Ten Restaurants That Define American Dining in Fall 2022

Editor’s note: As of Jan. 24, 2024, Kinn has rebranded into a new concept, Jilli.

Ki Kim has carved a path through what amounts to the pinnacle of modern Korean American cooking — including time at Jungsik and Atomix in New York, and Benu in San Francisco. That has manifested itself with his tasting-menu spot in L.A.’s Koreatown. The location near 6th and Western roots Kinn in the heart of the city’s Korean community, which is why the menu (an exceptional value, starting at $72) can feel almost traditional in moments, with Pyongyang-style naengmyeon, the classic cold noodle dish, or even Kim’s take on a corn dog. But haute ingredients like truffles find their way in, and more poignantly, this is a prism of a well-honed chef revisiting sentimental flavors. It is the quintessence of what a meaningful tasting menu can be in 2022.

The anointing of Razza as the best pizza in New York a few years ago was less a shocker than an affirmation of chef Dan Richer’s long obsession with every detail of pizza-making — and fermentation in general. This translates into not only a crust that has become the ür-crust for even the pickiest of pizza types, namely because Richer is a baker at heart with a pizza peel in his hand, but also toppings that always feel proportional and eye-opening. There is the Jersey margarita, for instance, with fresh local tomatoes and mozzarella; or the Santo, which uses sausage and chile oil to dazzling effect.

The catch with Razza was always its reliance on walk-ins — which is to say that three hours of an aperitivo crawl through Jersey City can be lovely, but also a big commitment. But reservations are now the way of things, which means you can plan what will be one of the great pizza pilgrimages of your life with a bit of advance planning. (Especially as Razza’s expanded dining area comes online.)

Rarely has there been greater tribute to the American love of the sandwich than Middle Child, Matt Cahn’s postage stamp-sized luncheonette, which featured such hoagies as the Bye Felicia! (roasted vegetables with artichoke relish and balsamic mayo) and the Phoagie, flavored to taste like said noodle soup. Clubhouse is … well, it’s not fair to say it’s what would happen if Middle Child grew up, because Cahn’s sense of whimsy is on full display here too. (His equitable sense of treatment for employees has also carried over.)

But the happily collisions and twists cohere in a more complete meal here — including a latke by way of okonomiyaki, a charred broccoli salad with bacon jam, zucchini au poivre, the Nashville tofu “not chick’n,” and the much-loved house cheeseburger (also available late-night). The way to go is Middle Child’s $55 tasting, which runs through highlights for one of the most affordable set menus in town. And we’d be remiss not to mention the large-format cocktails … because Negronis are meant to be shared. When we say the fun is back in dining, this is what we mean.

There’s a reason that chef Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman keeps racking up recognition, and it’s because her cooking is sublime, and subtly groundbreaking, while also feeling utterly familiar. At José, her focus is on the food of Jalisco, which means a balance of land and sea; that manifests itself in dishes like a coconut-milk ceviche made with Texas redfish; a duck confit mole with bok choy and lentils; chile relleno stuffed with leeks, marble potatoes, and corn; and a chicken green mole with farro risotto. It is daring, fascinating cooking that reflects Tex-Max not in that way but in a perspective that wraps in the many progressive threads of cooking found in the Lone Star state today.

And don’t overlook the extensive agave spirits program and epic margaritas. (José, by the way, is José Noé Suro, who owns one of Mexico’s top ceramic studios and who helped design the restaurant, including the 85-foot-long kiln-fired mural.)

Pim Techamuanvivit has been one of the key figures putting modern Thai cooking at the forefront of American dining. Her much-lauded Kin Khao is set to reopen soon in its original Union Square space, but it’s her more upscale restaurant Nari, in S.F.’s Japantown, that has been quietly shining in the meantime. Nari is Techamuanvivit’s tribute to the women who have been foundational to Thai cuisine over the centuries, and with chef de cuisine Meghan Clark and an all-women management team (plus mostly female winemakers on the wine list, and so on), she has found a means of expression that ties together finessed Thai cuisine, much of it from the traditions of royal Thai cooking, with California bounty.

Thus the iconic papaya salad known as som tum here is revisited with melons as the base; nuanced curries that tap summer squash or eggplant; and so on. The service is family-style, even for the chef’s tasting menu, which again threads the needle between formality and Nari’s more laid-back worldview. It remains one of the country’s transformative restaurants, and if you haven’t been yet, now is the time to go.

Rosie’s is the communal brunch that rolls out on an expanded timeline: four days a week, during the day, now in a backyard garden but still very much an outgrowth of its food-truck origins during the pandemic. It is a daytime party in effect. Akino and Jamila West offer a menu that’s Southern in spirit but also with dashes of Italy and New York, and in no way limited by any one prism. So yes, a biscuit and gravy with guanciale, and yes, chicken and waffles (with Calabrian chile oil). But also pastrami hash with a charred green-onion gremolata, and a cacio e pepe omelette. Cocktails have also joined the roster, and if this is still the Wests on the way to Rosie’s being a fully formed restaurant, it’s no surprise it has become one of Miami’s most sought-out meals. Doubly so now that we’re moving into fall, and the backyard seating will feel downright glorious.

There’s something especially rewarding about watching a great restaurant build on its strengths as it matures. And after more than a decade since its 2011 opening, this Brooklyn shrine to shellfish and great cocktails and a general Belle Époque joie-de-vivre is in exceptional form. The bar, still overseen by William Elliott, tilts toward the absinthe-friendly — including tableside Sazerac service, and an absinthe colada (although don’t ignore the regular colada, in a young coconut) — in a way that would leave New Orleans envious. The raw seafood is impeccable (pro tip: try the shrimp cocktail) and the rest of the menu is just enough to make for a modest dinner: clam toast, steak tartare, a lobster roll.

Often overlooked — but worth a visit to Bedford Ave. alone — is the wine list, a taut Francophile compilation that leans heavy to the western Loire and Muscadet (see oysters, above), but doesn’t skimp on Champagne, Beaujolais, or Chablis. And brunch in the back garden is one of Brooklyn’s great weekend pleasures.

Boccalupo remains one of Atlanta’s perennially tough tables for a reason, and that reason is a timeless one: really, really great pasta. The subtle twists that chef Bruce Logue finds for his iterations are always eye-opening, not unlike what Jason Vincent does at Chicago’s Giant. As in, deeply egg-yolky tagliatelle that gets bumped with butter and kale kimchi; Thai basil in the spaghettini and meatballs; lobster-rich sauce Americaine for the risotto and cobia. Logue brings just enough New South accents to the table to make Boccalupo a stalwart for Inman Park, but at the same time this is modern Italian American cooking of the highest order.

Filipino cooking has been all across the country for a long time, but this for sure is the year when it’s having its moment in the spotlight — a long overdue realizing of both its complexity and its innately satisfying ways. Which also means that if you haven’t been in Chicago and enjoyed the beautiful cooking at this restaurant from the Tan siblings — Cybill, Malvin, and Marlon — it’s time to rectify that. The format here is a bit more free-form than the tasting menu at its newly Michelin-lauded neighbor Kasama, but regulars know to come early for one of the limited portions of the slow-cooked lechon, an iconic form of an iconic Filipino dish.

But there’s also a sublime sisig with wagyu beef cheeks and duck liver, hearty chicken-thigh adobo, pancit that shines whether with three kinds of meat or vegan, and yes, a burger with a garlic-kalamansi aioli. There’s also a Kamayan set Sunday dinner for four that includes most of the highlights, and crucially, do not miss dessert, where Cybill’s talents as pastry chef shine, with, yes, halo-halo but much more. (That strength has springboarded to Cafe Cebu in Naperville, with ice creams and pastries like a longanisa bun.)

Speaking of groundbreaking Korean American cooking, Peter Cho and Sun Young Park’s Han Oak was another of the foundational spots that brought us to our great current moment. But the limited seating (essentially a dinner party for the public) and set menus provided a self-limiting aspect. Toki was the answer to this — incorporating some of Han Oak’s most loved dishes, but also folding in the couple’s other cravings. The result is notably down-home Korean-ish cooking, from kalbi ssam to instant-ramen flavored wings to a bay-shrimp pajeon pancake. But also items like biang biang noodles and a black-sesame pot de crème. It is, in essence, an extension — or maybe an expansion — of the party that Han Oak pioneered. And don’t miss the gorgeous, tightly edited wine, cocktail, and makgeolli list. (Including a mezcal drink called, yes, Are Birds Real?)