Food & Wine Best Restaurants of 2018: Not the traditional foodie cities

Food & Wine just released its annual list of Best Restaurants. Looking at the list, these places aren’t the traditional foodie cities.

Foodies love lists. Whether it is the annual Michelin star guides or a local best of, best restaurants lists are often a check list for foodies. From a special event dinner reservation to a weekend getaway to eat your way through a city, foodies pour over these lists for the perfect meal. In the recently announced Food & Wine Best Restaurants of 2018, the list included some non-traditional foodie cities.

Food & Wine Restaurants of the Year May issue cover (PRNewsfoto/FOOD & WINE)

Often Best of Restaurant lists focus on big food cities. New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago offer a diverse and highly acclaimed restaurant community. Even other cities have emerged over the years with innovative cuisine and food trends.

On this year’s Food & Wine Best Restaurants of 2018 list, the big cities aren’t the focus. Other culinary destinations emerge. From Minnesota to Pennsylvania, this best of list shows that memorable food, food that impacts your food memories can be found all across the United States.

The 10 restaurants on the Food & Wine Best Restaurants of 2018 are:

"Maydan, Washington D.C. – Chef Gerald Addison, Co-Chef Chris Morgan and Restaurateur Rose PreviteBetter Luck Tomorrow, Houston TX – Chef Justin Yu and Proprietor Bobby HeugelFairfax, NYC – Restaurateur Gabriel Stulman and Chef Jack HarrisReem’s, Oakland CA – Proprietor Reem AssilSuperior Motors, Braddock PA – Chef Kevin Sousa and General Manager Chris ClarkGrand Café, Minneapolis, Minnesota – Chef Jamie MaloneVoyager, Ferndale, Michigan – Chef Jennifer Jackson, Co-Chef Justin Tootla and Restaurateur Eli BoyerJuneBaby, Seattle, Washington – Chef Edouardo JordanLasa, Los Angeles, California – Chef Chad Valencia and General Manager Chase ValenciaKemuri Tatsu-ya, Austin TX – Chef Tatsu Aikawa and Co-Chef Takuya Matsumoto"

A quick glance at this list shows that the restaurants are quite diverse. From slurping noodles to sandwiches, there is a cuisine, style and chef for everyone. Still, is there a common thread uniting them all? Simply stated, there is.

After reading the Food & Wine article, the diverse best restaurant list has a common theme. All of these restaurants and chefs have themes of family, tradition and community around the table.

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Many of these chefs are inspired by their family. From their personal upbringing to their culture, the flavors, styles and techniques come through in the restaurant. The result adds an added nuance anything that these restaurants serve.

Also, it appears that these restaurants have created a community. Whether it is the people who work at the restaurant or the people who frequent the restaurant, they have formed a bond over the food and ambiance. Just like the food memories that people create at home, these restaurants are creating food memories, too.

While I haven’t been to any of these particular restaurants, I look forward to crossing a few of them of the list during upcoming trips. Will they make an impression on my food memories? I sincerely hope so.

Have you tried any of these restaurants? Do you know any of these chefs? Share your thoughts with FoodSided.

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