Of all the travel recommendations out there, the most convincing ones read more like personal stories than notches on a checklist. When a friend nostalgically raves about the guava dishes in their Mexican hometown, waxes poetic about late-night trays of masala aloo buns at an Indian bakery, or emphatically declares their lakeside Michigan community to be a new dining powerhouse, you can trust the rec. When picking the best travel destinations for dining this year, we looked for outstanding restaurants, and also to people who ardently endorse them. Our contributors filled this list with destinations they know intimately (many have called these places home), and chefs and restaurateurs offered meals around the world that inspire them, too. Between the crowded Taiwanese food courts, high-altitude Bolivian fine dining, neo-nomadic Kazakh feasts, and eye-opening South African tasting menus, these destinations leave little doubt that there’s great eating ahead this year. — Nick Mancall-Bitel
.breaker-bar { width: 100%; /* full width */ height: 2px; /* 2 pixels tall */ background-color: #E60000; /* red color */ margin: 20px 0; /* optional spacing above and below */ }The Best Dining Destinations in 2026:
Aguascalientes, Mexico
By Carlos Velasco
Why I love eating here:
As an Hidrocálido (Aguascalientes local), I love seeing hometown flavors evolve and a new openness to international influence and experimentation.
Don’t miss:
Locals of every stripe gather at late-night cenadurías. Cenaduría San Antonio serves antojitos like pozole, tacos dorados, and smoky guajillo enchiladas, while Llorona Comedor does modern takes in an open-air setting.
IYKYK:
Local legend Sr. Toño first rolled the Nevería El Popo ice cream cart into Calvillo’s main plaza in the 1980s. Scoops in flavors like pine nut and coconut strawberry come crowned with rich guava jam.
For a tiny, historically agrarian state in Mexico’s highlands, Aguascalientes puts up big numbers. The annual Feria Nacional de San Marcos, Mexico’s largest fair, draws roughly 8 million visitors for major concerts, rodeos, and food stalls slinging chaskas (esquites), huaraches al pastor, and ham and curtido bolillos. As flights from the U.S. expand, more visitors can enjoy Mexico’s biggest party — and the food in Aguascalientes — all year long. In the capital, classic restaurants like La Estación serve pan dulce de nata and nopal relleno de panela, while newcomers like Paraguas blend the area’s growing Japanese culture into rib-eye sushi and Nikkei tostadas. Calvillo, the guava capital of the world, offers local guayaba in empanadas at Don Emiliano, lager at cervecera Mitla, and mole at El Renacer. And, with mineral-rich wines and seasonal small plates, the Ruta del Vino ties it all together in Mexico’s most underrated state.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
By Joanna Lobo
Why I love eating here:
No matter where you’re eating, there’s a pot of tea (mostly black, sometimes infused with local fruits or spices) on every table, and you can spend hours lazing with a cup.
Don’t miss:
You’ll find plov everywhere. The pilaf combines rice, beef or lamb, spices, and vegetables in one big pot, sometimes topped with kazy. The best versions come with juicy, perfectly caramelized carrots.
Tourists need to understand:
Almaty loves its restaurant chains, like ABR’s Daredzhani for Georgian food; Degirmen for Turkish döner; and Sandyq, Bauyrdaq, and Navat for Kazakh cuisine.
Almaty is becoming Central Asia’s biggest culinary destination. In the last few years, the former Kazakh capital gathered chefs across the region for its inaugural Food Fest and launched its first gastronomic guide. Through noodle-laden beshbarmak, classic kazy (horse sausage), meat-stuffed samsa, fried baursak (doughnuts), and stir-fried laghman, visitors taste the legacies of local nomadic practices, as well as Uyghur, Russian, Uzbek, Korean, Turkish, and Indian influences. Traditional specialties thrive at the Green Bazaar, even as a flurry of neo-nomadic restaurants serve modern takes in sit-down settings. Leading the charge is the ABR group, including chef Ruslan Zakirov’s stunning Auyl and chef Ruslan Abduramanov’s elegant Afisha. Elsewhere, Umami serves ice cream in flavors like kurt (a nomadic cheese) and mountain lavender, Tary takes the steppe’s millet tea into the 21st century, and recently revived, legendary Soviet-era hangout Aqqu attracts creative types. Together they bring Almaty’s dining scene full circle — and, for visitors, into view.
Bengaluru, India
By Manasvi Pote
Why I love eating here:
I love the late-night ritual outside Iyengar bakeries, the century-old vegetarian operations that anchor so many neighborhoods, as friends share trays of masala aloo buns and excitedly swap plans for their next great meal.
Don’t miss:
Look for ragi mudde (soft balls of finger millet flour) served with nati koli saaru: peppery, slow-cooked country chicken gravy scented with coriander and warm spices. Try it at Malgudi Mylari Mane.
Grab this souvenir:
Pick up mild, deep-red Byadgi chiles, which give ghee roast its flavor, or a box of soft, ghee-laden Mysore pak from a classic sweets shop.
Bengaluru is voracious. The city’s tech workers and startup founders eat widely and without hesitation. One week, they line up at classic military hotels like Shivaji for dishes like donne palav billowing with coriander, mint, and green chile; the next week, they plunk down thousands of rupees for tasting menus at locavore specialist Farmlore or pop-up dinners at Tijouri. And they never forget mainstays like Keralan Coracle, Mangalorean Kudla, and Tamil Dindigul Ponram, which ground the city in South Indian cuisines. Mornings begin at standing-room-only darshinis, where butter-slicked benne dosas arrive blistered and idlis stain fingertips a smoky red with peanut podi. In the evenings, residents gather at decade-old craft breweries that have settled into confident maturity, where citrusy wheat beers and dark stouts pair with fried Andhra chile chicken splintering at the edges and lacquered Mangaluru ghee roast. There’s so much to eat and it finally feels like it’s all connecting.
Eric Sze’s Taipei
The chef and co-owner of 886 and Wenwen in New York City was born and raised in Taiwan. During trips back to Taipei, which he makes a few times a year (including recently for work on his first cookbook, Taiwanese?), he fills his days with Taiwanese breakfast, beef noodle soup, and local craft beer.
Read his full guide to Taipei
Birmingham, Alabama
By Rai Mincey
Why I love eating here:
No matter where I’m dining, I’m met with syrupy-sweet, utterly unhurried hospitality — Southern to the bone. Depending on where you’re from, it feels like a homecoming or a reminder that old-school civility still exists.
Don’t miss:
A meal at a meat-and-three is nonnegotiable. Order crisp fried chicken, mac and cheese, cornbread, and pork-braised vegetables. Start at Niki’s West, Eagle’s Restaurant, or Green Acres.
When to visit:
Aim for autumn, when football tailgates spill across lawns, patios catch afternoon breezes, and the city’s restaurants hit their stride with peak seasonal bounty.
As the home base for Southern Living and Food & Wine, Birmingham is a culinary command center, having quietly shaped American tastes for years. But 2026 is the moment the city jumps off the page. The momentum is unmistakable in a cluster of high-profile openings, including Eater 2025 Best New Restaurants winner Bayonet, the city’s first tasting menu spot Rêve, James Beard finalist Jose Medina Camacho’s tequila bar Adiõs, and ever-expanding local chain Saw’s BBQ. The city doesn’t hang its hat on a single marquee project; Birmingham is an amalgamation of Deep South cooking, meat-and-three institutions, Greek diners, and an old guard of highly decorated culinary talent like Frank Stitt of Chez Fonfon and Chris Hastings of Hot and Hot Fish Club. It all comes together at the Southbound Food Festival — launched in 2022 to celebrate Gulf seafood, barbecue, and other regional foodways — and in the meals that fill the city’s tables every day.
Cape Town, South Africa
By Sarah Khan
Why I love eating here:
A dizzying mix of cultures have long collided here, as amasi, atchar, sambals, pap, and peri-peri fill tables side by side in fast food joints and on tasting menus.
Don’t miss:
Malva pudding is a spongy, sticky cake with a caramelized crunch that’s best with a generous dollop of custard or vanilla ice cream. Try it for yourself at Café Paradiso, Kloof Street House, or the charming Dorp Hotel.
When to go:
Summer (November through March) is peak season, but I’m partial to October and April — the weather is still sublime but the tourist hordes have dissipated, making it easier to score coveted reservations.
Travelers have long flocked to Cape Town for landmark restaurants like Japanese and South African hybrid Fyn or whimsical tasting menu La Colombe. But the most celebrated kitchens rarely reflected the full diversity of South Africa’s communities and traditions. That’s finally changing. At Edge, Vusi Ndlovu’s pan-African menu highlights ingredients like egusi (melon seeds) and ujeqe (Zulu buns), while celebrity chef Siba Mtongana zhuzhes up dishes at Siba Deli with chakalaka relish and samp (similar to hominy). At the V&A Waterfront, chef Nolukhanyo Dube-Cele’s Seven Colours Eatery takes its name from a homestyle mixed platter common on Sundays, while Anwar Abdullatief celebrates the Cape Malay community in a fine dining halal tasting menu at the Happy Uncles. A diverse array of winemakers get their due at Simbi Nkula’s Nkula Cocktail and Wine Boutique and winemaker Rudger van Wyk’s Novel Wine Bar. This year, Cape Town’s many flavors are coming into focus.
The Dominican Republic
By Nicholas Gill
Why I love eating here:
The raw overlap of Latin American and Caribbean influences comes through as you roam the rugged countryside, passing coffee fields and snacking on pan de guáyiga (bread made from guáyiga roots) with champola (a creamy soursop drink).
Don’t miss:
Swiss Dominican chef Olivier Bur’s tasting menu restaurant Casarré in Santo Domingo reimagines Dominican cuisine with local ingredients — and without imported items like flour, milk, eggs, or wine — all cooked over coconut charcoal.
IYKYK:
El Atelier captures the crafty spirit of the Dominican Republic right now, pairing plátano maduro liqueur and mamajuana with regional snacks like chivo guisa’o (a spicy goat stew) and tacos on yuca flour tortillas.
Amidst a landscape of fenced-off resorts that block out any hint of traditional Dominican culture, a thriving culinary movement is going back to the island’s roots. Cooks are coming home after working at influential Latin American restaurants, and leaning into local cuisine with the help of farmers and fishermen. Chef Gabriel Tejada, formerly of Central, opened the hyperseasonal Tenú in Santiago de los Caballeros with a distinctly artistic bent. In Puerto Plata, chef Inés Páez Nin (aka Chef Tita) of Aguají uplifts rural producers of casabe, guáyiga, honey, and cacao through her foundation, IMA. In Santo Domingo, Venezuelan chef Saverio Stassi’s palm-thatched restaurant Ajualä brings global influences to local produce. Supper clubs and plant-focused pop-ups like the Hidden Table and the Tipsy Black Sheep are gaining ground, and fermentation labs and bakeries like El Pan de Salo are booming.
Gaziantep, Turkey
By Mergim Özdamar
Why I love eating here:
In Antep (the local nickname for Gaziantep), craftsmanship still matters. Cooks turn out dishes — from kebabs to katmer (a thin, pistachio-filled pastry served with kaymak) — the same way their grandparents did.
Don’t miss:
İmam Çağdaş is the city’s defining restaurant, a family institution since the 1880s, renowned for kebabs and pistachio desserts. Its ali nazik, lahmacun, and baklava set the benchmark.
Grab this souvenir:
Antep fıstığı, deep-green pistachios that travel well (and generally pass customs inspections). Buy them at Zincirli Bedesten, the city’s most famous historic bazaar.
Gaziantep sits, geographically and culturally, between the Arab world and Anatolia, bearing historical imprints from Aleppan spice routes, Fertile Crescent produce, and ancient Mesopotamian grains. Today, it’s celebrated in Turkey for pistachios (especially in baklava), wood-fired simit kebabs, and smoky ali nazik (eggplant and lamb). It’s also home to a range of communities, including refugees of the civil war in nearby Syria, which officially ended in 2024, though unrest remains. As flight options improve and the Turkish government backs new culinary initiatives, visitors head to Gaziantep to drink menengiç (wild pistachio) coffee at the centuries-old Tahmis Kahvesi, wander the Elmacı Bazaar, and taste ancient dishes at the GastroAntep festival. Chefs are eager ambassadors: Hometown hero and Chef’s Table star Musa Dağdeviren brings regional cuisine to global audiences, while Doğa Çitçi translates research into meals at Mutfak Sanatları Merkezi and the Musem Akademi, where up-and-comers learn to carry on — and share — their culinary traditions.
Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano’s Paris
Chef Mashama Bailey and restaurateur John O. Morisano, the duo behind the Grey in Savannah, opened L’Arrêt in Paris last summer. As French locals learn about the Black Lowcountry cuisine that runs through the new menu, Bailey and Morisano — who both spent time in France previously — are finding their community in neighborhood brasseries and go-to post-shift feasts.
Read their full guide to Paris
Isle of Skye, Scotland
By Carinne Geil Botta
Why I love eating here:
Restaurants are nestled within the landscape, like Lean To Coffee on a family croft and Café Cùil tucked between the Cuillin foothills, offering immersive dining amidst rugged beauty.
Don’t miss:
Langoustines are abundant in the seas surrounding Skye. Some of the best — served with garlic butter and white wine — are found at Stein Inn, where diners can see the boat that brought in the crustaceans earlier in the day.
When to visit:
Due to the island’s dark, rainy winters, it’s much quieter during the colder months. Plan to visit Skye between March and November, when the culinary scene is in full swing.
The Isle of Skye, tucked in the remote northwest of Scotland, has long drawn travelers to its cinematic landscapes and rugged hiking trails. Now the island has taken on a new identity: Scottish culinary epicenter. What’s unfolding here isn’t just a remote fine dining moment. The island’s chefs form a close-knit, homegrown movement defined by extreme seasonality, thick friendships, and fiercely local cooking. From brothers Niall and Calum Munro, owners of Birch and Scorrybreac, respectively, to schoolmates-turned-chefs Calum Montgomery of Edinbane Lodge and Clare Coghill of Café Cùil, many of Skye’s stars embrace their interconnectedness, building community, collaborating, and championing one another. Their menus revolve around seasonal items in the larder: hand-dived scallops from the loch in the morning, seaweed and mushrooms foraged just hours before dinner, lamb raised on windswept hills nearby. Skye’s bounty is evident on every plate, a reflection of the island these chefs proudly call home.
Kelowna, Canada
By Zoe Baillargeon
Why I love eating here:
Menus constantly follow the seasons, so no two meals in Kelowna are ever the same. What’s on offer one day may not be there the next.
Don’t miss:
Dine on seasonal fare at one of the Okanagan’s most esteemed wineries at the Restaurant at Mission Hill. The colonnaded terrace’s panoramic views are among the best in the valley.
Grab this souvenir:
Okanagan wines are nearly impossible to find in the U.S., so if you fall in love with a particular vintage, grab some bottles to take home.
In 2025, for the first time, UNESCO recognized one place in Canada as a Creative City of Gastronomy. It wasn’t Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver, but Kelowna, a town of roughly 165,000 in British Columbia. Canadians instantly understood. Surrounded by family farms, peach orchards, forageable forests, fish-filled lakes, and 200-odd wineries in the Okanagan Valley — which supplies many of Vancouver’s best restaurants — Kelowna is smack-dab in the farm-to-table heartland. The Westbank First Nation, who call the area home, collaborated on the UNESCO application, reflecting the region’s roots in Indigenous foodways, which local businesses like Okanagan Select Salmon and Kekuli Cafe carry on. Start an ideal day with local fruit jam over waffles at the Jammery; tour the North End’s breweries, cheesemongers, butchers, and hip eateries like Wildling; and finish with a wine-paired tasting menu — think pinot noir with Parmesan-topped morel and pea risotto — at a winery restaurant like Cedar Creek’s Home Block.
La Paz, Bolivia
By Valeria Dorado and Marianne Perez-Fransius
Why we love eating here:
La Paz rewards an open mind. Find comforting sopa de maní (peanut soup), modernist Amazonian and Altiplano cooking, midmorning salteñas (baked empanadas), late-night anticuchos, weekend chicharrón, and everything in between.
Don’t miss:
Don’t leave without having lunch at Popular Cocina Boliviana, where a weekly market menu reimagines traditional dishes like locro de zapallo (pumpkin stew) and fricasé (spicy pork stew) with accessible wine pairings.
IYKYK:
Head to El Bestiario for house-infused gin and personalized cocktails paired with smoked pork and tiramisu. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch a local band on the bar’s small stage.
In La Paz, which is emerging as one of South America’s great gastronomic hubs, chefs build on bold flavors and enviable biodiversity. Local culinary talents — many alumni of Gustu, Claus Meyer’s celebrated restaurant that first connected La Paz to the global scene — are defining a thrilling new era in their city. At chef Marsia Taha Mohamed and sociologist/sommelier Andrea Moscoso Weise’s Arami, which has quickly become a defining force in modern Bolivian cuisine, meticulously sourced Amazonian ingredients fill a warm, contemporary tasting menu. Ancestral continues to refine a high-altitude wood-fired philosophy, while Phayawi, led by Valentina Arteaga, expands traditional dishes like sajta (chicken and ají stew) into deeply comforting, proudly Bolivian expressions. Jairo Michel’s research lab Cuartilla, where the chef explores tubers, maize, and peppers alongside expert producers, represents the new wave, while local Kenzo Hirose Velasco continues to push Gustu forward as head chef.
Mauritius
By Meha Desai
Why I love eating here:
Mauritius is small, but its ways of eating are vast. Street stalls, home kitchens, and coastal restaurants offer dishes shaped by migration and memory.
Don’t miss:
Pack a cooler with rum, wine, or coconut water and show up to Lakaz Sandrine in Cap Malheureux. The restaurant will handle the rest, grilling juicy lobster, fresh fish, or the day’s other catch over open coals.
IYKYK:
Dewa and Sons in Rose Hill serves dholl puri folded around warm gros pois, with a mean tomato rougaille and a streak of chile. It’s a favorite among the island’s commuters and one of Mauritius’s most enduring tastes.
Eating in Mauritius feels like joining a centuries-long conversation between India, China, East Africa, Madagascar, Europe, and the Indian Ocean. The island’s communities speak a shared vocabulary in boulettes — dumplings filled with chicken, prawns, or chouchou (chayote); dal puri folded with cari gros pois (butter bean curry); and confit — chile-laced preserves cured with salt, vinegar, or tamarind. In the past, many visitors tasted none of this as they beelined for polished resorts. But recently the island’s community-oriented food economy (independent restaurants, home kitchens, informal vendors) has begun to win over tourists. Locals are reframing everyday foods — Amigo’s lobster roll with mango margaritas, Chez Rosy’s fish and aubergine curry, chana puri at the famous Gros Maraz, Vona Corona cones layered with fruity ice creams and jams — as items worth traveling for. Even hotel restaurants are coming around, as places like Tek Tek lean into the island’s flavors.
Marcus Samuelsson’s Addis Ababa
Ethiopian flavors have long been a part of Marcus Samuelsson’s work at restaurants around the world. In 2023, the chef returned to the country of his birth to open Marcus Addis in the heart of Addis Ababa. For the menu, Samuelsson draws on a range of local flavors and traditions, from haggling over berbere at the market to creative teff pasta at his favorite Italian fusion spot.
Read his full guide to Addis Ababa
Milan, Italy
By Jaclyn DeGiorgio
Why I love eating here:
Milan never fails to surprise. Chefs here defy Italian stereotypes, blending comfort, creativity, and culinary prowess with next-gen innovation.
Don’t miss:
La cotoletta alla Milanese — Milanese veal cutlet, on the bone, fried in clarified butter. Order it 48 hours ahead at Ratanà.
Tourists need to understand:
Milan moves fast. The dining is diverse, the trends are swift, and the reservations at many restaurants are crucial.
As spectators descend on Milan for the Winter Olympics, international tourists are finally waking up to Italy’s most dynamic food city. At Trippa, Diego Rossi fashions intensely savory tagliatelle (which wowed Stanley Tucci) with concentrated chicken broth, Spore’s Mariasole Cuomo transforms fermented squid into crispy lasagna, and Mater Bistrot’s Alex Leone whips up red sauce from strawberries and miso Parmigiano. They’re among a wave of chefs, trained abroad or alongside Italy’s greats, reimagining Italian cooking. Meanwhile, Rome’s star pizzaiolo Gabriele Bonci has joined the scene, while the award-winning Confine continues to impress. Omakase is on the rise, including an outpost of Tokyo’s Hatsune at House of Ronin, and one of Europe’s largest Chinatowns overflows into spots like Chongqing standout Il Gusto della Nebbia and Sichuan gem Guishu. And natural wines find inventive pairings at enoteche con cucina such as Vinoir, Bar Sandøy, Nino, and Balay. Milan’s chefs are playing for keeps.
Okinawa, Japan
By La Carmina
Why I love eating here:
Since childhood, I’ve adored shikuwasa: a tiny, tart green citrus native to the islands. In the summer, cool down with fresh-squeezed shikuwasa juice and ice cream (the local Blue Seal version rocks).
Don’t miss:
Every Okinawan grandma seems to have her version of goya champuru, a stir-fry of bitter melon, pressed shima tofu, egg, and pork belly. Many locals believe it plays a role in their longevity.
IYKYK:
Pick out fresh-caught fish and seafood from vendors at Makishi Public Market and take your catch upstairs to have it cooked to your liking at a fraction of restaurant prices.
Banking on its reputation as a blue zone where residents enjoy remarkably long lives, Okinawa has rewired its tourism industry to market islanders’ traditional diets. Themed tour groups and cooking classes offer items like seafood broth hot pot and cloudlike yushi tofu, while local spots like Shima Robata Fuji or Okinawa Soba Den feature ingredients like purple sweet potato, beady umibudo seaweed, awamori (fermented rice liquor), or native agu pork grilled over charcoal or simmered in kokutō (brown sugar). The prefecture’s 160 islands serve more than health food hype. Centuries ago, the royal kitchens of the Ryukyu Kingdom developed lavish meals featuring steamed black sesame pork and smoked sea snake soup, and provisions on U.S. military bases inspired fusion creations like taco rice after World War II. Whether you seek out kusuimun (foods that act as medicine) or eat for entertainment, do the healthy thing for overtouristed mainland cities and opt for Okinawa.
Route 66, United States
By Justin De La Rosa
Why I love eating here:
Whether I’m grabbing a bành mí at Coda Bakery or a plate of green chile chicken enchiladas at the nostalgic Duran Central Pharmacy, Route 66 has so many stories to tell through food.
Don’t miss:
A hearty breakfast at the iconic Frontier Restaurant is a must on your way in or out of Albuquerque. It sprawls half a block on Central Avenue and is known for its New Mexican eats.
Tourists need to understand:
Route 66 isn’t one road. It’s changed course and masquerades under various names in different cities. Its culture even follows restaurants, like cheeseburger spot Santa Fe Bite or Tulsa chef collective Et Al., that move off the route.
Highways are America’s connective tissue, bonding cities geographically, culturally, and spiritually. This year, the U.S. celebrates the centennial of its most iconic roadway, Route 66, including the diners, truck stops, and culinary time capsules that have served generations of travelers between Illinois and California. There’s a nostalgic allure to Lou Mitchell’s at the route’s starting point in Chicago and popular tourist attractions like Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo. But Route 66 links restaurants from all eras, including neighborhood staples like Oklahoma City’s VII Asian Bistro or the iconic Donut Man in Glendora, California. In my hometown, Albuquerque, it includes roadside gems like the recently renovated El Vado Motel, New Mexican classics like Monte Carlo Steakhouse, and ambitious James Beard finalists like Mesa Provisions. Driving the Mother Road this year reveals how it shaped America — and how America’s communities continue shaping Route 66.
Traverse City, Michigan
By Stacey Brugeman
Why I love eating here:
Traverse City chefs have the quiet confidence to know that a shiro plum from the nation’s fruit belt needs only be sliced and salted.
Don’t miss:
In northern Michigan, the debate du jour is over who makes the best whitefish dip. Don’t miss the Lake Michigan schmear while you’re in town.
Tourists need to understand:
Traverse City is a small town of 15,000, but the population swells in the summer, climbing to 500,000 during July’s National Cherry Festival (which celebrates 100 years in 2026). Restaurant hours and availability can be limited. Call ahead.
Drawn to bucolic farmland, endless cherry and apple orchards, and increasingly respected wine regions, chefs and wine pros are relocating from major cities to this lakeside Arcadia. The area welcomed Andy Elliott and Emily Stewart, who opened Modern Bird (which made the New York Times 50 best restaurants list); winemaker David Bos, who bottles biodynamic riesling; chef Bobby Thoits, who stuffs squash blossoms at Supper; and Sarah Welch and Cameron Rolka, who are preparing to open Umbo. They join longstanding forerunners like American Spoon, Trattoria Stella, and the Cooks’ House, where Jennifer Blakeslee and Eric Patterson were named James Beard finalists in 2025. Despite growing hype, the community remains low-key. Farmers review seed lists with cooks before placing orders, fishermen meet restaurant owners to hand off buckets of smelt, and neighbors knock on kitchen doors to share fresh favas. They foster a collaborative energy that’s only possible in the friendly Midwest.
Credits
Editorial lead: Nick Mancall-Bitel
Creative director: Nat Belkov
Editors: Missy Frederick, Ben Mesirow
Contributors: Zoe Baillargeon, Stacey Brugeman, La Carmina, Jaclyn DeGiorgio, Justin De La Rosa, Meha Desai, Valeria Dorado, Carinne Geil Botta, Nicholas Gill, Sarah Khan, Joanna Lobo, Rai Mincey, Mergim Özdamar, Marianne Perez-Fransius, Manasvi Pote, Carlos Velasco
Copy editor: Nadia Q. Ahmad
Fact checker: Kelsey Lannin
Engagement editors: Zoe Becker, Kaitlin Bray, Terri Ciccone, Avery Dalal
Designer: Masood Shah
Videos: Henna Bakshi, Chiara Caporale, Michelle Fox, Sumedh Natu, Stefania Orrù, Jordan Shalhoub
Photos (in order of appearance):
Aguascalientes: Carlos Velasco, Fernando Macias Romo/Shutterstock
Almaty: Minar Aslanova/Shutterstock, Assem Zhilkibayeva/JAS, Shee Heng Chong/Shutterstock
Bengaluru: Manish Jangid/Ranchan Kedlaya, Coracle, Valeria Mongelli / Getty Images
Eric Sze’s Taipei: Alex Lau
Birmingham: Caleb Chancey, Deborah Michelle Photography, Mary Fehr Photography
Cape Town: Jan Ras, Mia van Heerden
The Dominican Republic: José Rozón, Victor Stonem
Gaziantep: tunart/Getty Images, Adsiz Gunebakan/Anadolu/Getty Images, İmam Çağdaş
Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano’s Paris: L_Arrêt
Isle of Skye: Kinloch Lodge, Café Cùil, Scorrybreac
Kelowna: Kin & Folk, Zeal Social Management
La Paz: Ancestral, Phayawi, Valeria Dorado
Mauritius: SALT of Palmar, Nenban
Marcus Samuelsson’s Addis Ababa: Marcus Addis
Milan: Alberto Blasetti, Iyo
Okinawa: James Nguyen, Okinawa Soba Den
Route 66: Henry Ninde, Shames Kirkikis/Shutterstock, Justin De La Rosa
Traverse City: Frank’s 231, Raquel Lauren
Special thanks: Italo Carvalho, Jill Dehnert, Erin DeJesus, Patty Diez, Allison Hamlin, Lesley Suter, Alissa Thomas, Stephanie Wu
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