How the American
The promise of the steakhouse is simple: It takes rustic, carnal, comforting cuisine and serves it in an upscale setting. The steakhouse tells its patrons they can show up and show out without having to worry about being thrown a culinary curveball.
Frankly, it’s safe. Too safe. While diners crave the familiarity and elegance this concept provides, they don’t want to be bored. And chefs and restaurateurs across America are responding with a new wave of steakhouses where the food is more creative and the atmosphere more convivial.
In many ways, it’s a return to form. Today’s steakhouses can trace their roots to 17th-century English chophouses that catered to working-class men. When they (and the eateries that served them) crossed the pond and ended up in New York City, Gotham was developing the tradition of the beefsteak—a large bovine-filled banquet—which, over time, became increasingly tony.
In the wake of World War II, the steakhouse as we know it now began to codify—menus filled with rib eyes, porterhouses, filets mignons, New York strips, and sides that included unspeakable things done to unsuspecting potatoes. But as the decades rolled on, the conventions of these temples to excess calcified. At their worst, steakhouses make diners feel trapped among the creamed spinaches, wedge salads, half-hearted seafood offerings, staid decor, and big Napa Cabs only an expense account could love.
Thankfully, a much-needed shake-up is unfolding. In Miami, the sumptuous Art Deco space Sunny’s encircles a bustling tree-filled courtyard. Far from staid, the vibe is sexy, ebullient—and delivers expertly executed chops and pastas. At N.Y.C.’s Time and Tide, a Top Chef champ imagines what a steakhouse would look like if seafood was the star: Think halibut instead of tenderloin for the Wellington. A few blocks away, Daniel Boulud opened a French steakhouse, La Tête d’Or, that mixes the American institution with his deft Gallic touch. Across the country, Tara Monsod’s Le Coq in La Jolla, Calif., incorporates ideas learned at a hip Paris bistro with a laid-back SoCal expression. And in America’s other great mecca of meat, Chicago, chef Andrew Lim’s Perilla is a Korean American steakhouse that builds on Simon Kim’s groundbreaking achievements at Cote. That spirit of genre mixing and innovation is present throughout our list of America’s best new restaurants. And though they’re not all steakhouses, each brings something fresh to the table.
