If you’re anything like us, as soon as your hotel is booked, you’ll be researching all the coolest local spots to go for food. But some restaurants are so outstanding that they’re worth basing your entire trip around, and some fresh inspiration has just landed, courtesy of CN Traveller.
The publication is back with its Hot List of the planet’s most exciting new (or newly reopened) places to eat, which have been nominated by its network of editors, and on the list are restaurants in Kenya, Cambodia, Germany, Mexico, and many, many more.
Bao bun fan? Of course you are, so De Vie in Paris should be on your radar. Nestled in Paris’s 2nd arrondissement, this restaurant is comprised of a seven-course menu at Comptoir De Vie, drinks and snacks at Bar De Vie and a retail slash bar experience at Cave De Vie.
About the food, CN Traveller writer Devorah Lev-Tov said: ‘A duck’s leg arrives in a bao bun at the top of the meal, and later its breast shines as the main course; squash confit is smothered with a kimchi hollandaise in one dish, while the gourd’s seeds are fermented and made into ice cream for dessert, just as a squash liqueur appears in the after-dinner cocktail.’
Over in Rio de Janeiro, Madame Olympe was Rafael Tonon’s pick. Make sure you book in advance, as this place only has an intimate 24 seats. The menu showcases Brazilian ingredients cooked using traditional French methods: think cashew fruit confit and baba ganoush made from scarlett aubergine (jiló).
New York’s Kabawa also appears on the list. This lively restaurant in the East Village serves up ‘refined, inventive Caribbean cuisine’, according to CNT’s writer Kathleen Squires. As New York’s food and drink editor Morgan Carter writes in her review, you’ll leave with ‘bellies full and tongues likely still dancing’.
Scroll on for the full list of the best places to eat right now.
The world’s best new restaurants, according to CN Traveller
- Kabawa, New York City, USA
- La Perlita, Lima, Peru
- The Happy Crane, San Francisco, USA
- De Vie, Paris, France
- Jin Ting Wan, Singapore
- Madame Olympe, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Logy, Taipei, Taiwan
- Soma, Bangkok, Thailand
- Rannaghor by Sienna, Kolkata, India
- Caprichito, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Yakatabune Izanagi, Tokyo, Japan
- Pi Sa, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Tales by Chapter, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Old Tower, Beijing, China
- EMi, Madrid, Spain
- Amura, Cape Town, South Africa
- The Cloud by Käfer, Munich, Germany
- Paz, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
- The Jane, Antwerp, Belgium
- Paradox, Mumbai, India
- Phet Phet, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Feu, Byron Bay, Australia
- Yiaga, Melbourne, Australia
- Golden Avenue, Brisbane, Australia
- Gerbou, Dubai, UAE
- Shwen Shwen, Sevenoaks, United Kingdom
- Norah, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Alteño, Denver, USA
- Rovello, Milan, Italy
- Esca, Mexico City, Mexico
- Carbone London, United Kingdom
- Must, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
- Bistro Lolo, Nairobi, Kenya
- Ilé Eros, Lagos, Nigeria
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