Best new restaurant: The Dutch

OTHER NOMINEES: Boulud Sud, Isa, The Monkey Bar

As many familiar dining memes (the rustic trattoria, the seasonal Brooklyn tavern) continued to proliferate, the year’s most accomplished restaurants took pains to feel fresh and break ranks with tired trends. Among these trailblazers no eatery captured the zeitgeist of New York dining as exuberantly as The Dutch, which you crowned best in show. Andrew Carmellini—the Cleveland-born, haute-trained toque behind this white-hot venue—was in full auteur mode, tracing America’s eclectic foodways through his own road-tripping escapades. His homages astounded for both their diversity and their finesse, shouting out to NYC institutions like the chophouse and the taqueria while delivering impulsive Americana (hot fried chicken, a cracker-domed rabbit potpie). And while Carmellini brought swagger to our comfort-food-obsessed times, the electric scene reflected exactly how New Yorkers like to eat today—with classic cocktails at the bar, oysters on ice and hip-hop rumbling through the speakers. 131 Sullivan St at Prince St (212-677-6200, thedutchnyc.com)

RELATED
Food & Drink Award superheroes: Andrew Carmellini, The All-American Flavor Savior
Critic Jay Cheshes chooses the Dutch as the best restaurant of 2011