New eats, especially of the plant-based variety

Root Vegetable Enchiladas

What’s the trend: The American food scene continues to inspire both in culinary destinations like New York, LA and San Francisco and in smaller cities in places like North Carolina and Texas. As awareness of the climate impact of consuming animal products grows, many decorated chefs are embracing plant-based cuisine and opening new eateries dedicated to it.

Where it’s trending: We’re salivating with anticipation for Mexico-city native and Top Chef alum Katsuji Tanabe’s upcoming modern-meets-traditional Mexican restaurant and tequila library, A’Verde, arriving in Cary, North Carolina in 2022, celebrity chef Chris Cosentino’s new Houston, Texas eatery Rosalie Italian Soul and Michelin-starred Japanese chef Tetsuya Wakuda’s first American restaurant, Wakuda in Las Vegas—not to mention the Chicago Italian spot Alla Vita and the upstairs addition to LA’s buzzy French bistro Bicyclette. Northern California Wine Country is abuzz with the news that the three Michelin-starred husband-and-wife team behind SingleThread will be opening a completely plant-based restaurant, Little Saint, in Healdsburg in early 2022, and we’re still trying to get reservations for the three Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York which went meatless in 2021.