Kevin Gray

🍴 William Reed will publish North America's 50 Best Restaurants, featuring the U.S., Canada, and parts of the Caribbean, excluding Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic which are part of Latin America's 50 Best since 2013. The top-50 list is to be announced at a live ceremony later this year, on a date yet to be confirmed. U.S. restaurants like New York's Eleven Madison Park and Atomix, as well as California's SingleThread, have previously made the World’s 50 Best list. The North American rankings are derived from a panel of 300 anonymous voters, including chefs, journalists, and gourmets, with no participation fee for restaurants.

🔥 Texas barbecue's popularity has led to craft joints earning Michelin recognition. Kafi BBQ in Irving, less than three months old, offers a halal, wagyu beef-centered menu, drawing on founder Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi's six years of experience after purchasing a Traeger smoker. KG BBQ in Austin, started by Kareem El-Ghayesh who left finance in Cairo for Texas in 2016, blends North African and Middle Eastern flavors with Texan tradition, earning a James Beard semifinalist nod and Bib Gourmand in Michelin Guide's recent Texas expansion. Texas Monthly’s top-ranked Goldee’s in Fort Worth serves smoked Lao sausage, while Fort Worth's Sabar and Arlington's Smoke’N Ash BBQ blend Pakistani and Ethiopian influences, respectively. Blood Bros. in Houston and other statewide restaurants incorporate Asian, Cajun, and Mexican flavors. These pitmasters view barbecue as a cultural bridge, with plans to create community hubs celebrating food, art, and culture.

🍸 The early 2000s cocktail renaissance continues, with bartenders using savory ingredients like cilantro in drinks. Empirical Spirits in Brooklyn, N.Y., launched a cilantro spirit last fall with 38% alcohol volume, made from French wheat, cilantro stems and leaves, lime, and tomatillo. Lolita in New York City offers the No Güey using Empirical’s cilantro spirit and sotol. Dear Strangers, which opened in November in Greenwich Village, features cilantro in the Star Treatment cocktail. The trend extends to international locations like NoMad London with their best-selling Sergeant Pepper cocktail and Licorería Limantour in Mexico City with an Al Pastor Margarita. Despite cilantro's divisive taste, its use in cocktails is growing.