{"id":422227,"date":"2025-12-03T17:14:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T17:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/422227\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T17:14:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T17:14:34","slug":"new-yorks-2025-eater-award-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/422227\/","title":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s 2025 Eater Award Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s New York City<\/strong> restaurant awards highlight the best new possibilities in the city\u2019s dining scene. Each winner tells a story that translates to good cooking, great baking, or delicious drinks. More than in years past, they\u2019re places we want to go to have fun.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This year has not been the easiest one. We seek out New York restaurants to eat, sure, but also to meet others in a place that helps us navigate the uncertainty that has framed 2025. Taken together, the winners go beyond buttoned-up technique and splashy dining rooms. They respect diners\u2019 time and money, they don\u2019t muddle a point of view, and they make room for simple pleasures even as the industry, the city, and the country shift in unpredictable ways. These are the new restaurants we keep returning to, the ones that remind us of a world of possibility within New York.<\/p>\n

8 Extra Place, New York and 12 Extra Place, New York<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A fluffy coconut turnover. Alex Staniloff<\/p>\n

Kabawa<\/a> and Bar Kabawa<\/a> capture a mix of ambition and energy with a throughline of Caribbean culture that defined 2025 dining in New York City. Driven by chef Paul Carmichael \u2014 who, for years, worked at Momofuku restaurant Sieobo in Sydney \u2014 Kabawa reflects Momofuku\u2019s ongoing command of the food-vibe-value trifecta.<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s $145 three-course prix fixe is Carmichael\u2019s personal narrative disguised as Jamaican pepper shrimp with hibiscus and Scotch bonnet jam, or the breadfruit toston topped with octopus and sauce chien. Put together, the meal tells the story of his Barbados upbringing, island sensibility, and international training with intimacy and polish. Next door, Bar Kabawa\u2019s boisterous atmosphere delivers bay leaf-infused shaved ice daiquiris and rich brown butter concoctions in showy glassware. The patties \u2014 filled with short rib and bone marrow, curry goat, or conch \u2014 have helped fuel a full-tilt Manhattan patty moment. Together, Kabawa and Bar Kabawa offer something increasingly rare: a restaurant that is serious but doesn\u2019t take itself too seriously, where diners can experience both the skill of the chef and the joy of the experience. \u2014 Melissa McCart, dining editorial manager, Eater Northeast<\/p>\n

\"Cassava<\/a><\/p>\n

Cassava dumplings, raw shrimp dusted with sorrel, and a hunk of goat shoulder. Alex Staniloff<\/p>\n

B\u00e1nh Anh Em<\/a> earns Eater\u2019s underdog award for the same reason its Union Square storefront draws a constant line: It offers accessible yet ambitious Vietnamese cooking. Owners Nhu Ton and John Nguyen, who opened their first restaurant B\u00e1nh in Harlem, built a following uptown for dishes like ph\u1edf d\u1eb7c bi\u1ec7t and b\u00e1nh ch\u01b0ng that feel familiar yet lean creative as far as the making and sourcing of ingredients. Their follow-up restaurant expands that approach.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Ph\u1edf at B\u00e1nh Anh Em. Lanna Apisukh\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

\"Crispy<\/a><\/p>\n

Vietnamese street food specialties abound at B\u00e1nh Anh Em. Lanna Apisukh\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

At B\u00e1nh Anh Em<\/a>, the owners bake their own bread<\/a> and make their rice noodles. The b\u00e1nh m\u00ec \u2014 served on a light, crisp baguette \u2014 includes versions layered with pate, pork floss, pickled vegetables, and fermented hot sauce, as well as a richer option with bone marrow and brisket. One of the standout dishes, a rice-noodle bowl topped with pork-bone fish sauce, shredded mango, and mustard greens, is a regional style of Vietnamese cooking rarely seen in Manhattan. Though one might underestimate it based on the restaurant\u2019s size and prices, the owners have raised the bar, not just for Vietnamese food, but for New York casual fare. \u2014 MM<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

B\u00e1nh u\u1edbt ch\u1ed3ng, a five-layer tower of rice sheets. Lanna Apisukh\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

45-12 Greenpoint Avenue, Queens<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably heard their story by now: In 2020, Kimberly Camara and Kevin Borja found themselves furloughed from their jobs at Union Square Hospitality Group and decided to start making doughnuts from their Woodside home. They played on Camara\u2019s grandmother\u2019s recipes through Kora<\/a>, and pushed forward Filipino American baking as it surged nationwide. Kora quickly dominated the pop-up game, at one point achieving a waitlist of over 10,000 people who wanted doughnuts topped with flan and others that emulated the many colors and textures of halo-halo. Still, for years, Kora operated as pick-up only and out of commissary kitchens.<\/p>\n

\"Purple<\/a><\/p>\n

Ube fried brioche doughnuts. Heami Lee\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

\"Flan-filled<\/a><\/p>\n

Leche flan-filled doughnuts. Heami Lee\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

In 2025, Camara and Borja finally made a home<\/a> for Kora in Sunnyside. The larger, personalized space allowed them to expand into savory croissants, babka, cookies, and a coffee and matcha program, all of which reimagine Philippine flavors and ingredients through the precision of French pastry techniques: A stellar pain Suisse is filled with Spam, pimento cheese, hot honey, and chile crisp. Ensaymada, a sweet bun topped with salty grated cheese, is re-envisioned as a lacy, cheese-topped croissant. Tamarind adds a tropical touch to the crisp apple fritters. Kora\u2019s expansion, which may include more savory options in the future, proves that they\u2019re not just best-in-class when it comes to modern Filipino American baking but also among the new guard of the city\u2019s wider pastry scene \u2014 one in which both diners and bakers increasingly desire the blurring of lines between cuisines. \u2014 Bettina Makalintal, senior reporter, Eater<\/p>\n

\"Baking<\/a><\/p>\n

Baking sheets full of beautiful pastries are prepped at Kora. Heami Lee\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

139 Division Street, New York<\/p>\n

What makes Sunn\u2019s<\/a> such a perfect wine bar is its simplicity: take a short and thoughtful Korean menu<\/a>; add some wines; delight over the repurposed Jinro Soju water bottles adorned with toad labels; enjoy in the cozy, slim room. You\u2019ve partaken in one of the most gratifying dining and drinking experiences<\/a> in the city.<\/p>\n

Chef and owner Sunny Lee\u2019s banchan<\/a> is a must-order. The selection of small plates is where she flexes her skill and experiments with textures, flavors, and ferments, like creamy tahini-smothered mushrooms, smoky eggplant, and tangy kimchi, in addition to chalkboard specials like the crunchy, sweet gochujang candied squid.<\/p>\n

\"Rice<\/a><\/p>\n

Tteokbokki in tomato-gochujang brown butter sauce topped with stracciatella and mozzarella cheese. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

The oft-changing salad is bountiful with vegetables and fruits, and not one, but two dressings. Forget about utensils; instead, use your hands to prepare layered bites using huge Napa cabbage leaves, lotus root slices, and persimmon segments. The rave tteokbokki, served like a baked ziti in a glass Pyrex dish, is one of those endlessly warming dishes.<\/p>\n

The wine list, thanks to co-partner Grant Reynold of Parcelle\u2019s and Sunn\u2019s wine director Dora Grossman-Weir, is impeccable too, full of complementary options with a heavy natural and organic focus. The discoveries section is a fun mix of wines as well as Korean spirits like sool and soju.<\/p>\n

Lee isn\u2019t trying to make anything uber-fancy with her wine bar; she\u2019s just serving what she knows \u2014 thoughtful bites with good wines. \u2014 Nadia Chaudhury, deputy dining editor, Northeast<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a><\/p>\n

An assortment of banchan. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet\/Eater NY<\/p>\n

Queens was a sad place when Adda Indian Canteen, the groundbreaking Long Island City restaurant, closed up. But that borough\u2019s loss became Manhattan\u2019s gain<\/a> when the Indian restaurant from Unapologetic Foods reemerged in the East Village in May. To paraphrase Charli XCX: Now it\u2019s still Adda in a new address, but it\u2019s the same, but the food has evolved, and the space is bigger, so it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A roasted cauliflower dish. Alex Lau\/Adda<\/p>\n

Adda 2.0\u2019s menu, from co-owner and chef Chintan Pandya and chef de cuisine Neel Kajale, is still rooted in that regional Indian fare<\/a>, but now with a glow-up. The original butter chicken has now transformed into a full-on experience<\/a> with a tableside cart that you have to preorder. And outside of that fun flourish, the heart of the restaurant remains the same. The walls are still covered in the same press clippings, and the original handwritten Adda sign from it\u2019s Queens era is there. The menu is still full of homey dishes that are now spruced up, like the creamy bheja masala (goat brains) paired with pao and biryani stuffed with baby goat leg meat.<\/p>\n

Unapologetic Foods is not a company that sits still. Just this fall, it opened a fast-casual kebab stand in a Union Square Park food hall, but during all of its expanding and growing, its guiding principle is still that ever-flavorful Indian cuisine that is simply just fun. \u2014 NC<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A roasted chicken dish. Alex Lau\/Adda<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s New York City restaurant awards highlight the best new possibilities in the city\u2019s dining scene. Each…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":422228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,197080,16492,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-422227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-nyc-eater-awards","16":"tag-nyc-restaurant-news","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115656766283243388","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}