The restaurant may have gone through numerous chefs in its five-year lifespan, but its latest, Chris Edwards, turned heads at Holeman & Finch Public House, Restaurant Eugene, and King + Duke in Atlanta before taking charge of the most gorgeous restaurant in all Central Florida. Edwards exhibits a fierce commitment to Florida ingredients, just as his predecessors did, but employs them in ways his predecessors never did: quail with a confit of Athena melon and brebis from Blackberry Farms; peach and green tomato pizza with blue crab and bacon lardons; braised rabbit thigh with Charleston Gold Rice risotto, just to name a few. A studied cocktail program and stellar weekend brunch solidify 1921’s cred.

A conversation about the best sushi restaurants in town will eventually turn to chef Chau Trinh’s creative and pristine cuts at Sushi Pop. The talented chef, whose done stints at Le Bernardin and Atera in New York City, carved out a niche in Oviedo with his spirited and sophisticated anime-themed eatery, then brought his talents to Winter Park with an outpost off Lyman Avenue. Trinh is never one to rest on his laurels and is constantly experimenting with ideas and techniques to fuel Sushi Pop’s progression. 

Just one in a string of joints to offer street eats with a pan-Asian bent, Kai has been luring them in with the sticky crunch of Korean-style chicken wings, Vietnamese garlic noodles and other standbys. But it’s their ambitious daily specials that get foodie folk stoked to make the drive out to the Casselberry border – spicy tantanmen ramen, duck shoyu ramen, cumin lamb with hand-pulled noodles, uni pasta with truffles and on it goes. Owners Quan Van and Isra Sunhachawi traveled all over Asia prior to perfecting their recipes, and the adherence to tradition shows.

Eliot Hillis, as non-conformist and unconventional a culinarian as they come, seems to have amped up the wizardry at his butcher house/restaurant along with chef de cuisine Seth Parker. The “Goblin,” an infernal dish of udon noodles, fried chicken, black curry, and koji butter, is a straight-up sensation, as are the pizzas and the “medium-rare” burger fashioned from beef ground in-house. With the new Winter Park digs comes a new cocktail menu that’s nothing short of experimental.

Not far from Luke’s sits Brandon McGlamery’s other restaurant concept spotlighting Italy’s dynamic duo of carbs – pizza (fired in imported, wood-burning Acunto ovens) and pasta (rolled and shaped in-house). The menu, naturally, is seasonally directed and combines McGlamery’s love for wood-fired foods and pasta. Oak-roasted duck breast and a whole branzino cooked in the Acunto are rustic dishes of the highest order. Pizzas are some of the best in Winter Park, while pasta offerings (think lamb pansotti and sunchose casarecce) change constantly.

One of the biggest surprises during the pandemic was Dovecote Brasserie chef Clay Miller leaving the restaurant he founded (and partially owned) to become executive chef of the Ravenous Pig. It’s a powerhouse move for the powerhouse Winter Park fixture, but even before Miller’s arrival, the Pig impressed with its creatively unpretentious bill of Southern fare incorporating uniquely Floridian ingredients. Owners James and Julie Petrakis used the pandemic as an opportunity to create a beer garden adjacent to the restaurant serving brews from the Ravenous Pig Brewing Co. next door. It’s a family-friendly (and pet-friendly) space to guzzle, play games, or watch a film on the outdoor screen.

Kadence became one of the city’s best restaurants the moment it opened back in 2017, and four years on, the eight-seat sushi and sake bar inside an all-black edifice still offers one of the best dining experiences in the city with its intimate omakases. While Lordfer Lalicon, one of the restaurant’s founders, left to focus energies on the soon-to-open Filipino restaurant Kaya in Mills 50, co-founder Mark Berdin and Jennifer Banagale, along with a dedicated team of cooks and servers, continue to serve impeccably presented omakases. The sake program, meanwhile, is second to none.

When the Osprey Tavern, a centerpiece in the city’s restaurant scene, changed concepts mid-pandemic into a seafood restaurant, locals took notice. In fact, a seafood restaurant is precisely what owners Jason and Sue Chin had in mind prior to opening Osprey Tavern in 2015, so better late than never. With ex-Luma luminary Michael Cooper at the helm, the restaurant is now locally focused, with dishes like Pompano Beach swordfish, Florida Bluehouse salmon, or Cedar Key clam chowder.

Chinese restaurants have disproportionately suffered during the pandemic thanks to a rise in anti-Asian sentiments, but chef Xiong “Tiger” Tang, a skilled perfectionist with a commanding kitchen presence, continues to churn out some of the most impeccable and wickedly peppery Sichuan fare anywhere in the Sunshine State. That said, Tang and his restaurant partner Paula Ahn were forced to close the Baldwin Park location in early July following a rift between servers and management, but the pair plan on reopening the restaurant later this summer as a reservation-only, chef’s tasting experience. They’ll also reopen the original West Colonial Drive location in August following a kitchen remodel. On the menu: Chongqing-style hotpots, braised fish filet in spicy chili oil, tongue-numbing Laziji chicken, and more electrifying choices for the capsicum-deprived.

John and Juliana Calloway met in L.A. opening restaurants for renowned chef/restaurateur Richard Sandoval, so no surprise that the taqueria they opened here in Juliana’s hometown took on an unmistakable SoCal vibe. BRT has shades of Trejo’s Tacos and Ray Garcia’s B.S. Taqueria, but it’s the made on-site corn tortillas, enveloping everything from smoked lengua to pork fat to Angus brisket, that really impresses. Pozole verde and beef achiote bowls shouldn’t be overlooked either. On the horizon: a second Black Rooster Taqueria is slated to open in the Hourglass District this year.

Chef Wendy Lopez commands the kitchen of this NoDo stalwart by restaurateurs Jason and Sue Chin (The Osprey, Seito Sushi, The Monroe) giving representation to Mexico’s regional gastronomic riches, including charred octopus with squid ink chimichurri and duck enchiladas from her native Michoacán. Her tequila-cured arctic char with pineapple aguachile is a mesmerizing (and fun) north-meets-south take. The gorgeous interior design inspired by Tulum and Quintana Roo practically compels guests to sample one of the 150 agave-based spirits in various cocktails. Enjoy with a bowl of chapulines (tiny fried grasshoppers seasoned with tamarind, chilies, and spices) for an inimitable arthropodic crunch.

Yes, it’s technically a bar, but it’s a bar that just so happens to serve some of the best Japanese pub grub around. There are bites like whole binchotan-grilled Japanese flying squid and blue crab and corn croquettes that dazzle. But it’s with the yakitori where Tori Tori’s kitchen really struts its stuff. Chicken skin tare and chicken oyster can’t possibly be done any better than it is here, and lamb karubi lollipops offer a red meat alternative to prime-grade beef from Revier Cattle Co. Plus, there’s a stellar okonomiyaki for purists and some top-notch cocktails for the bibulous.

From humble beginnings helping his parents run two restaurants at the age of 15, to opening Kabooki Sushi at the age of 22 and becoming one of Orlando’s most creative sushi chefs, says a lot about the drive and passion of Henry Moso. His extravagant omakases are legendary and the ingredients he sources from local waters and those in the Pacific are unparalleled. After opening a second Kabooki Sushi in Dr. Phillips, Moso expanded and completely renovated the original restaurant on E. Colonial Drive as the pandemic raged. The result: one of the sexiest sushi spots in town.

A neighborhood restaurant in every sense, Maxine’s has been entertaining guests since 2012 thanks to the antics of owner/slam poet Kirt Earhart and his animal-print-loving chanteuse of a wife Maxine. Both gleefully work the room (which looks more like a boudoir) making sure each and every one of their guests are having as much fun as they are. The menu is about as eclectic as the clientele with everything from escargots en croute to cioppino to skillet lasagna offered. The parking lot has been converted to an outdoor seating area with private covered cabanas with fans, plants, and mosquito netting.

There are restaurant institutions and then there’s Nikki’s Place. The Parramore stalwart has been plating meat-and-threes through 70-plus years of systematic segregation and residential displacement and always doing so with class and dignity. Fronted by 78-year-old Nick Aiken, his wife Inez, and daughter Nikki, the restaurant has established itself as a gathering ground for the community and has hosted a who’s-who of African American icons, politicians and civil rights leaders since 1949. That Aiken’s brand of soul food is incomparable cements Nikki’s as the go-to place for Southern fare, be it smothered anything (oxtails, pigtails) to fried chicken to meatloaf. Best of all, meals can be made from stellar sides alone.

Bruno Zacchini got this city excited for neo Neapolitan-style pizzas as pie hounds lost their minds over the intriguing topping selection at the cozy Curry Ford West pie house. Zacchini’s starter dough undergoes a 48-hour ferment before being pulled, tossed, topped, and fired at 1000 degrees, resulting in a charred and flavorful crust. And while Zacchini placed expansion plans for the pizza brand on hold, he’s branched out into the bagel realm having opened Bagel Bruno in College Park.

Ermias Hailab and Abeba Gonetse introduced many in this town to fare from the “Cradle of Humanity” when they opened Nile in 2006. Now, 15 years later, tourists and locals alike come to scoop boldly spiced stews and meats with spongy, tangy injera from communal plates. The post-meal coffee ceremony is worth braving the I-Drive traffic for.

Oh, sure, a case could be made for Linda’s La Cantina and Christner’s for their old-timey steakhouse vibe, but the simple fact is that no one ages beef the way chef John Tesar does. His Dallas restaurant, Knife, is widely considered to be one of the best steakhouses in the country and its sister chophouse, situated inside the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes, has attracted steak-lovers for the exceptional prime cuts dry-aged inside a $70,000 meat locker. Of note is the 240-day aged bone-in ribeye. It’s as funky as it is life changing. Tapping fellow Top Chef alum Gerald Sombright as chef de cuisine certainly lends the restaurant additional cred.

Executive chef Fabrizio Schenardi oversees all the restaurants at the Four Seasons Resort, but Ravello with its modern Italian flair, is one nearest and dearest to his heart. Dishes veer in the direction of Schenardi’s native Piemonte (he was born in Rivoli), with the veal-stuffed ravioli, duck breast with glazed chestnut, and pan-seared trout with Arneis wine sauce being the restaurant’s most-loved items. Alba white truffles make a customary appearance during the season, while Rabii Saber, the James Beard-nominated pastry chef, ensures a worthy ending will be had.

It’s clear that Morimoto Asia executive chef Yuhi Fujinaga and executive sushi chef Alex Munkhbilguun are bent on offering the absolute finest cuts of fish and seafood procured from Toyosu Fish Market and around the world inside their sprawling, two-story Disney Springs behemoth. The relationships the restaurant (and the Morimoto empire) has forged over the years have clearly placed them in an advantageous position as far as sourcing is concerned. Preferential treatment? Maybe, but either way the consumer is the ultimate beneficiary of these prized ingredients and the respect and deference with which the chefs and their discriminating kitchen staff present them.

Jose Andres’ paean to traditional and postmodern Spanish gastronomy re-established itself as one of the finest restaurants in Disney Springs post-pandemic, and one that many a local have gladly ventured to despite the location. The restaurant behemoth highlights the regional diversity of Spain with plenty paellas and copious amounts of jamón ibérico de bellota to go around. As a bonus, the first brick-and-mortar location of Pepe, his popular D.C. food truck, is situated next door for those needing a quick bocata on the go.