New American restaurants in USA
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Lula Café
Funky, arty Lula led the way for Logan Square’s dining scene, and appreciative neighborhoodies still crowd in for the seasonal, locally sourced menu. Even the muffins here are something to drool over, and that goes double for lunch items like pasta yiayia (bucatini pasta with Moroccan cinnamon, feta and garlic) and dinners such as striped bass with pine-nut-peppered orzo. Mondays offer a prix fixe three-course Farm Dinner.
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Schwa
Exceedingly popular – reservations for chef Michael Carlson’s masterful restaurant should be booked around the same time as your airline ticket. The fact that Carlson worked at Alinea is apparent in an avant-garde, three- or nine-course menu (go for the nine) that redefines American comfort food via such dishes as apple-pie soup. The setup is progressive, too, with chefs also acting as servers. The intimate room is bookended by black wood floors and has a mirrored ceiling.
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Avec
Feeling social? This casual cousin to neighboring Publican gives diners a chance to rub elbows at eight-person communal tables. Dishes are meant for sharing (though you only have to share with people you know), and the food from Chef Koren Grieveson is exceptional. Sweet and savory, the bacon-wrapped dates are the must on the menu.
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Charlie Trotter’s
It’s no overstatement: Charlie Trotter is king of Chicago cooking and rightful father of the nouvelle standards. A notorious perfectionist, Trotter has never served the same menu twice. He plates two set multicourse versions nightly – one vegetarian, one meaty. Reservations and jackets for men are required.
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MK
Chef Michael Kornick (who was nominated for a James Beard award in 2005) wows the mostly business crowds with artfully presented dishes like ahi tuna, roast rack of lamb and sautéed veal sweetbreads. The desserts are equally scrumptious.
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Alinea
Superstar chef Grant Achatz is the guy behind Alinea's 'molecular gastronomy.' If you secure a coveted reservation, prepare for roughly 12 to 24 courses of mind-bending, space-age cuisine. Dishes may emanate from a centrifuge or be pressed into a capsule. Restaurant Magazine has named it North America's number- one restaurant; reserve as far ahead as possible.
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Table 8
You know what? Forget that Table 8 has Oprah cachet. Forget that celebrity chef Govind Armstrong is a celebrity chef. If all that wasn’t so, Table 8 would still be one of the best high-end restaurants on South Beach, partly because it never feels too high end. That is to say, it delivers comforting innovation – duck breast with green beans and frisée (endive), mahimahi blue-crab chowder and kobe beef burgers – in an understated, accessible fashion. In a way, Table 8 is the opposite of the mystique that has grown around it. This isn’t a spot for silly airs: it offers excellent food that anyone can appreciate. The lunch menu is fantastic value. Also the bar here offers…
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Bonsoiree
It started as an underground supper club for foodies, and Saturdays are still an invitation-only event (go to the website to get on the mailing list). Otherwise, dinner at Bonsoiree is a leisurely multicourse affair where the chefs whip up a set of inspired comfort foods (often with a Japanese bent) using seasonal ingredients. It’s unusually casual for such fine dining, right up to being BYOB (though if you ask in advance they’ll pair wine for you from a nearby shop). No Menu Sundays cost less, and are made from whatever the chefs pick up at the Logan Square farmers’ market that day.
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Farmerbrown
This rebel from the wrong side of the block dishes up mean seasonal watermelon margaritas with a cayenne salt rim (genius), ribs that stick to yours, and coleslaw with a kick that'll leave your lips buzzing. Chef-owner Jay Foster works with local organic and African-American farmers to provide food with actual soul, in a setting that's rusted and cleverly repurposed as a shotgun shack. Harried service – it's always busy – and afro-funk beats match the uptempo crowd.
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Nightwood
Staff members handwrite the menu each day based on what local farmers have provided to the chefs: maybe chicken with grits and red kale, or thick-cut hand-made pasta with Hungarian wax peppers. It has the same owners as Lula Cafe in Logan Square – so there’s a hint of a hipper-than-thou vibe – but they’ve intensified their commitment to sustainably produced foods here at Nightwood. The warm, wood-toned room sports an open kitchen, and there’s a big patio for al fresco dining.
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Kendall College Dining Room
The School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College has turned out a host of local cooking luminaries, and this classy space with river and skyline views is where they honed their chops. Students prepare and serve inventive contemporary American dishes, with forays into French and international fusion styles, all of which come with white-glove service at fantastic value. Call ahead for reservations (and note the hours can vary depending on the school term schedule).
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Elate
Located in the LEED-certified Hotel Felix, Elate sticks to the ecofriendly premise by using mostly local and organic ingredients for its fish and oyster dishes, flatbread pizzas and artisan cured meats. The decor incorporates reclaimed wood and concrete for a mod, rustic look, and natural light pours in the floor-to-ceiling windows. Add the crème brûlée pancakes to the mix, and the significance of the restaurant’s name becomes apparent.
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Graham Elliot
Each meal starts with insanely addictive truffle-oil-and-Parmesan popcorn. Chef Graham Elliot, one of Chicago’s young-buck gastro luminaries, then takes whimsy to new levels in such dishes as his foie gras lollypop coated in Pop Rocks and sweetbread hush puppies with anise slaw. Adventurous eaters who appreciate trendy food in an industrial, rock-and-roll atmosphere will like it most. Keep an eye out for his forthcoming sandwich shop.
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Spring
The seafood mains at this award-winning place come to your plate by way of Asia, with Chef Shawn McClain lovingly dressing up dishes of lobster, grouper, halibut and scallops in mouthwatering soy glazes, hot and sour broth, and fresh wasabi. The restaurant – which was a bathhouse in a former life – looks a little like an Ikea showroom: simple, modern lines and muted greens set the tone.
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Blackbird
One of the most talked-about restaurants in Chicago, this chic dining destination for Chicago’s young and wealthy perches atop best-of lists for its exciting, notably seasonal menu. The warm-ups – like the confit of suckling pig with concord grape, roasted chioggia beets, and house-made prosciutto – are a perfect introduction to the visionary mains, which pair well with the short, careful wine list.
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Simon Pearce
Not only is Simon Pearce an unbeatable choice for an upscale meal but lunch is surprisingly affordable. Start by watching the artisans hand-blowing glass and throwing pottery in the basement workshops, then go upstairs and enjoy creative New American fare served on their handiwork. Very cool place – it even generates its own electricity from the waterfall the restaurant overlooks.
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West Town Tavern
The owners hoped to create a neighborhood restaurant that evoked Chicago of the ’40s, and the exposed brick walls and tin ceiling in the handsome dining area do just that. The atmosphere – casual, ebullient and unpretentious – mirrors the contemporary comfort foods, and forking into the pot roast, pasta with turkey meatballs and slabs of lemon chess pie makes for a happy day.
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Boka
A hip restaurant-lounge hybrid with a seafood-leaning menu, Boka has become the pre- and post-theater stomping ground du jour for younger Steppenwolf patrons. Order a cocktail at the bar or slip into one of the booths for small-plate dishes like mango-laced tabbouleh salad or veal sweetbreads with Moroccan barbecue sauce.
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HB
The monogram stands for ‘Home Bistro,’ where chef-owner Joncarl Lachman serves careful comfort food in a warm wood-and-tile-lined space. Shout-outs go to the exquisite pork chops and the pan-roasted trout. Try to snag a seat by the front window, which entertains with Boystown people-watching. HB is BYOB.
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Jack’s on Halsted
The menu hops around the world, juxtaposing American steak and Cajun fare with capable Italian, French and Asian dishes. You can wash down every course with the many fine American wines. Be sure to save room for dessert. Sunday brunch is worthy of special occasions.
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Perilla
Belonging to one of the winners of popular reality-TV show Top Chef, Perilla is an extremely creative yet well-grounded American bistro. The spicy duck meatballs and roasted main sardines are both good ways to start off a meal.
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