Lady of the House and Voyager make Esquire's 'Best New Restaurants' list
This year the magazine's list favors women chefs from across the nation for its biggest honors
Melody Baetens
Of the 19 restaurants Esquire magazine deemed the "Best New Restaurants" in the country, two of them are our own: Lady of the House in Corktown and Ferndale's Voyager.
"Magnificently delicious" is how Esquire writer Jeff Gordinier describes the famed vegetarian carrot "steak" at chef Kate Williams' Lady of the House, which opened on Bagley in Corktown in September 2017.
Of the tiny seafood restaurant known for fresh oysters and cool cocktails, he says he could eat at Voyager "twice a week" and praises the handiwork of chefs Jennifer Jackson and Justin Tootla.
The same list also named San Francisco's Bar Crenn (a new experience from world-famous chef Dominique Crenn) as one of America's best.
Other women honored this year in Esquire's list include Chef of the Year Missy Robbins of Misi in Brooklyn and Pastry Chef of the Year Genevieve Gergis from Los Angeles' Bavel. Christina Nguyen of Minneapolis Hai Hai was named Rising Star of the Year. (All of those restaurants are on the list, too).
The two Metro Detroit restaurants on Esquire's 'Best New' list are no stranger to national accolades. Lady of the House's Williams was a James Beard Award semifinalist this year and the Corktown spot was given high praise by the New York Times and Food & Wine.
Voyager, which opened in March 2017, was named one of Food & Wine's Restaurants of the Year in April 2018.
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @melodybaetens