The 2008 edition of the Zagat guide to "San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants" ($14.95) just landed on my desk. At 332 pages, it seems thicker than ever. Finally, I fleetingly and foolishly thought, they've made room for Sacramento restaurants. But when I flipped through the "East of San Francisco" section I couldn't find a single Sacramento restaurant in the listings. Most of the restaurants in this section understandably are in the East Bay, but then the Zagat editors ignore the Central Valley and the Sierra Foothills altogether, skipping up to Lake Tahoe, which is well represented by such fine restaurants as Evan's American Gourmet Cafe in South Lake Tahoe, Wolfdale's at Tahoe City and Pianeta in Truckee, among several others.

Sacramento's prospering dining scene might as well be invisible. Maybe Zagat's editors think Sacramento is west of San Francisco. There's no word whatever about such Sacramento restaurants as The Waterboy, Lemon Grass, Biba, Kru and countless others just as creative and assured as many of those in the book. Maybe it's a blessing, at least for Sacramento diners, who without the Zagat spotlight being shined on local restaurants don't have to fret any more than they already do about finding a seat.