Scarpetta, NYC. One of Travel + Leisure's 50
Best New U.S. Restaurants of 2009
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From Travel + Leisure by Anya von Bremzen and Soren Larson: You know the American restaurant paradigm is shifting when communal
benches become more desirable than leather banquettes. When humble
kimchi is suddenly chic, and the words
local and
seasonal are recited as routinely as
fried or
sautéed.
At a time of economic difficulty and changing consumer tastes for both
food and décor, we crisscrossed the country in search of outstanding
new restaurants with a very different mind-set.
We gravitated toward spots that offered us warmth and a sense of
human connection, and greeted the opening of a neighborhood noodle
parlor or artisanal sandwich shop with an enthusiasm formerly reserved
for high-concept eating destinations. In Chicago, a delicious take on Korean street food is dished out at Urbanbelly,
an inexpensive joint with four communal tables that is generating
enormous enthusiasm among dumpling lovers in the Windy City. At San Francisco’s Sentinel, a tiny downtown sandwich spot, the once-tired standard of a quick lunch is being transformed into an aesthetic masterpiece.
See the slideshow of Travel + Leisure's 50 Best New U.S. Restaurants.