America’s best new restaurant

What’s the most promising new restaurant in America? asked Frank Bruni in The New York Times. In a cross-country tasting tour, I reported on the 10 leading contenders. Then I had to choose the very best. The choice was tough, but “the dithering stops here.” The winner is:

O Ya, Boston

The sushi and sashimi at this Japanese restaurant is embellished with far more than mere wasabi and shiso. The fried oyster over rice with a julienne of leek, oyster juice, squid ink, olive oil, and milk is “a one-bite affair, but what a bite.” Other dishes served on rice include not just the usual salmon, tuna, or eel, but a memorable seared foie gras bathed in balsamic vinegar, chocolate, and raisins. The menu also offers pork, beef, and chicken dishes, though the best dish—“maybe the best dish of my entire journey”—is the grilled sashimi of chanterelle and shiitake. These thinly sliced mushrooms, brushed with soy sauce and rosemary garlic oil, were simply “magnificent.”

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