Thursday, October 14, 2021

The New Restaurant Season Part Two

 It is fall and that means an urge to get out and just enjoy life. This is true with fine dining. Luckily yesterday's New York Times Food section has published an extensive guide  to the country's best eateries.

Wednesday's post  was dedicated to some of the restaurants in the big cities like San Francisco's The Anchovy Bar and New York's post modern Atomix and its' Gilded Age classic Gage & Tollner;s/ There was also a shout out to Bellaire Texas's Blood Brothers BBQ and Philadelphia's Korshack's Bagels. The list is extensive reaching Honululu's Helena's Hawaiian Food, named for the owner, Helen Chuck who passed in 2017 and continued by her grandson Craig Kasuyushi. Her recipes for laulau , a marriage of pork and buuterfish and seared in taro leaves along with pipi kaula short ribs charred to a magnificent inky black.  An ocean and a country away is North Carolina's Kindred located in Davidson, outside Charlotte. Chefs Joe and Katy Kindred left San Francisco for his home town where they opened up this locally sourced eatery.North Carolina flounder is served with shelling peas  along with labneh and fried eggplant. They also have the Milk Bread Cafe named for their signature bread and offering giant chicken sandwiches and milk bread doughnuts. Then there is Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado which offers foods from the Friuli province in Northeastern Italy.

The big cities shine here too, New Yorkers can feast at Ernesto's, the menu inspired by chef Ryan Bartlow's time in an eatery outside of san Sebastian , Spain.  The heavily Basque menu serves everything from beefsteak to cod cheeks with little neck clams and soft rice.  Indian food lovers will go mad for the city's Dhamaka. Chef Chintan Pandiya uses recipes from the villages and countryside instead of the big city.There are clay pots filled with goat and pressure cookers cooking chicken pulao.Pols on the Beltway will love Peter Prime's Trinidadian Cane, popular with former President Obama. His celebrated jerk  wings. served with tamarind mayo is the most popular  but also try the flaky  deep fried red snapper and tenderly grilled oxtails.New Orleans has Brigstens run by Frank Brigsten who creates a phenomenal rabbit andouille gumbo and sweet potato hash.

These are just some of the gems for the new fall season. You may have one or two in your neck of the woods. Try these or what's in your neighborhood.