A Norwegian chef’s take on mindful locavore food (including regional trout revered the world over) is the focus at this rustic but refined restaurant in the Catskills in upstate New York.

Website: henningslocal.com

Address: 6 Old County Road, Cochecton Center, N.Y.

Phone number: 845-252-3008

Number of seats: 68 in the dining room, 14 at the bar

Entrée price range: $22-$39

Popular dishes: Steak Diane: filet mignon tops, flambé with cognac with capers, mustard and Worcestershire, gold mash potatoes and seasonal vegetables; Beaverkill Rainbow Trout à la Norwegienne seared and simmered in sour cream, with fingerling potatoes and chives; Roasted Campanelli’s Farm Cornish Cross young chicken served au jus with golden, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and braised seasonal greens

What others say: “Pulling up to Henning’s Local offers quite the juxtaposition: one of the region’s best farm-to-table restaurants sits above Heinle’s General Store, which is also a functional gas station. As bewildering as it is, there’s a definite charm to it … plus, the food is fantastic. Norwegian chef Henning Nordanger has a serious love for fish — going so far as dividing his menu between “fish” and “not fish” — and offers up inventive Scandinavian dishes like trout sashimi and gravlaks.” — Escape Brooklyn

The dining area

Sesame-seared Beaverkill rainbow trout

A popular spot with the air of a fine-dining destination in Mexico City has become a favorite new addition to the thriving scene in downtown Austin, Texas.

Website: atxcocina.com

Address: 110 San Antonio Street, Suite 170 Austin, Texas

Phone number: 512-263-2322

Number of seats: 220

Entrée price range: $20-$25

Popular dishes: Sope with cochinita pibil, bean purée and habanero-onion salsa (x-ni pek); tostada with jumbo lump crab, corn, avocado, tomato, tomatillo salsa and herbs; chile roasted chicken with white mole, braised cabbage and cebollitas

What others say: “Longtime local restaurateurs Larry Foles and Guy Villavaso, known for perennial favorites Eddie V's Prime Seafood, Salty Sow, and, more recently, Red Ash Italia, have struck gold once again with a modern Mexican concept at the Northshore building downtown. Never mind the unimaginative name, ATX Cocina is anything but.” — Claudia Alarcon, Culture Map Austin

Tacos

The bar

Landlocked status has not inhibited this seafood-boil concept derived from pop-up crawfish boils in San Antonio, Texas.

Website: pinchboilhouse.com

Address: 124 N. Main Ave., San Antonio, Texas

Phone number: none

Number of seats: 50 in the dining area, 18 at the bar

Entrée price range: $15-$25

Popular dishes: Bánh mì sandwich with pork loin; fresh seafood boil with littleneck clams; Pinch fries with crab, umami mayonnaise, Sriracha and scallions

What others say: “Pinch's food seems inspired by food truck cuisine, in that they focus on a few high quality items that are uniquely conceived.” — comment on Yelp

Blue crab in garlic butter sauce

Outside looking in

This fetching Mexican favorite with a second location in Dallas moved to a new, larger location with a patio and more space to be festive in.

Website: urban-taco.com

Address: 5321 E Mockingbird Suite 105, Dallas

Phone number: 214-823-4723

Number of seats: 74

Entrée price range: $12-$14

Popular dishes: Tacos al pastor: vertical spit-roasted pork, roasted pineapple, salsa verde cruda, onions and cilantro; Ensalada Tropical: romaine, mixed greens, papaya, grapefruit, hearts of palm, cherry tomato, pickled red onion, avocado-lime cream and passion fruit vinaigrette; Avocado Ceviche Tower: Guacamole, red snapper and shrimp, avocado lime, pineapple pico and mango jícama slaw

What others say: “Where do I even begin? ... Urban Taco is my little slice of heaven. Everything from the food, the ambiance, the people and of course the delicious [M]argaritas have me coming back every time.” — comment on Yelp

Tacos al pastor a la Tuma

Urban Taco’s bar

Opened in Naples, Fla., to complement the Italian restaurant Osteria Tulia, this side operation offers a creative bar program to service small plates and fuller portions of gastropub fare too.

Website: bartulia.com

Address: 462 Fifth Ave. South, Naples, Fla.

Phone number: 239-228-7606

Number of seats: 54

Entrée price range: $10-$32

Popular dishes: Modena pizza with pancetta, house ricotta, Brussels sprouts and garlic chips; octopus with black rice, chorizo, Romesco sauce and bone marrow gremolata; BT Bucket O' Fried chicken with house cut fries and grilled corn

What others say: “Craft drinks and tapas-style cuisine is what gastropub Bar Tulia hails on Fifth Avenue. The menu ranges from items like charcuterie boards and pizza to larger entrees like the brick chicken with caramelized sprouts and foie gras butter.” — Stacy Moya, Eater Miami

Beef tartare

The bar at Bar Tulia

This small eatery in Washington, D.C., doles out sophisticated Japanese curios with a sizeable presence of mystique (the name translates as “secret”).

Website: himitsudc.com

Address: 828 Upshur St. NW, Washington, D.C.

Phone number: none

Number of seats: 24

Entrée price range: $12-$27

Popular dishes: Napa cabbage, rapini, mushrooms, chile soy dashi, toasted rice, soft-poached egg & herbs; yellowtail, fish sauce vinaigrette, Thai chile, orange and tobiko; Kobe beef tri-tip steak from Snake River Farms with umami butter rice, Napa white kimchee and garlic-soy

What others say: “The second-biggest challenge at this beloved shoe box is narrowing down your choices. It’s almost impossible to find a lesser dish on the Japanese-bent menu conceived by chef Kevin Tien and drinks maven Carlie Steiner.” — Tom Sietsema, The Washington Post

Popular Himitsu plates

An interior scene

Middle-Eastern food with a surfeit of style is the focus on this Los Angeles hot spot in the Freehand hotel by the Sydell Group, known for the Nomad in New York and the Line in L.A.’s Koreatown.

Website: freehandhotels.com/los-angeles/the-exchange/

Address: 416 W. 8th St., Los Angeles, Calif.

Phone number: 213-395-9531

Number of seats: 82

Entrée price range: $16-$46

Popular dishes: Grilled lamb kebab with stuffed poblano chile, kale, feta, potato and pistachio; cauliflower with preserved lemon aïoli, almond, pecorino and pita breadcrumbs; fish collar, prawns, squid, mussels & clams in spicy tomato dash with charred tomatillo

What others say: “Gabe Orta and Elad Zvi, who head the bar and restaurant, brought local chef Alex Chang to Israel as part of the process of creating the menu. Orta and Zvi are the team behind Bar Lab, famous for their James Beard Award-nominated Broken Shaker Bar at Miami's Freehand Hotel.” — Heather Platt, L.A. Weekly

Chraime at The Exchange

Another view of the dining area

This Asian eatery in Providence, R.I., goes high on creativity and low on pretense, as befits a restaurant with roots growing back to David Chang’s Momofuku empire in New York.

Website: foodbynorth.com

Address: 122 Fountain St., Providence, R.I.

Phone number: none

Number of seats: 45

Entrée price range: $15-$25

Popular dishes: Dan dan noodles with mutton, squid, fermented chile and black pepper; hot flavor sesame noodles with pickled greens, broccoli, garlic and chile; black bass chirashi with furikake, scallion and hozon

What others say: “The food at North contains more than a pinch of Momofuku, along with a dash of Mission Chinese, another recently influential restaurant. The rest is a mishmash of what the cooks have imagined themselves, learned in their travels, and incorporated from the immigrant communities of Providence, particularly Cambodian.” — Devra First, The Boston Globe

Wood-charred broccoli

Lamb tartare