital was Rogue States. If SRT and Rogue States can’t agree on abatement strategy, there is the possibility of a new location to keep the nationally acclaimed burger afloat, but don’t get your hopes up. Under direct examination by one of Steptoe’s lawyers, Mendizabal indicated that he had signed a lease for a new Rogue States location at 1931 14th St. NW but later told Washingtonian Magazine that he was relying on revenue from the current location to pay for the opening of the 14th and U Street location."

Chowhound: "Steptoe's suit claimed that exhaust fumes from RS had caused nausea, headaches and general annoyance. (The irony of a law firm suing someone else for causing nausea, headaches and general annoyance apparently escaped them.)"

Comment on WSJ blog item: "Take note. Any time you have a court-ordered meeting of counsel at this law firm’s offices, seize the upper hand by discreetly, professionally, and silently breaking wind. It may break their will."

Comment 1 from DCist post: "Awful news — guess everyone will have to go to one of the 37 other gourmet burger joints within a 10-block radius of Dupont Circle."

Comment 2 from DCist post: "WHAT??? So does that mean I can sue my neighbors for constantly burning incense or making too much smelly cabbage?"

Comment 3 from DCist post: "Agreed. Fucking scumbags. Reminds me of this web development place I worked at in Manhattan. Occasionally we could hear a band practicing in the next building. Without ever even so much as picking up the phone or knocking on a door to work it out they filed suit. Unbelievable."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Ashok Bajaj put his Bibiana cooks and servers through six different practice runs this week, in preparation for what was supposed to be a Monday, Sept. 7, opening. So why did the downtown osteria and enoteca open today instead?

"Practice, practice, practice," Bajaj tells Y&H this afternoon. "Like everything else, we needed a little bit of work."

Because Congress returns to work next week, Bajaj wanted to make sure that his latest restaurant would be performing at its peak before the power players start to stumble in following their fisticuffs over health-care reform. "No matter how good you think you are, you can always get better," he says.

Chef Nicholas Stefanelli, former sous chef at Maestro in McLean and chef de cuisine at Fiamma in New York, is not starting out with any limited menus either. He and the kitchen have jumped right into the full lunch and dinner menus [PDFs], Bajaj says, including pizza. From the look of these menus, Bibiana seems to be taking its Italian food quite seriously.

And check this out, Bibiana hasn't even been open a day and the Examiner already has a "first look" on the place, including pictures. It must be a record.

Food isn't like music or movies. The hospitality business doesn't obsess over every restaurant or bistro or pub that opens during any particular year; it doesn't base its overall health on the success or failure of the newbies coming into the market. Restaurants, young and old, must complete against each other. In some ways, the older restaurants have it easier: They may already have a loyal clientele that doesn't require expensive marketing to lure them back to the place.

I say all this as prologue. You don't see as many Year in Food lists as you do lists for movies and music. And when you do see them, they tend to be trend oriented, like the one Chow posted earlier this month. Now come two more:

• Howard Mortman at D.C. Examiner has put together his "top ten food-related presidential campaign stories from 2008."
• Robyn Mincher at Express Night Out has collected a few "Snapshots in D.C. Food."

Photo by Flickr user mediajorgenyc.