 Food & drinks

New American Cuisine: 5 hotspots

Forget limp hamburgers and ‘drive-thru fast food outlets’ – there are many more exciting culinary delights to experience in the United States. Dozens of restaurants in the category of New American Cuisine will be opening their doors again this summer. From Southern soul food to ‘Tokyo Pop’: here are 5 new spots where you will want to catch a bite to eat.

Americans were not really known for their refined cooking, until a group of culinary pioneers were courageous enough to breathe new life into their eating traditions. Local dishes were given an international twist. The Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich suddenly appeared alongside the humble hamburger. Food trucks serving delicious meals and snacks were parked on street corners, and the number of eating establishments earning Michelin stars increased. The US can now rightly be called a culinary destination. Travel to Chicago, Dallas, Boston, San Francisco or New York and join these newcomers at the table.

 Food trucks in Atlanta

Top 4 destinations

 Chef Grant Achatz in the Alinea restaurant

Loud music and an open grill

14 different crustaceans? Lime caviar? You’ll not find any of those in the new restaurant of one of America’s hottest chefs: Grant Achatz, owner of the stylish Alinea. At his second restaurant, Roister, which will be opening at the end of summer, you can enjoy an à la carte menu, loud music and delicious local vegetables that are grilled unceremoniously over an open fire. Achatz’s own prediction? ‘It’s going to be frenzied.’

Fast food by a Michelin-starred chef

Only a few dollars for a dish by a 2-star chef? Fat Noodle is the new Chinese restaurant of Joshua Skenes, owner of the starred Saison, also in San Francisco. For 10 dollars you compile your own noodle bowl, one that comes from the creative brain of this young cooking talent. Joshua wants to provide the guests at Fat Noodle with very fast but very good food (in 6.5 minutes to be precise). Come to the table!

 The open kitchen at Saison

 Genuinely Southern: the pulled pork sandwich

Southern home cooking in Texas

Anyone who is curious as to what chef Matt McCallister, owner of the famous Dallas-based FT33, likes to eat at home can reserve a table at his restaurant, Filament. It is where you’ll find ‘comfort food’ on the menu. There are no complicated delicate dishes but pulled pork from the barbecue, pickled cucumbers, soft corn bread and crispy coleslaw. Dishes with soul – food you take your time over. Filament will be opening this summer. So order one of the local beers and seat yourself down on the terrace and enjoy the experience.

Creative maki rolls and karaoke

Tokyo Pop will be the new sushi, if it has anything to do with Tim and Nancy Cushman from Boston. The owners of the traditional Japanese restaurant, O Ya, will be opening Hojoko at the end of the summer. And that will be anything but traditional. Dive into the eclectic Tokyo atmosphere: funky maki rolls, a band called Blue Cheese and karaoke at the end of the evening. It is only possible in this ‘izakaya’ (Japanese pub).

 Sushi at Hojoko will not be traditional

 A fish on the grill

Italian classics in trendy Brooklyn

Italian pasta in a former car garage, right in the centre of trendy Brooklyn. Plenty of reason to cross the East River from Manhattan to the Williamsburg district, where Missy Robbins will be opening Lilia this summer. This top chef previously had 2 restaurants, each with a Michelin star. At Lilia, she wants to serve Italian dishes just like she makes at home, with traditional pastas in the starring role. The kitchen will have a wood-fired grill for roasting fish and local vegetables. Just what Missy Robbins likes doing best.