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  3. Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013

By Food & Wine
Updated June 16, 2016
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Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Lobster Chawan Mushi
Credit: Photo © Nicolas Gourguechon
The year's most extraordinary dishes reflect the biggest restaurant trends of the moment: nose-to-tail-fin eating, live-fire grilling and the quest for elemental flavors.—Kate Krader, Dana Cowin, Kate Heddings, Christine Quinlan, Tina Ujlaki
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Grilled Baby Corn with Black Garlic

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Grilled Baby Corn with Black Garlic
Credit: Photo © Rick Poon

Trois Mec, Los Angeles • In most cities, the hot tickets are for concerts. In L.A., they're for seats at Trois Mec, Ludo Lefebvre's new avant-garde restaurant set inside an old-school pizza place. Once I snagged a ticket, I understood why his five-course menu got everyone so excited, especially the ingenious vegetarian take on ceviche: smoky grilled baby corn on honey custard in a broth of garlic, ginger, lime juice and chile-based ají amarilo paste. I'm not the only one who loves the dish: Anthony Bourdain, Lefebvre's co-judge on The Taste, told Ludo it was the best thing he'd ever eaten. troismec.com.—Kate Krader

  • Los Angeles Travel

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Foie Gras with Avocado

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Foie Gras with Avocado
Credit: Photo © Marcus Nilsson

The Elm, Brooklyn • It takes a talented chef to pair foie gras with avocado. But I knew I could trust Paul Liebrandt to do it. At his new French-leaning spot, The Elm, the chef makes a perfectly smooth foie torchon. Then he serves it with avocado. Crazy, I thought, but together they're outrageously silky; plus the avocado's subtle flavor boosts the ultra-buttery foie gras. Liebrandt adds other glorious, unconventional touches: He coats the torchon in smoky kombu gelée, drizzles almond milk next to the avocado slices and spikes the accompanying brioche with Thai long peppers. Trust me: It's delicious. theelmnyc.com.—KK

  • Great Places to Eat in Brooklyn

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Coconut and Cuttlefish

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Coconut and Cuttlefish
Credit: Photo © Greg Powers

Minibar; Washington, DC • José Andrés's wit is on full display in this dish of coconut and cuttlefish. At first, I couldn't tell which ingredient was which, since both were translucent. Of course, they were the opposite of what I expected: José had seared the sweet coconut and turned the cuttlefish into a delicate tartare. And he'd transformed the cuttlefish and its ink into two scrumptious, distinct sauces—a creamy white one and a pitch-black one. minibarbyjoseandres.com.—Dana Cowin

  • The Best of Washington, DC

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Lamb with Eggplant and Olives

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Lamb with Eggplant and Olives
Credit: Photo © Ball and Albanese

Fork, Philadelphia • Since Eli Kulp arrived at Fork a little over a year ago from Torrisi Italian Specialties in Manhattan, he's become a huge Pennsylvania ingredient advocate. Take the components of his incredible roast lamb dish: charred eggplant laced with brown butter and honey; hibiscus-infused jus; olive crumble. Almost everything comes from the region. "My cooks are amateur foragers," he says. forkrestaurant.com.—KK

  • Kate Krader's Philadelphia Food Tour

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Pork Blood Stew

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Pork Blood Stew
Credit: Photo © Aimee Wenske

Qui, Austin • When I went to Qui, I got to sit at the fabulous Beyoncé Booth. (Beyoncé hasn't eaten there yet, but her booth awaits.) Paul Qui's eclectic menu includes recipes that reflect his Filipino heritage, like dinuguan—a stew made with pork stock, pork blood and confited pork belly, breast and head. The Qui flourish: crisp gnocchi. Beyoncé, don't miss this dish. quiaustin.com.—Kate Heddings

  • Paul Qui's Insider Austin Travel Guide

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Cabbage with Miso Crème Fraîche

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Cabbage with Miso Crème Fraîche
Credit: Photo © Dane Nakama

Vintage Cave, Honolulu • I never expected to find the best cabbage of my life in a Honolulu shopping mall basement. Part of a $295 tasting menu, this dish was sublime. Chris Kajioka chars sweet caraflex cabbage in olive oil so the outer layers get crispy and the inner leaves stay tender. He serves it with crème fraîche spiked with miso, lime and Japanese spices, in white dashi. The result: the most umami-saturated cabbage ever. vintagecave.com.—Christine Quinlan

  • Best New Restaurants on Oahu

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Grilled Redfish

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Grilled Redfish
Credit: Photo © Chris Granger

Pêche, New Orleans • Donald Link is a master of big, delicious food cooked in a wood-fired oven, like the namesake roast pork at the pig-centric Cochon. His latest spot, Pêche, is a paean to Louisiana seafood, and its most dramatic and satisfying dish is the whole fish. The parade of waiters carrying platters aloft with the heads and tails flopping over the side sets the tone for a fun evening. My redfish topped with a vibrant salsa verde was light and flaky but also super-flavorful from being grilled whole. It was so good that I'm sure I ate enough for two—another benefit of going whole hog on a whole fish. pecherestaurant.com.—DC

  • New Orleans Travel

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Tomatoes with Lamb Pancetta and Pasta

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Tomatoes with Lamb Pancetta and Pasta
Credit: Photo © Peter Barrett

Fish & Game; Hudson, NY • Funky, stinky, spicy— these were my (overwhelmingly positive) first impressions of Zakary Pelaccio's Malaysian cooking at Fatty Crab in Manhattan. At his new tasting-menu-only place, Pelaccio's cooking is far more subtle, yet full of all-American exuberance. My favorite dish was a soup with local Sun Gold tomatoes he'd smoked to create an indelibly bright broth. Floating in the bowl were squares of perfect, chewy pasta and bits of lamb pancetta. Each spoonful was layered with subtle flavors, proving comfort can be creative, too. fishandgamehudson.com.—DC

  • Top 10 Life-Changing Restaurants

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Grilled Short Rib with Romaine

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Grilled Short Rib with Romaine
Credit: Photo © Daniel Krieger

Betony, New York City • I was stunned by how deeply beefy the short rib at Betony was—like the best backyard grilled steak I've ever had. That's what chef Bryce Shuman was going for. He coats short ribs with aged beef fat and cooks them sous vide for two days so they're exactly medium-rare. Then he bastes the meat with more aged fat and sears it over Japanese bincho coals. The grilled romaine was terrific too; Shuman bastes it with the same incredible fat. betony-nyc.com.—Tina Ujlaki

  • How to Cook Steak Sous Vide

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Lobster Chawan Mushi

Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013: Lobster Chawan Mushi
Credit: Photo © Nicolas Gourguechon

Yusho, Chicago • Even though Yusho is a yakitori restaurant, the dish I can't forget is the chawan mushi. Chef-owner Matthias Merges makes 20 versions of this Japanese egg custard—duck, sea urchin, even sardine—but the one that went over-the-top was the lobster. It wasn't just because of the skewer of seared lobster meat brushed with yakitori sauce; it was also the crispy kale, sesame brittle and lobster oil. yusho-chicago.com.—KH

  • Must-Try Chicago Restaurant Dishes

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    1 of 10 Grilled Baby Corn with Black Garlic
    2 of 10 Foie Gras with Avocado
    3 of 10 Coconut and Cuttlefish
    4 of 10 Lamb with Eggplant and Olives
    5 of 10 Pork Blood Stew
    6 of 10 Cabbage with Miso Crème Fraîche
    7 of 10 Grilled Redfish
    8 of 10 Tomatoes with Lamb Pancetta and Pasta
    9 of 10 Grilled Short Rib with Romaine
    10 of 10 Lobster Chawan Mushi

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