The sheer number of exceptional eating establishments that unveiled themselves in 2023 made identifying and ranking the best new restaurants for this annual roundup more difficult than foisting a $15 hot dog onto skeptical Orlando foodies. Re-revisiting these notable hotspots certainly didn't make this somewhat subjective task any easier, and only served to add another 10 pounds to my bay-windowed frame.
Clearly, restricting the selection to just five new restaurants — as we've done every year since the inception of Top Tables in 2012 — was going to be far too limiting, given this banner 12-month period. So, in an effort to accurately reflect this unprecedented year for restaurant openings, the decision was made to expand the selection from five to 10 restaurants, and my brain and belly are all the happier for it. From sophisticated houses of fine dining to frenzied fast-casual sup spots and everything in between, here, then, are the very best restaurants that opened in 2023.
No. 1: Camille
4962 New Broad St., camilleorlando.com
Opened June
Yes, it's the sort of restaurant that's been intentionally and systematically designed, planned and curated to attract the sparkle of Michelin stars and James Beard Awards, but the seductive trappings and glint of tweezers in the pockets of cooks doesn't take away from the fact that chef Tung Phan's creative and unconventional spins on Vietnamese dishes punctuated with classical French flourishes comprise one of the most exciting menus we've seen in years. A dish like Phan's bánh xèo, reimagined here with chunks of tuile-crowned Florida spiny lobster positioned onto a ring of Vietnamese pesto slicked in passion-fruit nước chấm with bourbon barrel-aged fish sauce, isn't just a showpiece; it's photogenic as hell, too. But Camille is so much more than pretty food on pretty plates. Phan purposefully leaves his guests with a sense of the historical connection of France and Vietnam and, as an extension, of the effects the colonizer has on the colonized, and vice-versa. And in today's world, the poignancy of Phan's message is not lost.
No. 2: Primrose Lanes
400 N. Primrose Drive, primroselanes.com
Opened August
It's arguably the most unusual dining venue in town, but bowling alley, Celebrity Room sports lounge and spectator bar aside, it's the dishes crafted by Jason Campbell (with an assist from Team Market Group executive chef Nick Grecco) that's bowling folks over. And while the menu has gone through a few iterations in its short life span, everything from the contentious $15 hot dog to the chilled shrimp roll to the crispy chicken sandwich is the comfort-food equivalent of a 300 game.
No. 3: KungFu Kitchen
8466 Palm Parkway, kfkitchennyc.com
Opened September
Lines are common at this tourist sector outpost of Peter Song's famed New York City dumpling house but, fear not, they tend to move with Disney-like efficiency. Without question, those meat-filled funbags are every bit worth the wait, but just as next-level are the pan-fried buns, scallion pancakes, wokky stir-fries and Song's specialty hand-pulled and knife-cut noodles. Either of those squigglers inside a bowl of beef with chili oil makes a tongue-wagging slurp of worth.
No. 4: Zaru
1114 E. Colonial Drive, zarufl.com
Opened September
It's the adherence to udon's 500-year-old tradition that makes this intimate and striking 30-seater (by James Beard Award-nominated restaurateurs Johnny and Jimmy Tung) the best new restaurant to open in Mills 50. The scratch-made, Sanuki-style noodles are crafted from premium Japanese flour imported from Kagawa Prefecture, the birthplace of udon, and feature in eight different cold and hot noodle dishes. Numerous add-ons augment the slurp, but don't overlook stellar zensai like yaki gyoza, chicken tatsuta-age or a tataki of A5 zabuton.
No. 5: Foreigner Restaurant
2816 Corrine Drive, foreignerrestaurant.com
Opened March
After killing it on the pop-up circuit with the "Foreigner Experience," Bruno Fonseca permanently ensconced his chef's tasting concept into a stunning space in Audubon Park where the Brazil-born chef and his team of "foreigners" now present a multi-course, prix-fixe menu drawing from global influences. It's fussed-up fare, no doubt, but dishes like a caldo verde incorporating jamon Iberico and anchovies play up the comforting aspects of the flavors and that, much like Foreigner's ethos, is universal.
No. 6: Chayote Barrio Kitchen
480 Orlando Ave., Winter Park, chayotewinterpark.com
Opened October
The first stateside restaurant for decorated Puerto Rican chef Mario Pagan presents a menu rooted in what he's dubbed "Nueva Mesa Latina," or the "New Latin Table." And while it's modern in every respect, Chayote's bill of fare celebrates the heritage and culinary footprint of all Hispanic cultures and Latinidad cuisine, from adobo lamb confit with boniato gnocchi to panko-dusted Chilean sea bass with truffle-buttered yuca mousse in a sauce fashioned from foie, port and veal stock. Chayote's interior is a seemingly disparate hodgepodge of bold contemporary and tropical patterns and finishes, but Chayote ugly it's not.
No. 7: Norman's
7924 Via Dellagio Way, normansorlando.com
Opened February
Many chefs on this list owe much to Norman Van Aken, the elder statesman of Florida cookery and progenitor of fusion's "New World Cuisine" subset. The Sand Lake Road location was three-and-a-half years in the making, and the restaurant's sleek new look marks an aesthetic break from the dated environs of the Ritz-Carlton. The menu's original Latin-Caribbean DNA, overseen by chef de cuisine Carlos Robles Molina, remains intact with flavors from Japan and Southeast Asia adding to Van Aken's evolving "New World" understanding. The wine list is just as stellar as before, and a recently launched tasting menu should please the restaurant's most avid patrons.
No. 8: Bakery 1908
2021 E. Colonial Drive, bakery1908.com
Opened November
The sheer number of pastries, breads, buns, cookies and every other conceivable baked good at this Hong Kong-style bakery boggles the mind, but getting to them before they run out is the trick. Yes, they're that good. The fact they also offer dim sum — including soup dumplings, wonton soup, popcorn chicken and their signature fried tofu coated in scallion, roasted garlic, cilantro and red pepper — makes it all the more remarkable. The boba tea and coffee game is just as strong.
No. 9: Superica
415 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park, superica.com/winter-park
Opened November
Five-time James Beard Award nominee Ford Fry has effectively spread the true gospel of Tex-Mex throughout the Southeast with his Superica brand of restaurants, and Winter Park is all the better for it. Dishes like tacos al carbon with guava-glazed crispy pork belly and the jiggly 36-hour-smoked hunk of bone-in short rib coated in a charred chipotle-molasses crust are as vibrant as Superica's colorful interior, where cattle horns, blingy light fixtures, taxidermy and glam Italian red-leather stools converge.
No. 10: Sushi Saint
400 Pittman St., sushisaint.com
Opened October
Michael Collantes has set the bar for temaki celestially high with Sushi Saint, though prices for the conical, three-bite hand rolls veer toward the wicked. It doesn't take away from the fact that the temaki are sinfully savory, thanks to seaweed sheets Collantes procures from a small purveyor in Japan. They lend the rolls — filled with everything from uni to snow crab to bluefin tartare — a delicate crisp as well as a subtle umami flavor. Hand rolls are available at the bar only, while a separate menu is available for those dining amid the lounge's tropical wabi-sabi setting.
Honorable Mention: Danilo's Pasta Bar
3201 Corrine Drive, instagram.com/danilos_orlando
Opened June
As the second Domu Lab concept to take up residency at the Neighbors at East End Market, chef Danilo "DJ" Tangalin's pasta bar impresses with dolled-up riffs on Filipino-Italian fare remixed with French pops. The $75 tasting menu option is an eight-course tour de force that changes weekly (think "surf 'n' turf" comprising squid ink tagliatelle, Chinese sausage, bay scallops, chicken, carrots and cabbage in an oyster-soy broth). And much like its predecessor, Camille, the third-culture cooking here is also introducing new flavor combinations to the city. Don't be surprised if Danilo's goes brick and mortar next year.
Other notable 2023 openings:
Beirut Grill & Deli: Grilled kebabs, spit-fired meats and manakeesh lure them in.
Caravan: Uzbek charcoal-fired kebabs, hand-pulled Uyghur-style noodles, dumplings and savory pastries.
Chuan Fu: Legit Sichuan fare comes to Winter Park.
Cow & Cheese: Smashing house of smashburgers by Chicken Fire's Kwame Boakye.
The Current Seafood Counter: Coast-vibed seafood spot serving everything from fresh catch to shellfish.
The Dough Show: Savory and sweet Egyptian pies fashioned from feteer.
Farm & Haus: Feeding Park Avenue's early risers with a host of pre-noon pick-me-ups.
Fluffy Fluffy: Good things, in the form of poofy airy pancakes, come to those who wait.
Friendship BBQ: Flushing import specializes in skewered morsels of meat, seafood and veg.
Kavas Tacos & Tequila: Delivering the Tex and the Mex to Pointe Orlando in style.
Kyuramen: Nine types of ramen in shio, miso and shoyu varieties.
Mares Peruvian Cuisine: Peruvian fare and flair off tony Park Avenue.
Maya Café Lounge: The gallery's indomitable feel-good spirit finds its way to the kitchen.
Nauti Lobstah: Bringing New England seafood cred to Apopka.
Papi Smash Burgers: Smashburger joint downtown makes mince of its rivals.
Phở Gà Hien Vuong: Farm-fresh chicken soups of the highest order.
Pisco Peruvian Gastrobar: Another stellar option for ceviche.
Sanshi Noodle House: Spotlighting Yunnanese crossing-the-bridge noodles.
Smoke & Donuts: Sweet and meaty sanctuary steeped in nostalgia.
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