Chef

Jason Hammel

"I had these duck tacos once eight years ago when the sun was shining through the windows on a winter day, and the tortillas were so fresh and hot and the charros so earthy and satisfying that the spell has never been broken."

"I tasted this chicken before the restaurant opened, and I believed it would be the breakaway hit of 2012. Each piece of juicy, delicious fried chicken is served with a sweet-n-salty dollop of honey butter. Where else can you eat as sinfully—and ethically—as you can with Christine and Josh?"

"Chef Duncan has a musical, balanced, assured way with everything he cooks, including this protein that he likes to feature in different preparations. All his steak dishes (and I've had several) hit all five tastes in this kind of harmony that's pretty, satisfying, and light, while not being precious at all."

"It throws me back in time circa 1995 when I lived in Italy; I was 24 years old (maybe younger) with a friend at a corner pizzeria in Naples, eating prosciutto with our fingers in a brightly lit room. A good dish takes you places."

"It might not be available during brunch right now since The Publican changes its menu all the time, but this is the best breakfast dish I've ever had. I only got to go out to brunch once last year, but I chose well. This is a piece of country ham and an egg with little else. It's all perfectly simple, bright, lemony, juicy and briny—and totally crunchy on the outside."

"Tara Lane, the former pastry chef at Blackbird, turned me on to these. Even though you know they're searing hot, it's too tempting not to bite right down."