Andrew Knowlton's Hot 10 Road Trip, in Instagrams
In his epic quest to discover the Best New Restaurants in America (for 2013), Andrew Knowlton did a lot of eating. A LOT. And since he's a modern-day eater, that also meant he took a lot of photos of his food. A LOT. Here's a selection of his best.
1/20General Muir
I don't have to tell you that pickles are big. Every chef in the country, maybe even the world, is pickling something right now. But at the General Muir, there's one telltale sign that you're still in the South—pickled okra.
2/20Xiao Bao
This is the Corn, Eggplant, and Green Curry Salad from Xiao Bao that was so good we had to get the recipe and post it up on the site. It looks all nice and pretty, but watch out--there's some fire in there.
3/20Alma
This is one of the many "snacks" that start off a meal at Alma. You never know which ones you'll get on a given night (and they're all amazing), but keep your fingers crossed for these crispy pig ears with celery mayonnaise.
4/20Bar Sajor
One trend that dominated this year was the custom, wood-burning oven—they had one at Saison, Peche, and Metropole, just to name a few. But when I build a home kitchen, I hope it looks like this one, from Bar Sajor.
5/20The Ordinary
God only knows how many ice-filled trays of shellfish I ate this year, but this one at Mike Lata's The Ordinary was worth remembering, with stone crabs and "Clammer Dave's" local South Carolina clams.
6/20Forequarter
These days, one of the best tests of a chef is what their everyday salad looks like. This simple mix of watermelon radish, normal radish, zucchini, and butter lettuce from Forequarter in Madison, WI deserves an A+.
7/20Aska
A meal at Aska isn't always easy, but it always makes you think. Case in point—these super-acidic beet meringue balls in an anchovy broth.
8/20Olio
One of the most memorable long lunches I had while on the road was at Olio, and it started with this charcuterie, made in-house. Just look at the huge chunks of fat on the slices on the left (and again, note the marble bar).
9/20Ava Gene's
Ava Gene's is all about vegetables—no meal there would be complete without a solid selection from the Giardini ("garden") section of the menu. To make your choices a little bit easier, though, you can order a selection of three—it's like a flight of garden goodness.
10/20Chi Spacca
Chi Spacca is known as the meat-centric arm of Batali's Italian empire, but I couldn't resist these ruby red shrimp. Just like the restaurant's more famous steaks, they're served simply—on the plancha, with nothing but lemon, oil, and parsley.
11/20The Whale Wins
Remember how I said wood-burning ovens were all the rage? So were the stacks of wood for feeding that fire, which you can see stacked behind the bar at the Whale Wins in Seattle. Having the mise en place on display like this is also becoming popular (I was sitting right outside of the frame to the right, looking at the garde manger station for my whole meal).
12/20Jeffrey's
It's all about the details at Jeffrey's. Most places just give you a paper ticket for valet parking, which I have a habit of losing during the course of a long meal. But Jeffrey's gives you these little leather-corded tags, embossed with their name.
13/20Josephine House
This portrait at Josephine House (Jeffrey's sister restaurant) isn't of Josephine herself, but I couldn't keep my eyes off of it drying the meal. Note the marble bar, too, which was everywhere this year.
14/20Joule
This is a plate of Joule's Korean short ribs, with a hard sear. It might not be a traditional T-bone, but it was one of the best steaks I've had recently.
15/20The Optimist
These are the accoutrements to the oysters at the Optimist—homemade saltines, hot sauce, and cocktail sauce. Making your own little side dishes, and putting your own spin on classic, standardized components of a meal, is becoming standard all over the country.
16/20Spoon
I wore out my credit card this year, but it never hurts to have a sense of humor when you get the bill—this was from the fish-centric Spoon in Dallas.
17/20The Pass & Provisions
This is caviar service as seen at Pass, the more upscale side of the the Houston pair Pass & Provisions. The tin comes with dehydrated capers, chives, and egg yolks and fried buckwheat kernels (a la blinis) on top of pureed celery root and creme fraiche, topped with a dollop of caviar. And behind, stealing the show, is a pork rind the size of a 3-year-old, dusted in ham powder.
18/20Peche
This is the daily crudo at peche. The dish was everywhere this year, but this was one of the better offerings—bright, light, and big enough to feed a small family (they like to go big in New Orleans). It had just a little bit of salsa verde, citrus, and super-fresh fish.
19/20Saison
This is how a meal typically starts at Saison, with one of their house-made sodas. I honestly felt bad for the chef stuck making these, since you can see him putting those tiny elderflowers on the rim of each glass with tweezers. If the opening drink looks like this, you can be pretty sure that the rest of the meal is going to be exquisite.
20/20World Street Kitchen
I'm always wary of any Chicken and Biscuits outside of the south, but this monstrous version at WSK Kitchen in Minneapolis made me feel right at home. There is no possible way you could eat this by just picking it up, but I'll forgive them that, since the carrot slaw was so good.
