Dining’s resurgence: In spots, the Roaring ’20s have arrived
With more than half of Americans vaccinated and many more sick of their own cooking, restaurant traffic is “rocketing back,” said Laura Reiley and Andrew Van Dam in The Washington Post. In some dining capitals, such as New York City and San Francisco, business hasn’t yet returned to prepandemic levels. But Miami, Las Vegas, and other cities have already blown well past that benchmark. By late May, dining in several states, including Oklahoma, Nevada, Texas, and Florida—had already fully recovered. Below, three cities where the post-lockdown boom has arrived.
Miami High-profile New York City spots are finding second homes in Miami, where dining reservations are up roughly 50 percent over 2019 numbers. Cote, a Michelin-starred Korean barbecue house known for its 45-day, dry-aged beef, has taken up residence in the Design District. Carbone, a throwback red-sauce joint acclaimed for its spicy rigatoni in vodka sauce, is making waves in South Beach.
Las Vegas Sin City is having a Mediterranean moment, per Eater.com’s heat maps. Greek fine-dining stalwart Estiatorio Milos has casino-hopped from the Cosmopolitan to vast new digs at the Venetian, while Bobby Flay is working coastal Italian magic at Amalfi, in Caesars Palace. Another hot table: the new outpost of L.A.’s Night+Market, located at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and featuring chef Kris Yenbamroong’s Thai street food. Houston Fine-dining newcomer Le Jardinier, in the city’s Museum of Fine Arts, opened to high demand, with its tables fully booked 60 days out. Meanwhile, at the renovated La Colombe d’Or hotel, Tonight & Tomorrow is bouncing from breakfast to dinner, thanks to chef Jonathan Wicks’ European-meets-Southern fare.