America's Best New Restaurants by Esquire Magazine

I'm still standing. And 356 meals later, I can happily report to you that 2004 was the best year to dine out in America. Ever. People are filling up restaurants again, prices have not risen (except in Vegas), Japanese restaurants are getting more exciting, Italian restaurants are getting more authentic, and charcuterie and great cheeses are being served everywhere. Young chefs we've been keeping an eye on for years have opened their own places, while celebrity chefs have overextended themselves into oblivion—so leave 'em to the tourists and bank on this: If you go to any of our picks for the Best New Restaurants of 2004, the chef will be there cooking for you. And tell them Esquire sent you.

ATLANTA: Rathbun's
A restaurant set in a large warehouse often means overwhelming noise and way too many diners flagging down way too few waiters delivering way too tepid plates of food. But somehow chef and owner Kevin Rathbun has kept those distractions to a simmer, and there's just no arguing with the all-American goodness of his cooking, like braised brisket in a smoked-tomato jus with poblano quesadillas on the side and crispy hand-cut french fries with a blue-cheese fondue. Big Kevin doesn't skimp on portions of his Maine-lobster-and-roasted-green-chile taco with cascabel cream and tomato pico or his sea scallops on country-ham-studded grits with a spiced hollandaise. That doesn't leave much room for the lime shortcake with peppered peaches—but force yourself anyway.
Don't-miss dish: The three-soup sampler.
(112 Krog Street, Suite R; 404-524-8280)

ATLANTA: Restaurant Eugene
Restaurant Eugene is rooted in the genteel hospitality of its owners, chef Linton Hopkins and his wife, Gina. The eighty-seat dining room has the feel of a modern supper club—plush, sophisticated, with the kind of subdued lighting that flatters just about everyone. They named the place after Linton's grandfather, a chemist whose homemade beaten biscuits, country ham, and peach ice cream are still inspirations. Linton gets right to the heart of southern cooking with chilled sweet-corn soup with Vidalia-onion relish and crispy Sungold tomatoes. His fat soft-shell crabs are crusted with cashews, with chile sauce on the side, and the Berkshire black pork belly with bread-and-butter pickles and whole-grain mustard proves even the most down-home ingredients can emerge sublime.
Don't-miss dish: Grilled ribeye with wild-mushroom sauce and crispy squash blossoms.
(2277 Peachtree Road; 404-355-0321)

BOSTON: Restaurant L
Upscale men's store Louis Boston has tried time and again to keep a good restaurant going in its adjacent space, and now, with L, it has its best shot at longevity. The previously awkward layout has been opened into a dining room with big windows, graceful arches, aluminum dome lights, and Crayola red and yellow designs on the walls. You'll be awed by chef Pino Maffeo's vibrant Asian-Mediterranean cooking, which he last practiced at AZ in New York. Here he continues to balance the tart and the sweet in dishes like grilled lamb sirloin with artichoke puree and candied savory artichoke lollipop, barbecued Laotian pork ribs with sticky rice and Thai green-chile sauce, and dandelion-and-ricotta ravioli with morel mushrooms in truffle perfume. Buy an expensive suit next door, celebrate at L, and then have the suit fitted.
Don't-miss dish: Cheesecake with raspberry-goat-cheese coulis and limoncello gelato.
(234 Berkeley Street; 617-266-4680)

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: Sienna
Were I to award points in this annual restaurant survey, only Sienna would get a ten solely for its cooking. Every single dish I sampled—from the warm breads to the last of pastry chef Carolyn Nugent's desserts—was a perfect example of how American cooks can transform traditional food, in this case northern Italian, without disrespecting the genre. Chef Ken Vedrinksi (whose mother was Italian) stuffs half-moon-shaped pasta with blue crab, then dashes it with marsala and basil for sweetness. The only lumps in the creamy risotto are the fresh sweet corn and white shrimp, both local. Skate is poached in pinot grigio and dotted with tiny, tender clams. Vedrinski is one of the best chefs in America, so don't let the high-class coffee-shop decor put you off; this is a destination restaurant.
Don't-miss dish: Grandma Volpe's Italian wedding soup with truffled meatballs.
(901 Island Park Drive, Daniel Island; 843-881-8820)

DENVER: Table 6
This small neighborhood restaurant has charm to burn, starting with the room, an open space with bare brick walls, wood floors, and golden lighting, and continuing through the young crowd that gathers at the little bar area to sample the evening's wines. For dinner, chef Aaron Whitcomb's inexpensive menu is pure homemade goodness: onion soup sweet as candy, with Parmesan cheese crisps, seared sea scallops, crispy ham, and a beet bisque all on one appetizer plate (for eleven bucks). Apple-brined beef brisket is matched with mashed potatoes laced with toasted pecans and blue cheese. And could you really say no to homemade s'mores or lemon meringue on a sweet cake with blackberries? You can't and you won't, and you'll be back every time you're in Denver.
Don't-miss dish: Humboldt Fog salad with black mission figs and grilled brioche.
(609 Corona Street; 303-831-8800)

EL DORADO HILLS, CALIFORNIA: Masque Ristorante
Trust me on this: One of the best Italian restaurants to open in the U. S. in years is set in a business park thirty minutes' drive from Sacramento. Designed to look like a Californian-Tuscan villa (think stone and carpets), Masque could easily be a branch of an upscale Italian restaurant chain—if not for chef Angelo Auriana. Auriana, who looks like a slick version of David Strathairn, cooks with a deliberation that only a handful of chefs outside of Italy possess, evident in his Apulian-style cavatelli with crayfish, yellow peppers, and watercress; his ravioli packed with smoked mozzarella ( scamorza ), lightly tossed with butter and sage; and his pan-roasted loin of lamb with sweet Gorgonzola cheese and a reduction of Montepulciano red wine. If you're anywhere within five hundred miles of El Dorado Hills, hit the gas.
Don't-miss dish: Tortelli amatriciana.
(3909 Park Drive; 916-933-8555)

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT: Gaia
For decades, Greenwich was a country-club town with country-club food. But in the last five years, a boom has transformed Greenwich Avenue into restaurant row, and Gaia is the best of the newcomers—a former bank building with twenty-five-foot arched columns tiled by the same master, Rafael Guastavino, who designed the Great Hall at Ellis Island. Chef Frederic Kieffer's Colorado lamb with crème-fraîche polenta may be rustic (Gaia is the Greek goddess of the earth), but the precision Kieffer shows with seafood like Nantucket fluke with a goat-cheese crust, roasted grapes, and cucumber-verjuice sauce belies a very delicate French training. He cooks many dishes in sealed jars, which keep the moisture locked in and throw out a marvelous aroma when opened. A whiff of his macaroni made with Gruyère and truffles will make you swoon.
Don't-miss dish: Duckling breast with roasted pineapple.
(253 Greenwich Avenue; 203-661-3443)