Equire magazine has named America's best new restaurants of the year, and coming in at the top—as Restaurant of The Year—is none other than New Orleans' own Shaya.
As Eater National notes, Esquire's list was mostly compiled by former restaurant editor to the magazine Josh Ozersky prior to his untimely death, with a team of fellow writers completing the task. Read the full piece on Shaya here, or just indulge in this breakdown of why the Israeli stunner in Uptown rules:
The restaurant of the year, Shaya, serves Israeli cuisine—in, of all places, New Orleans. And if you doubt that pita and tabbouleh could merit such an accolade, consider that their elevation comes at the hand of a chef, Alon Shaya, who has cooked for NoLa revolutionary John Besh since his first of (now) twelve restaurants began transforming that former time-capsule culture of Commander's Palace and Brennan's. And if that's not enough, imagine sinking your teeth into a pomegranate-lacquered lamb shank, blackened and glistening from hours at the roast.