The goop List: 59 Exceptional Restaurants (Worth Traveling For)

The River Café

LONDON, ENGLAND

A London landmark since its opening in 1987 (and an even bigger one since its Michelin star was first announced ten years later), the River Café is at once fancy and low-key: You’ll get white tablecloths here, sure, but paper placemats, too. Go for roasted-peach bellinis, a pan-Italian wine list, and chef Ruth Rogers’s rustic Tuscan food—think hand-cut malfatti and Barolo-marinated veal shin. The dining room bumps right up against the kitchen; if you’re lucky, you’ll sit close enough to the iconic hot-pink oven to ogle at dinner as it comes out of the fire. In the summer, come for lunch and sit on the lush terrace.

(Side note: Chef Rogers hosts a great podcast, Ruthie’s Table 4, about food’s role in memory and culture.)

Shang Palace

PARIS, FRANCE

In the palatial Paris Shangri-La Hotel, Shang Palace reminds us of old-school Hong Kong private members clubs: warm and elegant, and full of antiques and gilded details. Chef Tony Xu’s menu is mostly straightforward and excellent Cantonese food. At lunch, go for a nearly-endless spread of sculptural, jewel-toned dumplings. The tender Shanghai chicken, bright red rice rolls, and taro puffs are highlights. At dinner, get anything that comes out of the wok, and definitely the chef’s signature Canton duck. Lest you forget this is Paris, behold: sweet-and-sour foie gras.

Pujol

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Pujol needs little introduction: It’s the epicenter of Mexico’s fine dining scene and home to chef Enrique Olvera’s mole madre, which has been aging for the last ten years and a signature of the tasting menu for just as long. Olvera focuses on native ingredients, like huitlacoche and ant roe, and his presentation always feels fresh. Nearly as famous as the mole is the nine-course taco omakase, which changes daily and always hits.

Found Oyster

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Physically, Found Oyster may be a tight East Hollywood boîte, but in spirit it’s entirely a New England–style seafood shack. Everyone’s there for the big platters of peel-and-eat prawns, togarashi-peppered crab cocktail, Sicilian crudo, and oysters shipped in from the general manager’s family farm on Cape Cod. Go for one of those, absolutely. If you still have room in front of you, get ponzu-dressed clams, an order of white anchovies, and Bub & Grandma’s bread. No reservations here, but let the friendly and chatty staff pour you a drink—mostly Californian, French, and Italian wines—while you hang out for seats at the bar.

Sushi Yamamoto

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Sushi Yamamoto, which opened last year in the old Urasawa space on Rodeo Drive, is one of the best omakase bars in LA’s (extremely impressive) sushi scene. Put your trust in rising-star chef Yusuke Yamamoto, who’s worked behind the counter at the Beverly Hills classic Matsuhisa and at Nobu Tokyo: He pulls in some of the world’s best seafood, like uni from Hokkaido, Oma tuna from Aomori, and Astrea caviar. Spring for the sommelier’s sake pairing.

Locust

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

We love what chef Trevor Moran is doing at Locust. That said, his Asian-inspired menu is short and changes frequently enough that we can’t give you a useful preview. With one notable exception, which has been on the menu so long they might be a Locust signature: the DIY beef tartare handrolls, which come with panel-cartoon instructions. Bring someone you’d like to impress, and get one of everything. (Note that reservations are necessary and require a deposit, and the restaurant can only accommodate groups of four or fewer.)

Frank and Laurie’s

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

Frank and Laurie’s is one of those excellent neighborhood spots that reminds us you don’t always have to chase down reservations or pony up a paycheck to have one of the best lunches of your life. Here, they serve simple, homey stuff—egg sandwiches, tomato salad, hashbrowns—all inspired by chef Eric Brown’s grandparents, who taught him the magic of a jammy egg.

Da Enzo al 29

ROME, ITALY

Da Enzo is proudly devoted to traditional Roman tastes. That is, there’s lots of pasta on the menu, the fried artichokes are perfect, and nothing is too dressed up, fusion-ified, or contrived. It’s just a great lunch or dinner in a blissfully casual trattoria—think stiff plaid placemats, mismatched barstools, and a self-service fridge full of wine and cola. The wait can get pretty long—get there at least half an hour before opening if you can swing it. People know it’s the best in Trastevere.

The Grill

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

This Major Food Group restaurant, which occupies the legendary Four Seasons space in the Seagram building, is glitzy and fun and full of people in fancy suits. Here, you can get a mathematically perfect prime rib (sliced tableside), martinis poured from an impossible height (not a splash), and a rich, thick pasta sauce made from poultry marrow (which comes streaming from an antique duck press Mario Carbone hunted down in New Orleans). It’s dinner and a show, and it’s spectacular.

You’ll have to plan in advance if you’d like, say, a Friday night dinner at 7. But if you have a good reason to ball out on the company card, a weekday lunch reservation is never hard to land.

A Casa do Porco

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

Janaína and Jefferson Rueda started A Casa do Porco with a mission to revive pork culture in Brazil. They raise the pigs. (Specifically Brazilian breeds you can’t find elsewhere, like Sorocaba, Plau, Canastra, Caruncho and Pereira.) They butcher in-house and use the entire animal. And they roast their signature San Ze pork on a grill that Jefferson designed himself. This might be the best pork you can get anywhere, and the Ruedas want everyone to be able to get it: It’s affordable at lunch and dinner, yes, but there’s also a takeout window serving roast pork sandwiches (as well as vegetarian and vegan options) for as little as 15 Brazilian real—less than three US dollars.

Sushi Meino

TOKYO, JAPAN

Chef Mei Kogo’s sushi mastery all comes down to her ingredient knowledge and point of view: She picks the most delicate-tasting fish from the best producers, washes and marinates it just so—even gets her wasabi from one very particular terroir. She’ll explain it all. Your job is to figure out how to get a spot at her six-seat sushi counter, which is members-only.

Contramar

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Contramar is always packed, because it’s a Roma Norte classic—and as much of a tourist must-try as it is a place for chic locals to see and be seen. Chef Gabriela Cámara is especially famous for her tuna tostada and pescado a la talla: whole snapper, cleaved down the middle and cooked over an open flame, and served with fresh corn tortillas, refried beans, and cheese from the Chiapas highlands. It’s a lunch thing. Make an afternoon reservation, stay for hours chatting over ceviche and mezcal drinks, finish off with fig tarts, and plan to siesta later.

Restaurant La Llotja

TARRAGONA, SPAIN

At La Llotja, just off the harbor of a small fishing village outside of Tarragona, chef Marc Miró creates brilliance with the day’s catch. On the tasting menu, which changes often, you might see sautéed baby squid with candied onions, tuna belly carpaccio with tomato confit, and marinated sardines in raspberry vinaigrette. There’s an à la carte menu, too, where you can count on clams with cava and red-shrimp risotto. Miró’s bluefin tuna is phenomenal. The wine list focuses on Catalonian viticulture; you’ll spot a lot of Priorat, Montsant, and Terra Alta wines. The terrace is particularly lovely—breezy and relaxed.

Falansai

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Falansai is the kind of place that does double duty as an effortlessly cool date spot and go-to takeout joint. Chef Eric Tran, who trained at Blue Hill at Stone Barns under Dan Barber, is wholly himself here. It’s Vietnamese-Mexican fusion, reflecting his own heritage. And every bit of it is excellent: Tran turns out his father’s fried rice and egg rolls, honey-glazed pork shoulder, Prince Edward Island mussels swimming in soupy red curry, and sticky, tender duck neck. The five-spice lamb neck, which comes with tortillas and salsas, is massive and made to share; get it when you’re here with a few friends.

Kasama

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Co-chefs (and married couple) Tim Flores and Genie Kwon worked together at two-Michelin-star Oriole, and with Kasama, they meant to open the kind of neighborhood bakery people would drop into for a croissant and a coffee. And Kasama is that, yes. At brunch, they serve relatively inexpensive breakfast sandwiches, adobo, and baked goods. (While you wait in line, you’ll notice everyone’s talking about their signature Basque cake, which has ube and huckleberry filling.) But at night, Kasama serves a 13-course tasting menu rooted in Filipino flavors. It is in no sense traditional; you can expect multi-cultural twists on lumpia, pancit, kinilaw, bistek, nilaga, and halo-halo. Kasama has now won a James Beard Award, as well as a Michelin star of its own.

Washing Potato

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Some of the best dim sum in the U.S. can be found in low-frills dining rooms with rolling carts and checklist menus. And some of it can be found at Alan Yau’s Washing Potato in full Las Vegas glitz. Expect chrome hardware, white leather, red light, and glossy everything. And: classic dim sum baskets carrying scallop shu mai, translucent chiu chow dumplings, and perfect pork buns. (And so many more Hong Kong classics, from crispy pork to choy sum in really good oyster sauce.) It’s in the new Fontainebleau hotel, along with Evan Funke’s Mother Wolf and a Contramar cantina from Gabriela Cámara, coming soon.

Spoon & Stable

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

Gavin Kaysen had a long run as chef de cuisine at NYC’s Café Boulud before moving home to open Spoon & Stable in a hundred-year-old horse stable. Ten years later—the anniversary’s this month—it’s widely known as the best restaurant in Minneapolis. Expect a super-friendly staff (this is the Midwest—what did you expect?) and the kind of upscale comfort food you’d want to eat when the city is under four feet of snow. Like: brown-butter ravioli made with heritage grain, creamed spinach with fried cheese curds, and pot roast based on Kaysen’s grandmother’s recipe. The place is dimly-lit, deeply cozy, and a little bit sexy—great for date night.

Penny and Claud

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

Okay, this one’s really two restaurants, run by the same owners at the same address. Upstairs, Penny is a raw bar that takes “bar” literally; it’s all bar and counter seating, with most spots reserved for walk-ins. They serve great oysters and crudo, garlicky periwinkles, caviar service, and house-made sesame brioche, with good wine to wash everything down. Downstairs, on the subterranean level, Claud serves excellent French-inflected food like cod croquettes, béarnaise beets, and paté-packed pasta. Get whatever seasonal-produce mille-feuille is on the menu; you’ll dream about the puff pastry for the rest of forever.

Laser Wolf

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

At Laser Wolf, gigantic trays come crowded with Levantine salads and sauces, from Yemenite pickles to ajvar and p’kaila. Which could easily stand on their own, for the record. But in this case, they’re a prelude and accompaniment to grilled skewers of meat (or vegetables, if you prefer) roasted over a charcoal grill. The spritzy cocktails are perfection—there’s one with za’atar-turmeric vodka, and another with lemon, saffron, and bourbon—as is the brown sugar soft-serve.

Sag Harbor Tavern

SAG HARBOR, NEW YORK

If you’ve been to Sag Harbor Tavern’s Brooklyn sister restaurants, Hometown Bar-B-Que and Red Hook Tavern, you know owner and chef Billy Durney does magic with a cheeseburger, a thick slab of bacon, and ridge-cut French fries. Come here for lunch or dinner, and you’ll see plenty of those burgers walking by—along with fragrant plates of mussels, rock shrimp pasta, branzino, strip steak, and brick chicken.

Che Fico

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

If anyone’s mastered the art of malty, bubbly sourdough pizza, it’s David Nayfeld, who’s a household name in San Francisco for the magic he makes at Che Fico. The pizza deserves its stellar reputation, and you’d be right to start there. (If you’re open to fruit on pizza, the pineapple is sliced so thin it almost disappears. It’s so good.) From there, load your table with handmade tagliatelle in glossy ragu, tender lamb loin, and fried, breaded balls of risotto.

You can snatch primetime dinner reservations for two with a week’s notice. Or let us make the case for Saturday or Sunday brunch: San Marzano Bloody Marys, Sightglass coffee, and the same famously good pizza, but with a fried egg on it. Then scoot around the corner to Alamo Square Park, where you can pass an afternoon lying out in front of its famous Painted Ladies.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns

TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK

Ever since it opened on the Rockefeller estate in 2004, Blue Hill at Stone Barns has represented chef Dan Barber’s vision not just for fine dining, but for a better-tasting, more-resilient food system. You pass a flock of chickens on the way in. The stone barns that house the restaurant once housed the cows. Almost everything that hits your plate is grown right here and was probably harvested today, from the breakfast radishes (best of your life) to the beef, which comes from the farm’s retired dairy cows. (What’s impossible to raise here—fish, mostly, and the grain for the bread—is carefully sourced for both quality and lower environmental impact.) It inspires the idea, if you weren’t already thinking about it, that every meal—even a supremely special one like dinner here—is part of a much bigger picture. Couple that with crisp white linens, crystal, and friendly and attentive service, and this is an experience to go way out of your way for.

The Grey

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

The Grey occupies an old 1930s Greyhound bus station, and it’s totally cool. Owners John Morisano and chef Mashama Bailey restored the place a few years back, merging the originally segregated waiting spaces into a grand, art-deco dining room. It’s one of the best vibes in Savannah’s very good dining scene. And the Southern food (with global twists) is excellent. Bailey trained in New York and France, and her influences show at dinner’s super-seasonal menus and mostly-European wines list. Come Sunday mornings for Southern brunch classics: fried chicken and hoe cakes, biscuits and gravy with poached eggs, crab beignets and mascarpone, and duck pastrami.