Unbiased hotel reviews are Andrew Harper’s foundation, but we also take pride (and pleasure) in reviewing restaurants. When we dine, we follow our usual protocol of paying full price and not declaring our identity. One might expect us to confine our culinary explorations to fine-dining establishments, but we know that casual meals can be just as memorable as elaborate tasting menus. This year, we’ve given awards to venues ranging from an ambitious Latin-Afro-European restaurant on the Brazilian coast to a converted mansion serving vegetarian fare in India. The list below represents 2025’s best dining experiences outside of those in hotels we recommended.

Atoma
Seattle, Washington

Serving distinctive seasonal cuisine in a Craftsman-style home, this restaurant is well worth the drive from downtown. Chef Johnny Courtney previously worked at Canlis, one of our favorite Seattle restaurants. So, perhaps it’s unsurprising that he created the best meal of our trip. As we sipped glasses of Gosset Grande Réserve Brut and ’70s music played in the background, our food began to arrive. One highlight was a savory fried rosette-shaped cookie, filled with farmer’s cheese and Walla Walla onion jam. But I also relished the main courses, like the bright halibut with nettle gnocchi and green garlic. Knowledgeable servers provided highly professional service during the entirety of our purposefully lengthy stay.

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Seline
Santa Monica, California

Seline is Santa Monica’s most exciting debut in years. Chef Dave Beran worked in Chicago as chef de cuisine at Alinea, which until recently had three Michelin stars. At Seline, the tasting menu isn’t as theatrical as Alinea’s, but the creative combinations of ingredients are dazzling. Consider the humble palate cleanser: instead of sorbet, a single frozen mustard leaf coated in passion fruit dust. What a refreshing and startling bite! Meatier dishes were no less sublime. The smoked New York strip with charred fennel and a bone marrow brioche was comfort food supreme. I also appreciated the unaffected service style and unimpeachable pacing. If I had to choose between Alinea or Seline, I’d pick Seline.

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Vern’s
Charleston, South Carolina

We ate well in Charleston — as one does — but this small corner establishment stood out. Instead of leaning heavily on Lowcountry staples, Vern’s puts its own spin on each dish. Vegetables get star billing (like the tomatoes with delicate greens tossed in an earthy pesto of scallion, za’atar and local goat cheese), pasta dishes come with inventive twists (cacio e pepe with ground rabbit), and even the bread course surprises (sourdough flatbread with allium butter and dill). Vern’s has received praise not only from the national press but from the toughest crowd in town: locals in the service industry. The hype is real, but so is the food.

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Manga
Salvador, Brazil

Brazilian fare is drastically underappreciated. But at Manga, the country’s tropical bounty takes center stage in fresh and ambitious dishes that blend Latin American, African and European influences. Both playful and expertly executed, the culinary compositions — like the whole fried fish, which arrived at our table dramatically suspended from a hook — struck a balance between elegance and audacity, combining traditional Bahian flavors with avant-garde techniques. And yet somehow, the whole experience also felt relaxed, friendly and utterly unpretentious. This restaurant alone makes the trip to Salvador worthwhile.

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La Verdoyante
Gassin (near Saint-Tropez), France

Near the pretty hill town of Gassin on the French Riviera, family-owned La Verdoyante has an inviting patio that overlooks vineyards and a snippet of the sea. The short à la carte menu (two appetizers, five main courses and four desserts when we visited) includes as many seasonal ingredients as possible, assembled into delicious renditions of classics. I especially enjoyed my rosy-pink veal tenderloin with girolle mushrooms surrounded by creamy polenta enriched with Comté cheese. The wine list includes numerous well-chosen local bottlings. With its unfussy, flavor-packed cuisine and scenic setting, this restaurant exemplifies the pleasures of French countryside dining.

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De Kas
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Set in a soaring 1920s greenhouse within the lush Park Frankendael, De Kas embodies the farm-to-table ethos. The huge, light-filled glass structure rises amid its own kitchen gardens, a design that perfectly suits a restaurant that places peak-season produce at the forefront. The dishes burst with bright, fresh flavors, each one strewn with flowering plants of every color that made the presentation as vivid as the taste. Afterward, lingering on the dappled terrace, we looked out across the perfectly tended gardens glowing in the late-afternoon light, a fitting finale to one of the year’s most memorable meals.

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Innocenti Wines Enoteca Ristorante
Florence, Italy

In the heart of Florence’s historic center, Innocenti Wines Enoteca Ristorante is currently one of the finest options in town. The restaurant combines elevated Italian cuisine, historic design and an exceptional wine selection. Guests can dine in the cellar amid ancient Roman structures; on the main level, where countless wine bottles for sale line the walls; or on the mezzanine beneath 14th-century frescoes. During our tasting menu, a passionate sommelier guided the pairings, each selection enhancing the finesse of the dishes. The unassuming exterior gives little hint of the refined experience that awaits inside.

Read our full review of Innocenti Wines Enoteca Ristorante »

The Johri
Jaipur, India

We had many fine meals in India, but the best was at The Johri hotel. The beautiful vegetarian Indian food and creative cocktails make it worthwhile to walk the unappealing block to the entrance. The dining room occupies part of a restored haveli, but it feels fashionable as well as historic. One delight after another filled our table. Bowls of silky saffron-pumpkin soup came with spiced pepitas and curry leaves. Patties of lentil and sangri, a Rajasthani desert plant, were surprisingly rich. And we had a luxurious plate of chargrilled Kashmiri morels stuffed with fresh cheese. This is the restaurant not to miss in Jaipur.

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Horsamut
Bangkok, Thailand

After a morning tour of historic Thonburi, our guide led us to his new favorite spot in Bangkok, and it’s now one of mine too. Opened in 2023, Horsamut is tucked at the end of a scruffy alley overlooking Wat Arun’s spires across the river. The menu leans heavily on seafood, much of it sustainably sourced from small boats. Alongside classics like stir-fried crab curry, tom yum goong and spring rolls, the kitchen turns out transcendent Thai dishes you’d be hard-pressed to find stateside: watermelon with crispy snakehead, Thai crepe with lime-dressed crab and sun-dried squid roasted over charcoal.

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Bianca
Auckland, New Zealand

Opened just a year before our visit, Bianca had already transformed from a low-key “pasta deli” to a fashionable spot that the New Zealand Herald called the “hottest ticket in town.” Chef Hayden Phiskie launched his solo venture in an unassuming Ellerslie storefront and made the neighborhood a destination because of it. He not only oversees the menu and the open kitchen but also plays host and server, eager to share his Italian dishes: simple but inspired fare like creamy goat cheese dumplings in a supple beurre blanc or paper-thin beef tartare with anchovy mayo and pistachio crumbles. More than a restaurant, Bianca is a one-man passion project.

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