Three New Orleans establishments and one Lafayette eatery have made Bon Appetit magazine’s list of the 50 Best New Restaurants in the United States.
Chef John Besh’s new outpost Willa Jean, Ace Hotel New Orleans’ art deco room Josephine Estelle, and Bywater French bistro N7 make up the Crescent City’s contribution to the list, which also includes downtown Lafayette’s Pop’s Poboys. These four Louisiana offerings are the only restaurants from the magazine’s “South” region to make the cut.
However, the competition doesn’t stop there. Bon Appetit will whittle its list down to a “Hot 10” later this month. Those selections will be announced on August 16, but for now you can check out the 50 finalists here.
Last year’s list included only one New Orleans restaurant, Besh’s mediterranean sensation Shaya, while Vietnamese-fusion hot spot Mopho represented the city in 2014. Neither of them ended up making the Hot 10, though Esquire named Shaya American’s Best New Restaurant of 2015.