What makes a restaurant exceptional?
T
he South was abuzz with this question even more so than usual with the arrival of the very first MICHELIN guide to the American South, with the award ceremony held in Greenville, South Carolina, last November. We’re thrilled for those recognized, some of whom are also mentioned in these pages.
Once the excitement of the results has worn off, I overheard (and found myself asking) questions like, “did MICHELIN have enough time to really get to know the region?” and “were key representatives of the full range of Southern dining omitted?” While these questions may sound like criticism, I think it’s important that we ask them. It makes me grateful for the access we have at The Local Palate, being based in the South with an ongoing focus on this region. It’s also a reminder of both the responsibility of choosing “the best” and the fact that there’s always next year.
This is why we’ve decided for the past few years of this issue to ask our writers to canvas their states and award superlatives based on what restaurants are doing exceptionally right now. Some of those superlatives are the same, and the rest are up to the writers’ discretion based on their expertise on their state’s restaurant culture. That’s why you’ll find Best Side-of-the-Road Sandwich Shop in Versailles, Kentucky, Best Gelato Outside of Italy in Cary, North Carolina, and Best Basque Meets Southern-Ish Fusion in Houston, all in one magazine, along with a distiller making vodka and bourbon-adjacent spirits with sweet potato in Arkansas and chefs serving Champagne-crusted grouper in Mississippi and pairing caviar with Bugles corn snacks in Florida.
One thing’s certain: A restaurant can’t be exceptional without its people, and so many of those people, from chefs to bartenders, servers to dishwashers, are immigrants. We wouldn’t have a restaurant industry at all without the hands, creativity, and welcoming hearts of people who ended up in the South from somewhere else at some point in time or other. It’s something we kept top of mind as we put these pages together, too.
It’s a delicious time to eat across the South, and a time more than ever to support your local restaurant community in every way you can.
Managing Editor
@eatdrinkwriteread
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Emily Havener
Emily Havener enjoys writing about food almost as much as she enjoys eating it. She has been food blogging and developing recipes since 2008, and her particular areas of expertise are finding creative ways to use leftovers and never making a recipe the same way twice. She’s always up for raw fish of any kind and a good gin cocktail or a glass of orange wine.
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