🤖 AI Summary
Overview
This episode dives into the making of The New York Times' list of the 50 best restaurants in America, exploring the meticulous process behind scouting, evaluating, and selecting these dining spots. Priya Krishna and Brett Anderson share their experiences, insights into dining trends, and what makes a restaurant truly exceptional.
Notable Quotes
- A food you don't love is just a language you haven't learned yet.
– Priya Krishna, on embracing unfamiliar dishes.
- You can start the experience of hospitality on the phone.
– Brett Anderson, on the importance of personal connection in restaurants.
- The best meals are the ones that make you want to create additional space in your stomach.
– Priya Krishna, on the power of extraordinary dining experiences.
🍽️ Crafting the 50 Best Restaurants List
- The list aims to capture the essence of dining in America, blending excitement, quality, and cultural significance.
- Priya Krishna and Brett Anderson describe their scouting process, which involves spreadsheets, local food writers, and eating multiple meals daily to maximize discovery.
- Toe touches
(quick visits to assess potential) often lead to reshuffling itineraries based on first impressions.
- Evaluations consider whether a restaurant succeeds on its own terms, factoring in regional context and cultural relevance.
📈 Dining Trends and Innovations
- Priya Krishna highlights the resurgence of the All Day Café,
versatile spaces offering different experiences throughout the day, like Chop and Block in Houston.
- Brett Anderson discusses the reinvention of legacy restaurants, such as Emeril's in New Orleans, where a new generation is modernizing iconic spaces.
- Both note the rise of scrappy, DIY restaurants thriving despite economic challenges, often delivering some of the most memorable meals.
💡 What Makes a Restaurant Stand Out
- Beyond food, atmosphere plays a critical role. This includes design, staff demeanor, and the overall vibe, whether it’s a fine dining space or a roadside taqueria.
- Authenticity and originality are key. Priya Krishna criticizes the Epcot-ification
of restaurants that mimic cultural aesthetics without genuine depth.
- Both emphasize the importance of understanding a restaurant’s local significance and how it fits into its community.
🚫 Dining Pet Peeves
- Brett Anderson laments the disappearance of phone numbers at restaurants, which complicates accessibility and diminishes the personal touch.
- Priya Krishna calls out the trend of derivative, formulaic restaurants that prioritize Instagrammable aesthetics over originality and substance.
🌟 Memorable Meals and Stories
- Priya Krishna recounts a decade-long anticipation for a chef’s Hainanese chicken rice, which exceeded her expectations when revisited.
- Brett Anderson shares a heartfelt experience at KC Turkey Leg Man in Kansas City, where hospitality extended beyond the restaurant to the surrounding community.
AI-generated content may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon as a sole source of truth.
📋 Episode Description
This month, The Times released a list of the 50 best restaurants in America. The Food desk’s reporters, critics and editors crisscrossed the country from Portland, Ore., to Deer Isle, Maine, to scout places formal and casual, big and small, experimental and classic. Their survey is an evocation of what it’s like to dine out, right now, in America.
On today’s episode, Gilbert sits down with the Food reporters Priya Krishna and Brett Anderson, two contributors to the list, for a veritable feast of dining wisdom. They discuss what makes a restaurant worthy of the 50 best list, how they go about finding those restaurants, and the dining trends they’re loving and hating in 2025.
On Today’s Episode:
Priya Krishna, reporter and video host for New York Times Food and Cooking
Brett Anderson, reporter for New York Times Food and Cooking
Background Reading:
America’s Best Restaurants 2025
Photo: Chase Castor for The New York Times
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