Shaya

Almost from opening, Chef Alon Shaya's Israeli restaurant has been at the top of many people's culinary wish list in New Orleans. Located in one of the less-fashionable uptown corners, word of the pita bread, hummus, and tabbouleh spread quickly—no small feat in a town replete with much more decadent tastes. Shaya had partnered with local luminary John Besh at Domenica, and the partnership continues here, the focus on high quality as irresistible as you'd imagine. There's not much that's unfamiliar to fans of Mediterranean and Israeli cuisine, but even the staples are newly heartwarming, even down to the pita bread that arrives hot from the domed pizza oven in which it's baked.