Esquire recently published its list of the top new restaurants in the U.S. and our mouths are watering. Literally, I’m trying not to take a bite out of my computer.
Apparently bored with “gimmicks and concepts,” Food & Drinks Editor Jeff Gordiner came up with a list of places where you can actually, like eat — like, all the time. Not just on a first date or special occasion, and not just because you want to brag and convince your friends you’re one of the “cool kids” because you’ve been.
Gordiner revived the list after its dormancy following the writer Josh Ozersky’s death in May 2015 and his new version encompasses the past few years, celebrating both the tried and true, and also the new guys on the block.
1. Felix Trattoria (Venice, CA)
Chef Evan Funke tops off the list as the best new restaurant in America with pasta dishes that can only be described as an “experience.” Gordiner might even say there are no words, just “grunts and moans” to describe the feeling when your plate hits the table. The drinks are equal parts beautiful and interesting and yet another reason to try out the restaurant.
2. The Grill and The Pool (New York)
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Chefs Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone and entrepreneur Jeff Zalaznick (aka, the “Major Food Group”) have taken Seagram Building landlord Aby Rosen’s invitation to take over the former home of the Four Seasons with two restaurants: The Grill and The Pool.
The Grill serves as the turf and The Pool takes the place of the surf, both provide a different kind of luxury for your night out.
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As the name suggests, Junebaby is as Southern as it comes. Aware of the fact that many northerners will not understand much about the menu, Junebaby’s website offers a glossary of terms that consumers can peruse before coming to visit. From buttermilk biscuits to gumbo to cracklin to pound cake, the fare at Junebaby is derived from Chef Eduardo Jordan’s Southern upbringing and is as authentic as it comes on that side of the Mason-Dixon line.
Coquine is an obscure restaurant located in a residential area in Portland. The location may be hushed, but the food is not. Chef Katy Millard uses ingredients like fava beans and squid to create menu items that will also have patrons hushed as they eat, yet raving as they leave.
Roister is not for the faint of flavor. Sandwiches that give a new take on old favorites like fried bologna sandwiches and shrimp and grits intersect with Chinese and Japanese staples like Sichuan dumplings and sauces. Chef Andrew Brochu’s interesting combinations might have you thinking you’re getting Southern food, but pay close attention to the sides and seasonings and you’ll realize that you’re in for an entirely new dining experience, altogether.
Chef Gavin Schmidt and sommelier Paul Einbund serve up San Fran farm-to-table in the most onomatopoeia-inspiring ways: sizzling, charring, bubbling, and all the other wonderful sounds we love to hear as our food is prepared. With menu items that range from charcuterie to chartreuse slushies, patrons are sure to sense the beauty that fine dining can provide without the pretense.
This is certainly not your average bar. Instead of darts and billiards, Chefs Ignacio Mattos and Thomas Carter are serving up caviar omelettes and oysters spiked with Sichuan mignonette. If those don’t get your mouth watering, try one of the drinks from the bar — the presentation alone is worth the price of admission.
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Nothing like seeing someone’s mama cooking in the kitchen. That’s exactly what you’ll find at Han Oak, where Chef Peter Cho and wife Sun Young Park and their family make patrons feel welcome with their homestyle atmosphere and Asian cuisine. Portland Monthly’s 2017 “Restaurant of the Year,” the Cho family serves up porkbelly, dumplings, and noodles and, from the look of their Instagram page, a lot of fun.
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Chicago has a second entry in the top ten with Kitsune, a “Japanese restaurant inspired by Midwestern bounty.” Chef Iliana Regan uses her imagination to combine the foods she grew up with on a farm in Indiana with Japanese flavorings and preparation techniques. Menu items like ramen made with nettles aswirl in a basso profundo mushroom broth and onsen egg floating in a dashi, studded with bright-red flower petals are just two of the examples of the familiarly unfamiliar flavor offerings restaurant-goers will uncover.
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10. Alter (Miami)
With Florida’s singular entry to the list, Alter in Miami has a ton of items that will alter your perspective on tasting menus (yes, that’s why they named it that). Not only that, prices are very economical, as a 5-course meal will only cost $69. Chef Brad Kilgore includes items that shouldn’t work, like duck confit with french toast, yet somehow, they inexplicably do.
Ask me what I would do with all the money in the world, and eating at all of these restaurants would be in the top 1 of my list.
