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It’s torment, after spending a year of research on the road, to nail down a decisive list of 2016’s Best New Restaurants in America. The final cut reflects the country’s geographic breadth and a gamut of culinary styles, and spotlights those places most clearly advancing our very notions of dining. We settled on 21 as a manageable, finite number. That said, it seems worth mentioning these nine that narrowly missed the final cut; their exclusion provoked plenty of debate. If you happen to be in their towns they are all well worth seeking out.
Compère Lapin, New Orleans
At this brick-lined looker in the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, start with a gin cocktail from star bartender Abigail Gullo and then savor chef Nina Compton's Caribbean-inspired specialties, particularly the curried goat. comperelapin.com
Coquine, Portland
Pacific Northwest bounty meets sterling technique at Katy Millard's stoves; her chocolate chip cookies with smoked almonds (a daytime treat) draw as much praise as her dinnertime tempura snap beans. coquinepdx.com
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Shrimp with rice grits, Coquine
Death & Taxes, Raleigh A six-foot, 2,200-pound fire-burning grill drives the cooking behind Ashley Christensen's sixth and most ambitious Raleigh restaurant; look for comforts like smoke-tinged poussin over a salad of tomatoes and cubed cornbread. ac-restaurants.com/death-taxes Gabriel Kreuther, New York A weakness for foie and a genius for savory tarts (including a knockout filled with sturgeon and sauerkraut and lacquered in caviar mousseline) point to Gabriel Kreuther's Alsatian origins — and to the headiest dishes at this monolith of fine dining. gknyc.com Kinship, Washington D.C. A jewel box of a dining room and a menu of high-low inventiveness (Maine lobster French toast, chocolate chip cookie dough soufflé) mark the return of Eric Ziebold, who captivated D.C. with now-defunct CityZen. kinshipdc.com Lord Stanley, San Francisco A testament to SF's excesses of riches: Rupert and Carrie Blease's first venture looks like a typically airy, pleasant neighborhood restaurant, but the kitchen crafts a lyrical tasting menu of dishes like silky cabbage baptized in buttermilk and showered with uni bottarga. lordstanleysf.com Dungeness crab with egg yolk and summer truffle, Lord Stanley; soft-shell crab with roasted garlic aioli, Death and Taxes Maple & Ash, Chicago Among the bumper crop of Chicago's nex-gen steakhouses, Maple & Ash stands out for orchestrating a raucously good time, fueled by Danny Grant's kitchen wizardry (go all in with the roasted seafood tower) and Belinda Chang's ebullient beverage program. mapleandash.com Revival, Atlanta Go for the family-style option to appreciate Kevin Gillespie's elating take on classic Southern cooking, including plenty of gratifying vegetable side dishes and, if you're lucky, a fried pie for dessert. revivaldecatur.com Superiority Burger, New York Former Del Posto pastry chef Brooks Headley spent years devising the recipe for his nutty, grain-rich, transcendentally good veggie burger (slicked with muenster cheese and piled with pickle, tomato, and lettuce for pure textural satisfaction), which he now serves out of a six-seat subterranean space in the East Village. superiorityburger.com Bill Addison is Eater's restaurant editor. See his archives here.:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6820349/lordstanley_truffles_bnralso16.0.jpg)
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Lede image: Superiority Burger by Nick Solares.
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