From Miami to Manhattan, the 14 Most Anticipated Restaurants in America
In other words, there will be a lot of eating to be done in 2023, from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to Washington, with highlights featuring the return of a sushi master and a dining room from a Noma co-founder. Read on to see where you should be booking tables in the future.
LOS ANGELES
Funke
Evan Funke, owner of popular LA spots Felix and Mother Wolf, is teaming up with real estate agent Kurt Rappaport to open Funke’s third Italian concept, this one devoted to regional fare and his cult-beloved pastas. The trilevel restaurant on LA’s South Santa Monica Boulevard will boast 180 seats and a rooftop bar.
Later this year, Funke will open Tre Dita in Chicago. His first project outside LA comes in partnership with local hospitality behemoth, Lettuce Entertain You. Located on the second floor of the St. Regis Chicago, the Tuscan steakhouse will feature open hearth, wood-fueled Italian-leaning cooking and of course, pasta.
Projected Funke Opening: March; projected Tre Dita Opening: Autumn
Somni
Aitor Zabala has already earned two Michelin stars for Somni, the progressive Catalan-California tasting menu that was located in the acclaimed imaginative tapas boîte, the Bazaar by José Andrés. The latter shuttered in 2020. Zabala is relocating the restaurant to a 2,000-square-foot Beverly Hills space as a solo project. Although he now has nearly twice as much room, he’ll cook for only 14 guests a night. The chef promises unexpected preparations such as the Pollo L’ast: chicken skin cut in the shape of a roast chicken and stuffed with chicken liver mousse.
Projected Opening: August
MIAMI
Pastis
Star restaurateurs Stephen Starr and Keith McNally are opening the second outpost of New York’s iconic French brasserie Pastis in Miami’s Wynwood District at NW 26th Street. The massive, 8,000-square-foot restaurant, plus a sprawling outdoor patio, has been designed by McNally and Paisely Design’s Ian McPheely, who also created the Manhattan location. The restaurant will serve the French classics it’s known for, including escargots swimming in garlic butter, croque madame or monsieur, and hanger steak frites.
Projected Opening: February
NASHVILLE
Kisser
Strategic Hospitality, the concept creators behind the Catbird Seat and Locust, are partnering with chef Brian Lea and his partner Leina Horii on Kisser, a brick-and-mortar manifestation of their popular pandemic pop-up of the same name. Slated to launch within the new East Nashville development, Highland Yards, fans can look forward to such casual Japanese fare as milk bread sandos, curry rice and onigiri (rice balls).
Projected Opening: February
Iggy’s
For three years, Ryan Poli served as executive chef of Nashville’s most acclaimed fine dining spot, the Catbird Seat. After taking time off to cook at the acclaimed Potato Head Beach Club in Bali, the chef is back in Music City to open his first solo project. Iggy’s is a casual, 60-seat pasta-centered restaurant in Nashville’s up-and-coming Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood. There will be counter seating and tables, with a grab-and-go market in the front stocked with such staples as fresh pastas and sauces. Poli’s brother Matthew, former Catbird Seat beverage director, will oversee the eatery’s classic cocktail -and amaro-based beverage program.
Projected Opening: May
NEW YORK
Moono
Hand Hospitality—responsible for myriad Korean concepts around the city, including Atomix, currently ranked No. 33-ranked on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants—is behind Moono, the second Korean concept from chef Hoyoung Kim. Unlike Kim’s Michelin-starred Jua, Moono will offer an à la carte menu with more casual dishes priced from $20 to $30 and leaning into traditional Korean cooking, with selections of jeon (Korean pancakes) and twigim (Korean fritters).
Projected Opening: February
Mischa
Taco titan Alex Stupak is taking over Midtown. A few steps from his popular Mexican dining room Empellón, the chef is launching a 150-seat restaurant in the Citicorp Building on 53rd Street. To honor Midtown standards, he plans to serve salads, steaks and sandwiches, though in nontraditional formats. His hot dog will manifest as dry-aged beef brisket in a natural casing, warmed in dry-aged beef fat and served on a house-made potato roll. His single burger option is built from hen of the woods and shiitake mushrooms and served with five-inch-long tater tots.
Projected Opening: February/March
Sushi Ichimura
Iconic New York sushi chef Eiji Ichimura—formerly of Brushstroke, then Uchu, where he earned the place two Michelin stars —is making his return to counter service with a namesake eatery in partnership with L’Abeille chef Mitsunobu Nagae and his business partner Rahul Saito. (In fact, the 10-seat counter will be next door to L’Abeille in Tribeca.) Slated to debut in the spring, expect a haute omakase experience priced around $450 and showcasing fish imported from Japan, using various seafood-aging techniques for which the chef is known.
Projected Opening: Spring
Ilis
After years of planning, Noma co-founder Mad Refslund is gearing up to debut his long-awaited Greenpoint restaurant in Brooklyn, N.Y. In partnership with Alinea alum Will Douillet, the restaurant’s 50 seats are oriented toward views of the central, open kitchen. Diners can look forward to a menu that features hyper seasonal dishes focused on vegetables.
Projected Opening: Spring
LOUISVILLE, KY.
Nami
For his first new opening in five years, noted chef Edward Lee will pay homage to his heritage with this Korean steakhouse. He’s tapped Breanna Baker, from his flagship 610 Magnolia, to run the kitchen, along with local chef Yeon-Hee Chung. Besides lots of grilled meat, the menu will highlight such favorites as the rice dish bibimbap and mandu (dumplings). The top floor of the two-level Nami will feature Korean grill tables and a private karaoke room. Next door, the team will operate the Neighbors Noodles shop, offering dishes such as Spicy Korean Ramen for takeout.
Projected Opening: March/April
ST. LOUIS
Sado
Chef Nick Bognar has received accolades for INDO and Nippon Tei; his fourth restaurant, Sado is highly anticipated. On Shaw Avenue in the Hill neighborhood, the 120-seat Japanese restaurant will focus on such fish preparations, raw and cooked, as black tea-cured kanpachi and binchōtan-grilled kinmedai with green curry. In the dining room, Bognar will offer an à la carte menu; part of the space will be devoted to a six- to eight-seat omakase counter.
Projected Opening: January
WASHINGTON
La’ Shukran
Michael Rafidi, the chef behind the the perpetually packed, Michelin-starred Middle Eastern restaurant Albi—lauded for its piping-hot, puffy pitas and wood-fired plates—is working on his third restaurant. The name translates as “No, thank you” in Arabic, and the space will be a hybrid 80-seat Levantine restaurant, cocktail bar and DJ-fueled late-night hangout. Located in Washington’s Union Market neighborhood, the space will have a rooftop bar and dining room right above the forthcoming third location of Rafidi’s café and bakery, Yellow. At La’ Shukran, expect a mix of French and Arabic influences via such dishes as shawarma frites.
Projected Opening: Summer
HOUSTON
The Marigold Club
Later this year, restaurant developer Goodnight Hospitality (the team behind March and Rosie Cannonball) will bring this long-awaited revamp of the group’s honky-tonk bar, Goodnight Charlie’s, to the Montrose neighborhood. The live music will continue via a baby grand piano, and chef Austin Waiter will lead the modern continental menu with such dishes as a Kaluga caviar sandwich and duck confit Wellington; June Rodil will ensure drinks are expertly poured. Expect an art deco-designed, 69-seat dining room with Murano glass chandeliers.
Projected Opening: September
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Kat Odell writes about the restaurant industry for Bloomberg News.
