Whether you’re after upscale seafood (we recommend Eventide) or phenomenal Japanese food (try the popular
Izakaya Minato),
Portland‘s food offering runs the gamut. Much of Maine’s
culinary bounty is focused seaward, and Portland’s waterfront draws
a steady (hungry) crowd. While seafood-heaven menus are a given,
it’s not all lobster rolls and crab claws. Find the best bagels in
town at Rose Foods and prepare to “ooh” and “ahh” at Drifters Wife, a modern farmhouse conversion conceived
by ex-Brooklynites Peter and Orenda Hale. It’s time to forget
Portland’s West Coast counterpart and redirect your forks toward
New England’s offering.

Nearby
Chicago – a mere 90 miles away – may steal much of the
limelight from this patch of the US, but that only lends to
Milwaukee’s under-the-radar status. Here, restaurants are helmed by
chefs who take full advantage of the surrounding farmland, which
over the last number of years has led to an organic farm-to-table
movement. Come for family-style dining and beer (a regional
specialty) and don’t skip the bacon-garnished bloody mary at
breakfast – as is customary in Wisconsin, they are served with a
tiny bottle of beer on the side.

A city accustomed to change and reinvention,
Detroit has firmly shaken off its Motor City reputation.
Undergoing a major identity revamp – and a culinary renaissance to
boot – Downtown and hipster hub Corktown are two districts that
have seen the greatest waves of change. New chefs and restaurants
have come onto the scene, offering diners experimental dishes
alongside some fool-proof standards – bakery Sister
Pie being one such example.

Alabama is having a moment and, smack in the middle of the
state, Birmingham is leading the way. Plating up southern style
cuisine with French flair, the Highlands Bar & Grill caused the first major
clang, and caught our attention when it won most outstanding
restaurant in America at the James Beard Awards in 2018. At
Ovenbird, chef-owner and James Beard
Award-winner Chris Hastings focuses on small plates and distills
Southern comfort in a unique way – you’ll read your menu over
burning beef-fat candle. There’s much more than the smell of smoky
barbecue in the air, and young chefs are taking note of these local
successes gaining county-wide interest.

A regional-food powerhouse, Asheville has a USP that hinges on
its location – that being surrounded by both the Blue Ridge and
Great Smoky Mountains. While paying respect to the city’s
generations-old family farms, a new wave of young chefs have
recently set up shop and are expanding Asheville’s version of the
new South. North Carolina native chef John Fleer helms Rhubarb, a restaurant famous for its Sunday suppers
with a weekly changing menu and a focus on comfort food. Chef Katie
Button, an oft-repeated name on the Asheville dining scene, heads
up two restaurants, Cúrate and Nightbell, both of which are best booked in
advance.