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Asian cuisines are hot all over the country.
Two chefs with fine-dining pedigrees turned their attention to the kind of Chinese food that soothes the soul and titillates the tongue at this favorite in the Third Ward area of Milwaukee.
Website: dandanmke.com
Address: 360 E. Erie St., Milwaukee
Phone number: 414-488-8036
Number of seats: 116 in dining room, 20 in private dining and 30 outdoors
Entrée price range: $12-$69
Popular dishes: Dandan noodles with ground pork, chile oil, bok choy, scallion and cilantro; Happy Chicken with five chiles and five spices; Peking duck with hoisin, scallion, pancakes, cucumber, stir-fried duck, duck egg, foie gras, cherry tomatoes, chow fun noodles, roast duck truffle bone broth, duck dumplings and bok choy.
What others say: “It’s not every Chinese-American restaurant where you’re more likely to hear hip-hop or rock than, say, a traditional melody plucked on a guzheng.” –Carol Deptolla, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
An interior view
The Happy Chicken entree
In Providence, R.I., operators of the popular restaurant The Duck & Bunny match cheeky, campy devotion to downhome retro fun with food geared toward palates more sophisticated than might be expected.
Website: ogiestrailerpark.com
Address: 1155 Westminster St., Providence
Phone number: 401-383-8200
Number of seats: 109 indoors, 95 outdoors
Entrée price range: $8-$10
Popular dishes: Granny Boo’s Badass Bacon Burger with marinated tomato, slab bacon, Cooper sharp cheese, Ogie's sauce, green leaf and onion on a sesame roll; Southern Rhody fried chicken sandwich with slab bacon, Dorito-fried chicken breast, slab bacon, house mayonnaise, Cooper sharp cheese, marinated tomato, sweet red onion gastrique and green leaf lettuce on a sesame roll; panko crusted mac & cheese croquettes with bacon, onion cream dip and cheddar béchamel.
What others say: “It’s a theme park. It’s a ‘Jetsons’ set. No, it’s a bar-restaurant.” –Jenna Pelletier, Providence Journal
An interior view
Southern Rhody fried chicken sandwich
This decidedly hip addition to the Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas comes via chef Chris Santos and a restaurant with roots on New York’s gritty Lower East Side.
Website: beautyandessexlv.com
Address: 3708 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Phone number: 702-737-0707
Number of seats: 230
Entrée price range: $31-$50
Popular dishes: Grilled cheese with smoked bacon and tomato soup dumplings; avocado, lemon & espellette jewels on toast; 14-ounce Prime dry-aged sirloin; peanut butter pie sundae with peanut butter ice cream, chocolate sauce, chocolate chunks and crushed pretzels.
What others say: “It’s a sumptuous-looking place that will likely wow tourists, while Strip-inured locals will probably take a more subtle view, since glamour is our everyday.” –Doug Elfman, Las Vegas Review-Journal
An emerald gimlet
Tartare
In Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a surf-minded seaside theme attends this fast-casual home for the craze surrounding poke bowls and other sumptuous marine cuisine.
Website: thepokehouse.com
Address: 666 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale
Phone number: 754-200-4555
Number of seats: 45
Entrée price range: $10-$15
Popular dishes: Punta Hermosa Peru poke bowl with tuna or hamachi marinated in aji amarillo emulsion, green rice, red onion, scallions, concha and crispy sweet potato; Pipeline Nachos with tuna or salmon over wonton chips with baby kale, pico de gallo, scallions, cream cheese, black radish, avocado, red tobiko and chipotle mayonnaise; North Shore steamed buns with passion fruit-ginger-marinated tuna, kimchi, avocado purée, crispy sweet potato, seaweed nori and togarashi.
What others say: “Unlike a lot of poke spots, this one has plenty of adult beverages on hand like sake infusions such as mango-habanero sake and charred pineapple sake, plus sake both on draft and by the bottle.” –Olee Fowler, Eater Miami
Poke bowl
An interior view
Cajun and Creole food are not unusual in New Orleans, but this newish addition — opened in 2012 but appointed with a new executive chef more recently — adds a little extra modern spin to a cuisine that can be timeless when done right.
Website: annunciationrestaurant.com
Address: 1016 Annunciation St., New Orleans
Phone number: 504-568-0245
Number of seats: 160
Entrée price range: $10-$32
Popular dishes: Baked oysters with boudin and hollandaise; Chappapeela Farms pork osso bucco with charred corn, Papa Tom’s cheese grits and chiles; seared yellowfin tuna with Creole fried rice, sweet potato hot sauce and steel sauce (a combination of Steen’s syrup, gastrique and eel sauce); gulf drum with sweet potatoes, sautéed kale and moutarde beurre blanc.
What others say: “You can turn back the clock with a dinner of turtle soup, shrimp étouffée and bread pudding without feeling conspicuously retro.” –Ian McNulty, Gambit
Blood and Hops cocktail
Gulf drum
In the spirit of Silicon Valley, this inventive and innovative restaurant in Palo Alto, Calif., extrapolates on a finer side of San Francisco and adds new ideas to the mix, courtesy of chef Robbie Wilson.
Website: birddogpa.com
Address: 420 Ramona St., Palo Alto
Phone number: 650-656-8180
Number of seats: 100
Entrée price range: $12-$34
Popular dishes: Ocean trout with bagna cauda, horseradish, buttermilk and squid chip; wood-grilled avocado with ponzu and fresh wasabi; wagyu strip loin with red peanut romesco; fried chicken thigh with green curry, egg yolk and smoked uni.
What others say: “It will be a while before I forget the experience of eating a perfectly grilled avocado while sitting on a blue mohair banquette, listening to a mix of ’80s new wave and ’90s R&B, then excusing myself to the ladies room, where a recording of Julia Child explained how to make bouillabaisse.” –Jennifer Graue, Mercury News
Heirloom carrots
An interior view
In St. Louis, chef Gerard Craft surprised fans by closing his beloved Niche (for which he won a James Beard Award in 2015) and re-opening in the form of Sardella, an Italian restaurant with more leeway than locavore habits allow and a more casual environment.
Website: sardellastl.com
Address: 7734 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton, Mo.
Phone number: 314-773-7755
Number of seats: 60
Entrée price range: $10-$30
Popular dishes: Charred green beans with roasted garlic custard, Calabrian chile vinaigrette and basil; miso-ricotta ravioli with orange, pepitas, brown butter and tarragon; Perennial Artisan Ales Abraxas-braised lamb neck with piadinas; pistachio white chocolate panna cotta with candied pistachio, cookie crumble and blueberries.
What others say: “At Sardella, Craft casts off the hyper-local limitations in favor of Italian-inspired dishes. While local purveyors are still widely used, Sardella’s dishes feature previously prohibited ingredients like seafood, lemons and chocolate.” –Sauce magazine
An interior view
Miso ricotta ravioli
This small and enchanting destination on the edge of downtown Santa Fe, N.M., mixes a serious beer list with food drawing on local ingredients and exotic flavor combinations in a manner fit for a self-dubbed “upscale pub.”
Website: fireandhopsgastropub.com
Address: 222 N. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe
Phone number: 505-954-1635
Number of seats: 50 inside, 24 outside
Entrée price range: $12-$24
Popular dishes: Crispy Brussels sprouts with fish sauce and lime; pork spare ribs with gochujang barbecue and local pea shoots; pork belly tacos with pineapple kimchi, radish and cilantro; shoyu ramen with roasted pork, sous vide farm egg, cabbage and green onion.
What others say: “If you're looking for a spot with a strong beer selection to go with good food, this may be one of the best in the whole state of New Mexico.” –comment at Beer Advocate
An interior view
House-ground burger with caramelized onions
