Noteworthy Restaurants of 2021
It was a big year for restaurants. They didn’t just come back; they came back big. Some rose to the top — as in 64 floors high. Others broke out the fancy china and brought back the tasting menu. Others just leveled up on cuisine to create mind-blowing meals. We saw passion for food that hasn’t existed in years. This is the list of the best new restaurants in 2021.
The Restaurant: Les Trois Chevaux
Location: New York, New York
A rockstar woman chef in the kitchen, who is not even french but makes the best French food around? Yes it’s time to tip our toques to Angie Mar and her fine dining restaurant, Les Trois Chevaux.
Chef Mar gives us reason to get out of the yoga pants and dress up again. Order the croissants and the caviar. The mouse of veals brain in truffle noir. The Crabe Pitiviers. This is the restaurant that will make you wish you could afford $500+ dinners every night. It’s one of the best new restaurants in 2021, for anyone who likes food.
The Restaurant: SAGA
The Location: New York, New York
SAGA makes the list of best new restaurants in 2021 because it may just have the best view of any restaurant in New York City. From your perch on the 65th floor, you are king of the world. Part of the 70 Pine residential development, SAGA epitomizes the glamour of New York.
The Restaurant: The Anchovy Bar
Location: San Francisco, California
The Anchovy Bar specializes in exactly what you think; anchovies, which are sourced locally in season as well as Spain. From the team of the lauded State Bird Provisions, the Anchovy Bar also spreads its wings to oysters, seafood and meticulously prepared plates of fish. One of the stars though, isn’t the halibut ceviche or the boquerones in yogurt, cucumber and mint. It’s a non-seafood dish of whipped cloud of wagon wheel cheese, which is a molecular delight.
The Restaurant: Rose Mary
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Technically this was a 2020 opening, bit it’s still one of the most buzzy-worthy restaurants in Chicago. Who knew Croatian food was so good? We did, but now everyone else does too. The menu has something for everyone, from vegetarians to carnivores. Highlights include a porcini agnolotti, a stracciatella in apple mostarda, fennel pollen and lepinja and a 32 ounce bone-in ribeye.
The Restaurant: Hestia
Location: Austin, Texas
In Greek Mythology Hestia is the goddess of the hearth. In the restaurant business the hearth, the heart and warmth of the home, is in the kitchen. Hestia in Austin is all about the heat, bringing fire into every dish. So it’s no surprise that their New Years Eve tasting menu includes the Fire Roasted Beat and the Aged Wagyu Ribeye (complete with Hearth Roasted Broccoli). How can this get any better? With a wine program that has over 250 bottles, guided of course by Wine Director Alicia Schmidt.
The Restaurant: Owamni by The Sioux Chef
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Stick with us here, as you are still reading the list of the best new restaurants in 2021. Owamni by the Sioux Chef deserves a spot on the list. The Sioux chefs represent an abundance of indigenous nations including members of their team from: Anishinaabe, Mdewakanton Dakota, Navajo, Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Lakota, Wahpeton-Sissenton Dakota, just to name a few. Their food focuses on highlighting authentically Native American dishes and thats exactly what they’re doing at their first restaurant in Minneaplolis, Owamni.
Since it’s opening it’s attracted their full reservations from all over the country, not just those in the Minneapolis area, many of whom have traveled just to try the food. The food is made from only ingredients that would have been available to indigenous people before colonization, which makes for dishes like the Bison with Hazel Crusted Carrot.
Honorable Mention: One White Street
The Location: New York, New York
We already had two NYC entries for the best new restaurants in 2021, but One White Street deserves an honorable mention. Set in the former embassy of John Lennon’s fictional country Nutopia, One White Street is a fine dining establishment disguised as a casual neighborhood joint. The tasting menus rule on the upper two floors of the restaurant, where chilled foie gras, stuffed chicken with brioche and crave-worthy pull-apart bread rule.
