Top Chef Kwame Onwuachi elevates West African cuisine to fine dining prominence with the launch of Tatiana in New York City, named for his sister who helped to raise him in the Bronx. He blends Creole, Nigerian, and Caribbean flavors with a focus on local produce, offering distinctive dishes such as crab dumplings in egusi sauce, curried goat patties, and fried okra. In spite of early operational hiccups such as overly long waits, Tatiana was popular with critics from the beginning, including Pete Wells, and was named The New York Times’ No. 1 restaurant in the city for 2023. Onwuachi’s autobiographical work, Notes from a Young Black Chef, recounts his struggles with discrimination and adversity on his path to success. Onwuachi's career began in the Bronx and included pivotal experiences in Nigeria before his formal education at the Culinary Institute of America. His passion for Afro-Caribbean cuisine is a homage to his roots, with each plate at Tatiana celebrating his ancestry. Tatiana pairs the vibrant energy of a nightclub with the refined experience of upscale dining, as well as a model of cultural representation and inclusivity, with the diverse backgrounds of staff reflected in the menu. Onwuachi's rise from humble origins to celebrity chef is a story of hard work, determination, and genuine talent and innovation, underscoring his commitment to bring overlooked food cultures into the limelight.

Norway’s latest fine dining restaurant takes experiential eating to new levels. To dine at Iris, you must first fly to Bergen, then drive for several hours and take a ferry ride to Rosendal. To reach the restaurant, you then board an electric boat and cross the Hardanger fjord before disembarking at the futuristic Salmon Eye vessel, an art installation developed to share knowledge about sustainable fishing and ocean conservation. Danish executive chef Anika Madsen began cooking a decade ago, inspired by Noma, and has an impressive resumé from Copenhagen’s best restaurants. Her 18-course menus steadfastly honor sustainability and hyperlocalism, and tell a story about the challenges and threats to the global food system, while also offering solutions. The six-hour dinner includes marine bounty from crispy kelp and sea urchin to cod and scallop roe, and mussels and shrimp, alongside less usual ingredients such as mycelium and insect protein. The experience begins with a film explaining Iris's innovative strategies to combat food waste. While the restaurant itself is exemplary in terms of local ingredient sourcing, it must also navigate the complexities of its global appeal and the inherent sustainability paradox of sustainable travel. Madsen is well aware of this dynamic, drawing parallels with international climate conferences that, for all their environmental impact, act as catalysts for worldwide ecological initiatives. She explains that although the journey to Iris might not be ideal, the restaurant's overarching goal is to kindle in guests a passion for sustainable practices, and contribute to the wider narrative of innovation and environmental responsibility. Iris emerges as a worthy blend of artistic expression, environmental awareness, and sustainable cuisine. Perched on the island of Sniltsveitøy, Iris embodies an ethos that resonates with the principles of carbon-neutral pioneers like Eide Fjordbruk. The establishment doesn't just talk about sustainability, it brings it to life. From dishes derived from ingredients found within a 500-meter radius, to the reindeer tartare that exemplifies food with a low carbon footprint, Iris transcends the boundaries of fine dining and stands as a beacon for change, challenging its diners to reconceptualize the future of food, and their own contribution to our future menus.