One of the most exciting openings of 2023, Akuna in Le Meridien Saigon is where glamor meets radical innovation. Chef and restaurateur Sam Aisbett blends his Australian culinary background in Australia, including time at Japanese restaurant Tetsuya, with Vietnamese produce and techniques. Akuna is an Aboriginal word that means flowing water, and Aisbett says his six-course tasting menus are inspired by the “glorious chaos” of Ho Chi Minh City. This might mean his Smoked Australian Free Range Pork Jowl, slow-cooked for eight hours and served with scallop rice noodle sheets, Jade Tiger abalone, silken tofu, termite mushrooms, and lotus seeds in broth. Or his dish of Saltwater Crocodile, Broken Rice Porridge, and Shoyuzuke, with a base of poached crocodile tongue and cured quail egg yolk. Aussie chocolate bar Cherry Ripe gave Aisbett the story for his Cherry, Chocolate, Coconut, and Macadamia dessert.

Atelier Moessmer is a beacon of culinary innovation in Brunico, South Tyrol, where Chef Norbert Niederkofler’s commitment to a zero-waste ethos is not just a practice but a mantra. The essence of each ingredient is artfully extracted and showcased in dishes that highlight the team's depth of knowledge across a wide range cooking techniques. The restaurant thrives under the philosophy of cooking with purpose and precision, ensuring that every part of the product is used and respected, from the offal to the best cuts. Executive Chef Mauro Siega's ingenuity is infamous, as is his exceptional venison bone marrow crêpe, with its earthy porcini mushroom oil and piquant juniper salt. His venison tartare is another marvel, tenderly marinated and served with chive mayonnaise, robust mountain mustard, and subtle notes of larch. The immersive experience is further enriched by Lukas Gerges, whose role is much more than restaurant manager and head sommelier. His ambrosial kombucha dances on the palate with notes of apple, lemon verbena, pine, spruce, and wild thyme, such that you may well mistake it for a fruity vintage. Atelier Moessmer is more than a restaurant; it is a gastronomic encounter that redefines high end sustainable dining.

The gastronomic crown of the heart of the Luberon, Le Mas Les Eydins in the charming village of Bonnieux is the inspired vision of Christophe Bacquié and his wife Alexandra. This dynamic duo, previously lauded at the prestigious Hôtel du Castellet, are now making their own mark on the restaurant world. Le Mas Les Eydins is proof of their ambition and hard work. They have built a sanctuary where fine dining merges with warmth and intimacy. Within this idyllic retreat, the art of cooking achieves impressive levels of authenticity and is unfettered by ostentation. Bacquié’s signature dishes, each meticulously prepared with the finest local produce, bring flavors together into an unparalleled fine dining experience. Every aspect of dinner at Le Mas Les Eydins is curated to be distinctive. The menu showcases the region's bounty, and impeccable service complements the rhythm of the kitchen. Soon after opening, the Bacquiés' new venture became well known as a destination restaurant with rooms, and a unique haven with impeccable commitment to taste, tradition, and innovation.

Espadon, chef Eugénie Béziat's new restaurant, can be found in the revered Ritz Hotel, where the legendary Auguste Escoffier once set about transforming the way the whole world cooked and ate. This venue is a tribute to the storied culinary legacy of the hotel but with a fresh, modern perspective. Drawing on her African heritage and her mother’s Provençal influence, Béziat offers a menu of intriguing dishes, among which the rosemary-infused tomato confit cake stands out for its daring interplay of flavors. Espadon represents a bold new gastronomic era for the Ritz, marrying the grandeur of its past with the ingenuity of the present.

Lucky Brooklyn. Noma veteran Mads Refslund has brought the year’s hippest and most hyped opening to Greenpoint with Ilis - a portmanteau of the Danish words for fire and ice - and a clue to the menu’s clever presentation of dishes as both cooked and cold. Situated in a former rubber warehouse, the seamless, spacious dining room is designed around the open kitchen, which serves a flexible tasting menu including snacks from a trolley service. Expect Noma levels of attention to detail and twists of nature, from the clam, tomato, and dashi drink course served in a large surf clam ‘flask’, and staff who rotate between the kitchen and front of house, sharing their exceptional menu knowledge as they serve diners.