Ten Essential Restaurants Across America, Winter 2021 Edition

We won’t say you can’t have a meal at Brad Deboy’s spot in Northwest Washington without an order of his sourdough bread. But why would you want to? Deboy is a deep practitioner of the many arts of fermentation, so whether it’s that bread, or carrots prepared with the rice-derived marinade known as shio koji and served with rye miso and labneh, or the pickled green tomatoes and buttermilk biscuit that accompany the D.C. hot duck, this is a pinnacle of that manner of New American cooking that’s unapologetically umami-driven and zesty. It compels you in much the way San Francisco’s Bar Tartine made fermentation its rallying cry.

All this work could be delivered in a more precious package. But no: Ellē also is an all-day cafe, and when we say the pastrami Reuben requires a mandatory detour on your way to Union Station or Dulles, we ask you to believe us. Then there’s this page; if this doesn’t help you get with Ellē’s groove, we can’t even help you. (Update: Deboy stepped away from his position as Ellē’s chef in mid-March for personal reasons.)

While we’d never discourage you from the full-on tasting menu experience at Esmé, which has come about as close as anyone has to unlocking an inclusive and postmodern take on fine dining, might we suggest you pop next door to Bar Esmé?  There, Esmé’s chef Jenner Tomaska and beverage director Tia Barrett go completely the opposite direction — kind of — with just 16 seats and a taut menu of “bar food.”

Like we said, kind of. First, everything here is in oversize format to share, from a whole roasted chicken to a cheese board that easily serves as a full meal. And then, yes, the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto, an update of Tomaska’s extruded-grain homage to a certain snack that became notable for opening each meal at Esmé proper. Barrett adds her finessed cocktail sensibilities and a wine program that focuses on underrepresented producers, and the net effect is a proud addition to Chicago’s tradition of groundbreaking bars.

This Israeli-inspired stunner in Westside Atlanta arrived the summer before the pandemic, and has emerged the other side even more irresistible. Like its sibling restaurants Atrium (in Ponce City Market) and Rina, it exudes a joy for just the sort of communal-friendly eating that’s now acceptable to do again — one boosted by chef Brandon Hughes’ touches that reference flavors across the Middle East. The multiple twists on hummus (braised duck and tahini, or butternut squash and labneh); cauliflower accented with tomato butter and crème fraiche; a lamb cholent, or sabbath stew, that also channels southwestern French rusticity with its helping of flageolets; and so on. Aziza could easily place you in Beirut or Tel Aviv; instead, it’s Atlanta’s to cherish.

Sister calls itself a trattoria, which is true only in the way that so many restaurants now wear the “bistro” mantle. For one thing, even a glance at the menu will make clear this is hardly canonical Italian: Meatballs come with piperade and feta; crispy sunchokes are dressed with green goddess and capers; buckwheat lumache find their way into a shiitake-Parmesan cream sauce. It is a similar approach to that of its, ahem, sibling restaurant The Charles in Dallas’ Design District. (Get the name now?)

But here we’re a bit further from downtown, a bit more low-key (Sister’s space formerly housed the Grape, a bistro and Dallas staple for half a century). And so perhaps there’s just a bit more room for innovation, including on the cocktail list, where you’ll find three kinds of spritz, and the Moe Green, a cooler from blanco Tequila, cucumber, and habañero. As Moe himself would have put it, your credit here is good.

Nasim Alikhani’s Brooklyn storefront just off Flatbush Ave. is both perpetually booked, and atop so many must-dine lists we share with visiting friends, for good reason. Namely, the homage that she, husband Akis Petroulas, and chef Ali Saboor have created to their particular interpretation of Iranian cooking makes for one of New York’s most outright rewarding restaurants.

There is a pacing to respect at Sofreh: Start with whatever dips are on the menu (don’t be deceived by the shallots and yogurt; its seeming simplicity hides the most satisfying onion dip ever), with the elongated, ridged house bread to accompany. Then salads and rice — there is tahdig because we’re on the tail end of peak tahdig, but even the simple-sounding herb rice will astonish. And then to main courses that will remind you of the wondrous intensity of a great braise, Persian or otherwise. We’d humbly endorse the dried lime and beef stew, a perfect distillation of the Sofreh view of the world. Enjoy it with a range of deft, fragrant cocktails.

Wine lovers who come to Charleston know that a stop at Leon’s is more or less mandatory. Yes, for the oysters — since you’re not going to escape an oyster-eating bout while in town, and Leon’s is a fine choice. Also for the fried chicken that has earned Leon’s as much of its reputation as bivalves. (Ideally you’ll bring enough people to have the $49 big platter.) But more than anything, you’re here for the astonishing selection of grower Champagne that, to be candid, has earned Leon’s its repute as much as anything. This has been, since 2014, the ur-source for that particular trifecta.

Pro tip: If you’re still hungry, amble down the street to its sister restaurant, Little Jack’s Tavern, for a burger at the bar. (That it happens frequently is no reflection on Leon’s bounteous menu, just a sign of how good the Jack’s burger is.)

There may be trickier tables to get in L.A. right now, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that Wolfgang Puck’s mainstay is turning 40 this year. That is at least two epochs in restaurant time, and what’s truly amazing is that the menu has managed to stay relevant by evolving around the fringes rather than through reinvention. Perhaps it’s not as Instagram-dazzling as some, but the quintessential focus is unwavering. Yes, the roe-topped smoked salmon pizza is still there. Yes, you can still have Weinerschnitzel. The orange-and-endive salad now has a thousand imitators, but hey, this was the nexus of California cuisine. And it still more than holds its own.

Add to that a savvy but classic bar program, and one of the best Champagne selections on the West Coast (have you guessed we’re in a Champagne mood this month?) and you have every reason to revisit a classic — doubly so at a time when dining out feels like a special thrill.

If the original proposition of Cookshop, from restaurateurs Vicki Freeman and Marc Meyer, feels quaint today, that’s only because the  may virtues of farm sourcing and local foodways have permeated every corner of New York dining since its opening in 2005. Yet nearly two decades later, the couple still unwaveringly delivers on this ethos to a deservedly packed house … and not just for brunch, although that meal is indeed now canon here.

Thus the half-chicken in jus is still a perfect weeknight dinner, the vegetable offerings are always grilled or roasted to perfection, and the wine list always has gems floating on the surface. (A solid 2006 Saint-Estèphe for under $100?) In subsequent years, Freeman, Meyer, and their partners expanded with a roster of spots that have become crucibles for cooking talent: Vic’s, Rosie’s, Shuka, and most recently Shukette. And yet, there’s still something totally rewarding about a visit back to the mothership, as it were.

Bostonians were reasonably excited about the appearance of Bar Enza last fall, in Harvard Square’s Charles Hotel. This would be a homecoming of sorts for Mark Ladner, who had his foundational years locally at Olives, working with the esteemed Barbara Lynch, before going on to New York, where he made a name with his Italian cooking at an obscure little trattoria called … Del Posto.

If the cooking at Enza isn’t quite so haute as at Del Posto, its self-description as, yes, a trattoria, and the humble descriptions on the menu — shrimp scampi, meat-and-cheese ravioli — way undersell the intricacy of Ladner’s cooking. (“Yesterday’s 100-layer lasagna” might be the closest thing to a tipoff.) And there lies the importance of Enza: Having brought Italianate cooking both to a four-star pinnacle, and to the intensely casual, Ladner has embraced a confident middle path for this cuisine that feels just right for this era.

We’d say something about how the Miami mirror of Simon Kim’s Korean-inspired steakhouse in Manhattan is an easier table to nab if you’re wintering down south. But … well, it didn’t take long for this outpost to achieve the same force-of-nature status as the original. No shocker there: The menu is faithfully replicated, whether the $180 steak “omakase” or the “steak and eggs” of filet mignon tartare with kaluga caviar; and the beverage selections are just as rewarding — although down this way, you can have your frosé in February.