The Best New Restaurants of The Year (U.S.A)

Thanks to Alaina over at A Full Belly for pointing us to John Mariani's recently released annual list of the best new restaurants in the United States. Mariani writes for Esquire Magazine and this list appears in the November issue on newsstands now. Hopefully Mariani and Esquire will forgive me for reprinting the list here for easy access:

BEST NEW RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR:
Patina, Los Angeles

CHEF OF THE YEAR:
Masa Takayama, Masa, NYC

BEST NEW RESTAURANTS (in alphabetical order of city):

Atlanta:
Restaurant Eugene - Chef Linton Hopkins
Rathbun's - Chef Kevin Rathbun

Boston: Restaurant L - Chef Pino Maffeo

Charleston, SC: Sienna - Chef Ken Vedrinski

Denver: Table 6 - Chef Aaron Whitcombe

El Dorado Hills, CA: Masque Ristorante - Chef Angelo Auriana

Greenwich, CT: Gaia - Chef Frederic Kieffer

Houston: 17 - Jeff Armstrong

Keswick, VA: Fossett's - Chef John Brand

New Orleans: Cafe Adelaide & Swizzle Stick Cafe - Chef Kevin Vizard

NYC:
BLT Steak - Chef Laurent Tourondel
Mas - Chef Galen Zamarra

Philadelphia: Bliss - Chef Francesco Martorella

Providence, RI: Lot 401 - Chef Rachel Klein

San Francisco: Tartare - George Morrone

Seattle: Union - Ethan Stowell

Washington, DC: Le Paradou--Yannick Cam

CHEFS TO KEEP YOUR EYE ON:
-Anthony Gonçalves, Trotter's, White Plains, NY
-Robert Sulatycky, Seasons at the Four Seasons, Chicago
-Robert Iacovone, Cuvee, New Orleans
-Craig Koketsu, Manhattan Ocean Club, NYC
-Scott Johnson, Canoe Bay, Chetek, WI

BEST NEW VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT:
Green Zebra, Chicago.

BEST NEW BARBECUE:
ZydeQue, New Orleans

BEST NEW RESTAURANT OUTSIDE THE U.S.A.:
Agua, Los Cabos, Mexico

BEST RESTAURANT DESIGN:
Megu, NYC

Posted by: Alder on October 20, 2004 11:51 AM: Tweet; Share this post elsewhere: Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Food Activities

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Comments (3)

Benterline wrote:

12.15.04 at 11:51 PM

You left off Poggio of Sausalito, also on the list...forgiven because the article in Esquire was interspersed with several small items of interest that made the page busy, however...I must point out that I have now been to Masque Ristorante and Poggio and intend to visit several more on the list, now that this list has been more than validated...not just meals, but entire evening experiences at these wonderful new Northern California establishments.

Alder wrote:

12.16.04 at 9:01 AM

Interesting -- I just went back to review the list that Mariani posted on his own web site and Poggio isn't listed. I never saw the magazine article in person, only online.

Benterline wrote:

12.16.04 at 10:06 AM

Not sure why he would exclude them on his own website. I have the issue and used it to visit two of the places listed...will visit Tartare soon. Here is the writeup pasted from Esquire.com:

SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA: Poggio
Sausalito has needed a good restaurant for a long time. It got a great one. After years of empire building with his Il Fornaio chain, Larry Mindel sold the company three years ago and devoted himself to building the Italian restaurant of his dreams. Chef Christopher Fernandez focuses on regional cooking, exemplified in his fried squash blossoms stuffed with ricotta and basil in a tomato sauce, grilled lamb sirloin with baked cauliflower and Yellow Finn potatoes, garganelli pasta dressed with squab bolognese, and white-shrimp-and-scallop risotto with squash. From its dining room's embracing archways and cozy booths to the wood-burning oven and beautiful marble work, this is a template for a modern Cal-Ital restaurantwhich I hope to God he doesn't start cloning.
Don't-miss dish: Spinach-and-ricotta gnocchi with beef ragy.
(777 Bridgeway; 415-332-7771)