Modern American restaurants in USA
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Black Bottle
This trendy minimalist bar-restaurant showcases the new Belltown of smart condo dwellers and avid wine quaffers. The food is mainly appetizers, but with menu items such as grilled lamb and sumac hummus, and braised artichoke heart and greens, even the nostalgic grunge groupies of yore will find it hard to resist.
reviewed
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Bistro Henry
This casual, chef-owned bistro serves creative modern cuisine highlighting fresh seafood, aged meats and fresh vegetables. Its acclaimed wine selection features eclectic and hard-to-find labels.
reviewed
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Aureole
Chef Charlie Palmer’s seasonally inspired tasting menus (from $95), which show off dishes like saffron seafood chowder and maple-nut baklava, are not always artfully executed. But it’s worth ordering wine just to watch catsuit-clad ‘wine angels’ ascend the four-story tower. Extensive wine list, upscale dress. Reservations essential.
reviewed
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La Plazuela
Make reservations to dine on pork medallions in prickly pear-Tecate barbecue sauce, chipotle-glazed filet mignon and other gourmet goodies at this lovely spot in the painted-glass heart of La Fonda hotel, where local artist Ernest Martinez has graced more than 400 windows with his paintings over the last 50 years.
reviewed
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Tila's Restaurante & Bar
Tila's stands out from similar Houston establishments by combining Central-Mexican recipes with interesting ingredients, resulting in unusual dishes like brie and pear quesadillas. The dining rooms have a rustic, faux-painted flair and there's a patio just perfect for that pre-dinner margarita.
reviewed
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Stella Blues
You'll find a good meal here any time of the day. The jalapeño-laden Mexican omelet will jump-start your morning, or go Hawaiian with banana macnut pancakes. Lunch is built around specialty salads and sandwiches, while dinner leans into a seafood and steak menu.
reviewed
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Seasons Rotisserie & Grill
With bright-yellow walls, high ceilings, fresh flowers and a creative menu, this contemporary place provides welcome relief from the usual Old Town atmosphere. Try the house-made raviolis or fresh grilled fishes and meats.
reviewed
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Daily Planet
Popular with locals for its vegetarian fare and relaxed, inviting atmosphere, Daily Planet offers a changing menu of creative dishes like potato-crusted salmon with Moroccan vegetable sauté, or Thai shrimp salad.
reviewed
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Mimosa Grill
What says 'New South' like filet mignon topped with pimento cheese? This stylish-yet-relaxed Downtown eatery is equally classy for impressing a date or making a business deal.
reviewed
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Farm on Adderley
Found a few long blocks south of Prospect Park, the long-neglected Ditmas Park – with Leave It to Beaver– style blocks of shady, two-story homes – has become a surprising food destination, particularly along Cortelyou Rd, where you can find great mom-and-pop tacos and anarchist coffee. Nothing put Ditmas Park on the map like the Farm on Adderley. It’s sceney in a good way, a tin-ceiling transformation of an old laundromat and a back patio. It can get a bit cramped inside, but nowhere serves better food for less: as chef Tom Kearney puts it, the goal is ‘to keep prices gentle.’ Dishes take some imaginative twists: lots of fish dishes ($17 to $20), poached chicken…
reviewed
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Citronelle
Celebrated chef Michel Richard started this Georgetown dining destination, earning high marks for tender rack of lamb brushed with jalapeno-cumin sauce, wild salmon in lobster-saffron broth and other culinary gems. If you prefer not to shell out for the 10-course prix-fixe menu, you can dine à la carte in the more casual lounge.
reviewed
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NOLA
It might seem easy to deride Emeril Lagasse, still the most famous celebrity chef in America. The cynic in you wants to think he’s overrated. But come visit NOLA, his French Quarter outpost, and your palette will say, ‘Hey, this is damn good.’ Of course, Emeril’s not in the kitchen ‘Bam!’-ing your food up, but whoever is does a great job with blackberry stout glazed ribs, buttermilk cornbread pudding and other sexed-up contemporary executions. This is one of the few top-end New Orleans restaurants that successfully whips some California-style fusion hip into Louisiana classics, but the top draw may be the waiters, who are enthusiastic and friendly as hell.
reviewed
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Wolfe’s
Formerly Peristyle’s, Wolfe’s is now named for its chef, Tom Wolfe, an alumnus of Emeril’s kitchens and popular stalwart of the New Orleans eating scene. The space is wonderful, all warm lighting and cozy accents, and has served as a restaurant space in one form or another for over 130 years. The food’s great, too; the lamb T-bones with lavender demi-glace are gorgeous, and while the menu isn’t as adventurous as we might have hoped, this is a dependable place for a sumptuous meal. If you want to push the limit of the kitchen’s skill, we recommend opting for the tasting menu (from $35 for three courses).
reviewed
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Root Down
In a converted gas station, chef Justin Cucci has undertaken one of the city's most ambitious culinary concepts, marrying sustainable 'field-to-fork' practices, high-concept culinary fusions and a low-impact, energy efficient ethos. The menu changes seasonally, but consider yourself lucky if it includes the sweet potato falafel or hoisin duck confit sliders.
Unlike the troupe of restaurants jumping on the sustainable bandwagon, Root Down is largely wind powered, decorated with reused and reclaimed materials, and recycles everything. It's conceptually brilliant and one of Denver's most thrilling dining experiences.
reviewed
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Hearthstone
One of Breck's favorites is set in a restored 1886 Victorian. This beautiful kitchen churns out special dishes such as house-smoked trout, Colorado green beans wrapped in lamb bacon (we didn't even know that existed), baked Brie, and prosciutto wrapped scallops, and those are just the starters. Entrees include ginger scallops, blackberry-glazed, granola-crusted elk steak, and cedar plank salmon.
The three-course tasting menu is a reasonable $25. Dine in the oh-so-burgundy dining room or on the three tiered patios out front if the weather cooperates. Reservations recommended.
reviewed
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Palena
Tucked away in Cleveland Park, northwest on the Red Line, Palena is one of DC's food-loving heavyweights. Red snapper with ramps (wild leeks) and oyster mushrooms, artichoke risotto and celery root soup with shrimp and almonds are recent favorites. Reserve ahead or eat in the more casual cafe (mains $14 to $26).
reviewed
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Gautreau’s
Chef Sue Zemanick has seemingly won every award a rising star can garner in American culinary circles (‘Top 10 Best New Chef’ in Food & Wine magazine and ‘Chef of the Year’ in New Orleans magazine, among others). Gautreau’s, her HQ, is unsigned and tucked away in a residential neighborhood. Inside, savvy diners dine on fresh, modern American fare – gnocchi with truffled parmesan cheese and grouper in a salsa verde, for example – content they’re enjoying a treasure of the local culinary landscape as yet undiscovered by tourists.
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Company American Bistro
The Pure nightclub group’s foray into fashion-plate dining is backed by none other than Nicky Hilton, and its ski-chalet design and fireside lounge successfully evade the Luxor’s kitsch factor. Fawning service relentlessly pushes the half-bottle wine pairing concept for each course, but stick to your guns and order more modestly. Chef Adam Sobel’s meaty mains, such as soul-food buttermilk fried chicken with waffles or pork schnitzel with fried egg and brown-butter sauce, are worth the wait. Appetizers are laughably tiny.
reviewed
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Granville Moore's
One of the anchors of the bohemian Atlas District (which runs along H St NE), Granville Moore's bills itself as a gastropub with a Belgian fetish. Indeed you'll find more than 70 Belgian beers by the bottle and at least seven on tap. There's also good pub fare (and recommended mussels), a lively happy hour, and fun crowds most nights.
reviewed
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Bayona
Bayona is a great splurge in the Quarter. It's rich but not overwhelming, classy but unpretentious, innovative without being precocious. Expect fish, fowl and game on the daily-changing menu divided between long-time classics and daily specials (about four of each), all done up in a way that makes you raise an eyebrow, then smile like you've discovered comfort food gone classy.
reviewed
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Al Forno
Our most recent visit featured scallops with blackened bacon so perfect that they were celestial – without doubt a constellation out there bears a resemblance. Also enjoy boar loin with cranberry potatoes and green beans, fare from local farms, and incredible desserts (limoncello cake with candied citrus peel). Budget-minded folks can order wood-fired pizzas ($20) big enough for two to split. While people tend to dress up a bit, the room and garden terrace are somewhat casual. Make a reservation.
reviewed
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Nosh
Everyone's favorite downtown dining room. There's color and art everywhere you look. It's in the entry way with those giant red paper clips, across the street in the nearby sculpture garden, on the wide patio with dangling lights and firepits, on the tables and walls, and especially in the kitchen where they create stunning and tasty small plates.
Think: bison dumplings, lentil dumplings, scallop crudo, chili-glazed burgers and all manner of roasted veggies. The best downtown eats by far.
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Topper’s
In a gorgeous setting at the Wauwinet inn, Topper’s consistently vies for ‘best island dining.’ Whether in the beachside garden or indoors, you’ll enjoy skillful New American cuisine such as Nantucket lobster crepes with portabella mushrooms, gracious service and a stunning wine list. Lunch is casual but dinner’s a formal affair – inquire about dress codes. If you’re coming from town, the inn provides a complimentary boat ride from Straight Wharf.
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Burdick Chocolate
Walpole, northwest of Keene along NH 12, is a New Hampshire gem. Locals descend from surrounding villages to dine at Burdick Chocolate. Originally a New York City chocolatier, Burdick moved the operation to this tiny New Hampshire village and opened a sophisticated café to showcase its desserts. Besides rich chocolaty indulgences, the lively bistro has a full menu of creative new American dishes, plus artisanal cheeses and top-notch wines.
reviewed
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Union League Café
Here’s an upscale French bistro in the historic Union League building. Expect a menu featuring continental classics like cocotte de joues de veau (organic veal cheeks with sautéed wild mushrooms, $25) along with those of nouvelle cuisine. If your budget won’t stretch to dinner, slip in for a sinful dessert like crêpe soufflé au citron (lemon crepes) washed down with a glass from the exquisite wine list. Date place par excellence.
reviewed