These are the 9 best new restaurants of 2019, and the best of everything else
By Greg Cox
Updated: The Restaurant of the Year has been named. Read more below.
Any restaurant critic will tell you that trying to summarize a year of changes in the local dining scene is like shooting a moving target. In the Triangle, where accelerated evolution and flighty trends are the norm, the target is a hummingbird. And the critic is riding a mechanical bull.
Still, it’s possible to take snapshots. In 2018, the region landed a boatload of topnotch seafood restaurants, covering the spectrum from Southern fried (Saltbox Seafood Joint) to lavish seafood tower (Saint James).
This year is shaping up to be the Year of the Barbecue Revival, with renowned pitmasters Ed Mitchell and Sam Jones heading up a list of some half-dozen practitioners of the art planning to fire up smokers.
The past year is a little harder to summarize. No single cuisine dominated, but a broader pattern emerged: ambitious new restaurants offering a fresh take on traditional cuisines (you know, the ones we have historically relegated to the humble “ethnic” category), elevating them to a level that merits serious consideration as — dare I say it? — gourmet fare.
More than half of the restaurants that made this year’s Best New Restaurants list fall into that category: Coronato (pizzeria), Lime & Lemon (Indian), M Tempura (Japanese), Mariscos Los Cabos (Mexican), and Zanyu (Asian). All rated four stars or better when I reviewed them in 2019.
As part of my annual list of best restaurants in the Triangle, here is Part 1: this year’s selections for Best New Restaurants and Best in Class.
Updated: Here are my picks for the crème de la crème of local restaurants: the 2020 Restaurant of the Year plus the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalists.
Coronato in the new South Green shopping center in Carrboro features the sublime thin-crusted Roman-style pizzas inspired by annual visits to Rome. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
When Teddy Diggs left the prized position of executive chef at Il Palio in the posh Siena Hotel to open a pizzeria, some were no doubt skeptical. But Coronato erased all doubts, thanks to its streamlined menu featuring the sublime thin-crusted Roman-style pizzas inspired by annual visits to Rome.
The fried Castelvetrano olives served with rouille and red teardrop peppers are an addictive companion to any of the Hawthorne & Wood bar’s outstanding cocktails (Moscow Mule pictured here) or a glass of wine from a small but intelligently chosen list. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
The prize for Most Out-of-the-Blue Surprise of the Year goes to this newcomer, where the well-trained wait staff and sparkling contemporary setting are surpassed only by owner/chef Brandon Sharp’s seasonally evolving, globally inspired menu. Given that the North Carolina native racked up seven consecutive Michelin stars at Solbar in the Napa Valley before returning home to open Hawthorne & Wood, I suppose we shouldn’t have been surprised.
Don’t miss: Take your pick, you can’t go wrong. (Pro tip: Get reservations, and arrive early for a drink at one of the area’s best bars.
When Jolie booked 500 tables in the first 15 minutes after opening reservations in advance of its August opening, it came as no surprise to fans of owner/chef Scott Crawford. They were familiar with his consistently stellar work over the past decade in area restaurants, most recently at Crawford and Son next door. Jolie, which offers the chef’s contemporary take on French cuisine in a setting as pretty as its name, has only added to his fan base.
Don’t miss: everything (but get an order of gougères to munch on while you’re deciding)
Lime & Lemon’s appetizer menu includes the Shrimp 65, made up of deep-fried shrimp marinated with a blend of chef’s special spices. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
Who says Cary and Morrisville get all the good Indian restaurants? Serving up a tantalizing selection of northern and southern Indian fare in a casual setting that takes its color cues from its name, this Durham newcomer gives the best of them a run for their money.
If you’re a gifted chef with a growing collection of restaurants that includes the best omakase in the Triangle (M Sushi) and a hidden gem offering a one-of-a-kind mix of Korean fried chicken and Japanese noodles (M Kokko), what’s your next act?
That would be M Tempura, whose omakase-style service elevates batter-fried delicacies to a level that few outside of Japan even knew existed.
Don’t miss: If you can, splurge on the $72 “M” Omakase, a multi-course extravaganza that will be one of the most memorable meals of your life.
Navigating the ocean of a six-page dinner menu can be daunting at first but rest assured that it’s likely to be smooth sailing regardless of which direction you choose at Mariscos Los Cabos in Durham. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
Cuisine: Mexican, seafood
So you thought Mexican seafood was pretty much limited to ceviche and fish tacos? Mariscos Los Cabos will show you the error of your ways with an extensive selection of fresh fish and shellfish, prepared in a variety of ways and served against a colorful backdrop with an over-the-top nautical motif.
Don’t miss: caldo 7 mares, coctel de camaron, langosta or langostinos al gusto (lobster or prawns, with butter or spicy), ceviche Los Cabos
O-Ku Sushi’s dining room decor does its part in creating a suitably upscale mood. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
Yes, O-Ku is a chain, brought to you by the same folks who own Oak Steakhouse next door. But the sushi is first-rate, and the experience is not at all chain-like, starting with a sampler created from a weekly “mystery box” of fresh fish flown in directly from Japan.
Don’t miss: fish sampler, usuzukuri, lobster temaki, fried oysters, robata yaki, uni udon, sata andagi
Steam rises off the steamed Shanghai tiny buns — pinch-topped purses of dumpling with a soupy minced pork and vegetable filling — at Yi Ge Asian Cuisine in Clayton. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
The menu gallivants all over Asia, but it’s the Chinese BBQ meats and (mostly) Cantonese specialties that make this off-the-beaten-path spot worth the drive to Clayton. And yes, those are roast ducks and Chinese sausage hanging in the back, like the ones you’ve been craving since you left the big city to move here.
Don’t miss: steamed salt and pepper shrimp, steamed Shanghai tiny buns, beef brisket casserole, Peking duck, anything from the BBQ Selection
Cold somen noodles are served plain in a bowl of ice water and the noodles are meant to be dipped in the accompanying bowl of dashi dipping sauce. Small dishes of wasabi, ginger and grated daikon are also provided to tweak the flavor at Zanyu in Raleigh. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
Let’s just say that in my book, if you’re a counter service noodle shop, you’ve got to be good, And Zanyu owner/chef Michael Bongiorno’s noodle dishes, which draw on his 15-year globetrotting career in half a dozen Asian countries from Japan to Malaysia, are very good indeed.
Don’t miss: green beans, ebi sunomono, steamed buns, pork belly ramen, khao soi noodles
