My Favorite Restaurants
Here are the places I would return to most if time and money were not factors – I would consider them the best restaurants in the world.
United States
Manresa (Los Gatos, CA) – [last review]
It is my favorite in the country and I’ve visited it enough times in the past. Chef David Kinch procures some of the best seafood and cooks it to perfection. His garden is producing some of the best tasting vegetables around and it allows him to cook the quintessential California meal.
Urasawa (LA) – [last review]
This is also my favorite restaurant in the country (I can’t have two?) There is no chef who cares more for his food more than Hiro and this is one of the most revelatory meals to be had in America.
McCrady’s (Charleston) – [last review]
Chef Sean Brock made a reputation for himself with fancy modern techniques but it is his appreciation for ingredients that made this meal special. He is committed to growing his own vegetables and meat; and I think McCrady’s will become a destination restaurant for eaters worldwide. He has created a special place with an interesting mix of modern technique and Southern charm.
Keste Pizza & Vino (NYC) – A Keste pizza is akin to eating a sublime piece of sushi – the range of small details. The pizzas are somewhat inconsistent but when it is on – it’s among the best. The perfect amount of salt in the crust, the just-charred enough w/o being burned crust, & the nice flavor of the crust (so rare, where most taste like cardboard.) The calzone is also off-the-charts good.
Sawa (Sunnyvale, CA) – [last review]
My go-to sashimi restaurant that, in my opinion, has some of the best raw fish in America. It is expensive, exclusive, and controversial but the sashimi feast can not be rivaled in the US. Kuruma Zushi in NYC comes close though.
Honorable Mentions: The French Laundry (Yountville, CA), Providence (LA), Masa (NYC), Bouley (NYC), & Alinea
Europe
El Poblet (Denia, Spain) – [last review]
My dinner at El Poblet was that rare meal that truly impressed me with something new, daring, and delicious. He has gone beyond the Ferran Adria experiments and is playing with his own unique concept of cuisine. This restaurant should be a mandatory stop for anyone interested in food.
Pierre Gagnaire (Paris) – [last review]
He is a restless soul, and meals can suffer, but the risk is worth the reward. When the meal is on, there is nothing in the world like it – a strong experimental streak couched in “organic” techniques – the final word on French cuisine.
L’Arpege (Paris) – [last review]
The costs are extraordinary for what sometimes seem like ordinary dishes, but one of life’s greatest pleasures are vegetables in season at L’Arpege. Chef Alain Passard will re-define any notion of what vegetables should taste like.
Michel Bras (Laguiole, France) – [last review]
One has not eaten a salad until one has tried the infamous Gargouillo. 20+ different vegetables cooked separately – you can smell it from across the room as they deliver it to your table.
Mugaritz (San Sebastian, Spain) – [last review]
Spain is known for its tricks, and Chef Andoni Aduriz has plenty of them, but the imagination of his food stands beyond his contemporaries. His food is unique and personal.
noma (Copenhagen, Denmark) – [last review]
noma is at the forefront of a new movement, or loose confederation, of restaurants devoted to exploring nature and a food truly of the land and season. Anything that is edible might appear on the plate, and with a pristine uninhabited Nordic land mass as his backyard being combed by foragers, the surprises and revelations are in constant supply.
The Sportsman (Seasalter, UK) – [last review]
A man and his land – outside of Japan, there may not be a more obsessive chef around – where everything is sourced from the immediate land (and sea) and nearly everything is made in-house (like ham with harvested sea salt.) It’s that good.
Honorable Mentions: Ledoyen (Paris), Regis Marcon (FR), Rias de Galicia (Barcelona), & Can Roca (Girona, Spain)
Japan
Ryugin (Tokyo) – [Last Review]
A stunning meal. Chef Seiji Yamamoto made an international name for himself with daring Spanish techniques but he is now entering a more traditional phase. The ingredients in this kaiseki dinner were remarkable.
Sushiyo Masa (Tokyo) – [Last Review]
A red curtain, seven seats at a bar, three men, and their fish. Masa is a whitefish specialist and one will eat as many as 40 different varities during the meal. A stunning meal that is on an entirely different playing field than anything found in the US, including Masa (NYC) and Urasawa (LA).
Koju (Tokyo) – [last review]
A small restaurant in Ginza that serves a slightly modern kaiseki meal. This is about ingredients, nothing more, nothing less – minimalism and perfectionism at its more pure expression.
Sawada (Tokyo) – [ last review]
A 6-person counter with what might be the world’s best fish. Serious business.
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Pepsi Monster said,
December 11, 2008 @ 11:03 am
Hi Chuck,
I can see why you love Urasawa that much.After reading your posts about the place, it tempted me to splurge on it. What surprised me is that Providence only made to your “honorable mention” list (so is French Laundry). Too razor thin to not make the final cut?
Your list is a great read! Of course I can dream about it and live through you, but reading that Urasawa review with the picture of Turnip filled w/ Seafood Paste was just simply awesome.
Petter Schønberg said,
April 18, 2009 @ 2:52 pm
Hi Chuck
If you ever go to the Noto penninsula, look up the Sakamoto Ryokan.
Sakamotosan makes fresh tofu most mornings fro breakfast!
Cheers,
Petter
S Lloyd said,
December 20, 2009 @ 10:53 am
Awesome work, Chuck!
stephen said,
June 16, 2010 @ 4:51 am
Hi Chuck,
So does that mean that Keste was better that Bianco in Phoenix? Also, I am surprised that The Sportsman is not on this list, has it not held up as well in memory?
chuckeats said,
June 16, 2010 @ 11:04 am
Stephen (who i can verify is *not* the Sportsman Stephen
) – it was just a glaring omission. Fixed now. So good that I am staying in Seasalter overnight and eating back to back meals in a month or so.
stephen said,
June 17, 2010 @ 4:50 am
what about Keste v. Bianco?
chuckeats said,
June 18, 2010 @ 12:27 am
Keste vs Bianco – it’s close – i’d need to try Bianco once more to see where it falls. Keste is that good IMO.