The New York Times has revealed its annually anticipated list of America’s 50 best restaurants and four New England establishments made the cut.
First-time entries to the yearly list include Somaek, an authentic, atmospheric Korean restaurant in Downtown Crossing led by acclaimed Boston chef Jamie Bissonnette; and Gift Horse in Providence, a Korean-influenced raw bar showcasing New England seafood. The Alna Store in Midcoast, Maine, and the Shipwright’s Daughter in Mystic, Conn., are repeat NYT honorees representing New England.
Somaek opened at 11 Temple Place in March from BCB3, a newly formed restaurant group including Bissonnette, Andy Cartin and Babak Bina, the latter of whom are partners at nearby JM Curley, Bogie’s Place and the Wig Shop. Bissonnette had previously collaborated with chef Ken Oringer at Toro, Coppa and Little Donkey, earning a James Beard award for Best Chef: Northeast in 2014.
Somaek centers the homestyle Korean cooking he’s learned in recent years from his mother-in-law, Soon Han. “I don’t want it to feel fusion-y, and I don't want it to feel like I'm trying to put Jamie's version of a dish on the menu,” he previously told Time Out Boston. “I want to do the best version of a dish, true to how I've had it.” The New York Times critics clearly appreciate the chef's attention to detail: Food writer Julia Moskin praises “robust classics” on the menu, like chilled pork belly and stir-fried squid with rice cakes, as well as “a master class in banchan.”
Gift Horse debuted last summer, with chef Sky Haneul Kim dressing up New England seafood with flavors from her native South Korea. “Gift Horse deserves to be talked about in the same breath with Yangban in Los Angeles, Atoboy in New York and a handful of other restaurants that are busy bringing American ways of dining into the orbit of Korean cuisine,” writes outgoing NYT critic Pete Wells.
The Alna Store is “an ambitious restaurant [serving] a thoroughly of-the-moment, local menu that’s full of sophisticated touches without being at all pretentious,” writes NYT’s Melissa Clark. It is co-located with a country store selling trendy natural wines, tinned fish and funky ferments in its namesake town on Maine’s Midcoast. The Alna Store opened in 2022 and made a previous iteration of the NYT 50 best list. It also earned a James Beard award nomination earlier this year.
The Shipwright’s Daughter is helmed by the reigning Best Chef: Northeast, David Standridge. Also a repeat NYT pick, the Connecticut restaurant is “refined but deceptively casual-looking,” writes Patrick Farrell in this year’s feature, with outstanding seafood, pasta dishes, and a crispy pig’s head dish “that should become a tourist attraction in itself” in the beloved seaside town.
Check out the full list of The New York Times’ 50 favorite places in America right now here.