Coming off a year of local accolades and a fresh-out-of-the-gate Michelin star, Polk Street's Lord Stanley has just garnered some new national attention that is sure to make it a tough reservation to get for some time. Bon Appétit's annual Best New Restaurants list, the "Hot 10," has dropped, and critic Andrew Knowlton declares the one-year-old spot the number-three new eatery in the country. "Only after that first night at Lord Stanley did I believe that food this beautiful could taste this good," writes Knowlton, complementing husband and wife chefs Carrie and Rupert Blease on their "Cesar Millan-ness with vegetables" i.e., they're the country's top new vegetable whisperers.
Topping this year's Hot Ten is Atlanta's Staplehouse, followed by Bad Saint, a new Filipino-inspired spot in D.C., which incidentally took Knowlton's title for "Restaurant City of the Year" something that may surprise even longtime D.C. residents, at least those who haven't been paying attention to all the new hot spots, including 2014 number-one Best New Restaurant, Rose's Luxury.
Knowlton also gave props to SF's The Perennial and Tacos Cala, which he named to his Top 50 the other week, and he also awarded Leo's Oyster Bar for its design, and named tiny Arsicault in the Richmond Bakery of the Year.
I do take issue with Knowlton, who positively adored San Francisco last year and named two restaurants to his top 10 (Rintaro and AL's Place), now referring to SF as "the land of figs and Soylent," but then he says it's "a city so flush with produce and capital that checking out new restaurants required eating incessantly." Which, sure.
Previously: Bon Appétit Names Leo's Oyster Bar The Best Designed New Restaurant In The Country