Best Restaurant Dishes of 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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