A Food And Travel Writer’s Favorite Restaurants Of 2023

28.12.2023 - 13:05 / forbes.com / Martin Berasategui

In 2020, after reading too many restaurant obituaries, I set out to write annual restaurant love letters instead. Now that the food world is roaring back, getting stronger—and more creative—than ever, it has become even easier to fall in love. And so, I have a new round of love letters.

These ten restaurants (in alphabetical order) came to life for me during the past year. Some are paeans to the cities they call home; others are unabashed mashups. One serves meat that the chef hunts, while others serve no meat at all. They all reminded me of the origin of the word restaurant—to restore, to take care of, to make feel whole.

New Zealand’s mad genius chef Vaughan Mabee celebrates how magical, real, entertaining and memorable food can be. When I went to dine at his restaurant outside Queenstown, reality TV producers were calling him about starring roles—he’s camera-genic and enjoys having helicopters drop him off in remote locations so he can find something to eat. At his restaurant at the Amisfield winery (producer of spectacular pinot noirs), he and his compatriots forage, line-catch, spearfish and hunt many of the ingredients on the spectacularly local, 22-course menu—“I taste happiness and freedom” he says of eating game. At the same time, he cooks with the creativity, assurance and technique of someone who spent decades in the kitchens of Noma and Martin Berasategui. His giant king crab was hands-down the most memorable thing I ate this year.

When Arkhe opened about four years ago, it made waves with its plant-based fine-dining menu. Chef João Ricardo Alves spent ten years in top kitchens around the world before he fell out of love with meat and got a job at the only Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant in Europe at the time, then went on to Asia to broaden his influences and technique. The experience went up a notch when sommelier and maître d’hôtel Alejandro Chávarro became a partner and brought Arkhe a reputation for having some of the best hospitality in the city. Two months ago, the restaurant opened in a bigger, more comfortable space with plenty of room for the kitchen crew and Chávarro’s impressive collection of almost 3,000 bottles from around the world. While the restaurant is noteworthy for its dedication to the well-being of its founders and employees, the experience for diners (weekdays only) is pure vegetable pleasure: Hokkaido pumpkin with kimchi and turmeric, and Pleurotus mushrooms with white miso and sweet potato are a couple of the dishes that have earned the place a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on the 50 Best Discovery List.

It was a starry year for me, but some of my favorite dining experiences were at the casual offshoots of Michelin restaurants. A short way up the