There’s a distinctly political tone to GQ’s list of best new restaurants in the United States, with this year’s honorees either helmed by immigrants or children of immigrants.
The list represents the people, flavors and cultures of Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Spain, Palestine, Israel, China, Japan and Sweden, and reflects a conscious effort to spotlight the contributions of America’s immigrant restaurateurs.
The very qualities of pluralism that are under attack by the current administration are what make the American dining landscape more exciting than ever before, writes Brett Martin.
“That’s why this year’s Best New Restaurants is dedicated to celebrating places owned or helmed by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Being born elsewhere, or of parents who were, and choosing to build their lives in the United States—those were the sole criteria (besides, of course, opening in the past 18 months or so and being wonderful).”
With three addresses on the list, Los Angeles received the most nods.
Here are the best new restaurants in the U.S. for 2017, in alphabetical order, according to GQ:
Aska (Brooklyn)
Flowers of Vietnam (Detroit)
Han Oak (Portland, OR)
Kato (Los Angeles)
Kemuri Tatsu-ya (Austin)
Rooster Soup Co. (Philadelphia)
Salazar (Los Angeles)
Side Chick (Los Angeles)
Tarsan i Jane (Seattle)
Young Joni (Minneapolis)
JB
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