If you needed a good reason to visit your favorite undiscovered Bay Area food hangouts, now is the time to go.

Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl and her staff have turned their lens on the Bay Area in the March issue, assuring that places like Mitchell's ice cream, Swan's Oyster Depot and Artisan Cheese soon may be overrun with some of the nearly 5 million people who read Gourmet.

The special issue, which goes out to subscribers this week, is an annual event for the New York-based magazine.

Last year, the magazine took on Paris. This year, it's the Bay Area, which Reichl declares the best food region in the country.

"Other cities may boast more impressive restaurants or bigger markets, but none have the combination of geography, climate, passion and appetite that fuel the cuisine of San Francisco," she writes.

And even though Gourmet gives away some great secrets, at least it is done with an insider's knowledge and fondness by Reichl, who first became a food writer here, jumping from the kitchen of the Swallow restaurant in Berkeley to critic for New West (and later, California magazine), and food editor of the Los Angeles Times.