50 Best New U.S. Restaurants

New York City: Txikito

Is this formerly barren Ninth Avenue block the city’s newest gourmet corridor? A few doors down, one discovers something equally special and singular at the cozy barn wood–clad cubbyhole called Txikito. Here, Alex Raij and Bilbao-born Eder Montero (former chefs at the beloved tapas haunt Tía Pol) preach authentic Basque—not Spanish—cooking. New customers stop by for chorizo-and–quail egg canapés, and sweet ribbons of squid mingled with pine nuts—and keep coming back for the blackboard specials: a whole grilled turbot with a sizzling garlic vinaigrette, or a meltingly tender rolled lamb breast a la plancha. Dinner for two $80.