How Our Editors Pick the Best New Restaurants

Earning a spot on the list can come down to thoughtful and seamless hospitality, such as a shawl offered in a cold dining room or the box of chic reading glasses brought to me by a server who noticed I was doing a backbend trying to decipher a weeny menu typeface at a recent dinner in Stockholm. To be among my best of the best, a restaurant must serve dishes and drinks that are complete in terms of flavor and technique, from the premeal cocktails to dessert—like an album with no skips.

For instance, I could spend hours waxing poetically about the mussel tart, the glorious ceviche, moles, and kampachi taco, plus the spectacular flight of chapulines and hormigas at a restaurant I visited in Mexico City on a recent trip. It was a view of Mexican history and culture that outshined all my museum visits.

At new restaurants I’m looking for a broken boundary or a challenged convention. I still think about my 2021 visit to Belgium, where one kitchen was bold enough to serve a whole heirloom tomato as the main course.

Even an old restaurant can become new. I revisited one such classic this year, where a revamped menu included a miniature shrimp po’boy, a signature salmon-and-caviar cheesecake, and a lip-smacking gumbo that had me dancing in my chair.

Of course, all is subjective when deliciousness is a given. Lists are but a snapshot of an editor’s year in dining to help guide readers to their next meal. The major questions are: Do I want to revisit?

And how many friends can I bring along?