As you can imagine, most of Y&H's readers are based right here in the God-fearing, gun-loving United States of America. But as I've been messing around with Google Analytics, I've discovered a number of posts from 2009 that played well in foreign countries, sort of like old blues musicians in Europe, I guess. Below you'll find the five most-popular Y&H [...]

Today and throughout the week, Y&H will be giving you a glimpse back at 2009, via the blog posts that most captured your attention. First up: the granddaddy of all aggregations, the 10 most-read items of  the year. The list is after the jump.

As you may have noticed, I've changed the title of this weekly feature, which is usually published under the name of Greatest Hits. I have done so out of respect for the top item about the passing of pastry chef Jérôme Girardot. There was nothing great about his untimely death, even if, in life, Girardot [...]

There's no good or delicate way to pass along such awful news, so forgive my straight-forward reportage on this: Jérôme Girardot, a respected pastry chef for the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the West End, was found dead on Monday in Ben Brenman Park in Cameron Station, just weeks after an earlier tragedy in the same neighborhood. [...]