If my wife had been watching me read the paper that day in late December, she might have been puzzled by the rapidly changing emotions on my face, changing in an instant from a smile to confusion to displeasure. I was reading Bay Weekly’s Best of the Bay edition, hoping to find some local treasure that somehow had missed my radar. As I reviewed the categories, I found some I very much agreed with (Best Concert Venue: Rams Head) and many that I didn’t know much about (Acupuncture). Some went on my list to try (Best Sushi: Umai), and some I disagreed with.

It’s a new year. With the flip of a calendar comes a chance to renew, refresh and remodel.     In Annapolis, the new year offers opportunity for two local restaurateurs to help each other.     Andrew Parks, owner of Sam’s on the Waterfront, has announced his new executive chef, Jim Wilder. Chef Wilder recently closed his Westgate Circle restaurant Wild Orchid after a difficult three-year tenure.

Montgomery County firefighter and paramedic Mike O’Neil sips a beer as he sits beneath the 9/11 wall at Heroes Pub. O’Neil was at the Pentagon doing search and rescue in the aftermath of that day. He’s a typical Heroes regular: a first responder and a local from Arnold who comes in several times a week. He seems to know everyone in the place, and everyone knows him. “Great bar food, great people, and they support the community. This is Cheers,” says O’Neil, referring to the fictional tavern on TV. “We feel comfortable here.”