Bon Appétit Toasted the Best Restaurants in America With a Warehouse Party in Brooklyn

New York City may be regarded as one of the country’s top culinary destinations, but on Saturday, partygoers at Bon Appétit’s Hot 10 party enjoyed a taste of America’s larger food landscape. To celebrate the year’s best new restaurants, the magazine took over three warehouses on Brooklyn’s waterfront at Industry City.

“I lie awake at night thinking of the restaurants I didn’t find,” laughed executive editor Julia Kramer, who travels coast to coast in search of the year’s best new restaurants. “You hit so many different cities and so many different types of cuisines—it’s really representative of what’s going on right now with food in America.”

Tasked with wowing a discerning audience, the best chefs from New Orleans, Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York’s Chinatown did not disappoint. A line for a Portland favorite, Matt’s BBQ Tacos, stayed snaked around one warehouse for the better part of the night. Elsewhere, Los Angeles s Konbi offered refreshing carrot crudites alongside an herby shishito pistachio dip, and Detroit’s Ochre Bakery delighted the crowd with its vegan lemon pistachio cake.

“What’s so unique about America is that food is the most inherently diverse aspect of this country,” said editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport. “In so many different cities you can go out and eat amazing cuisine from so many different nationalities every night of the week! There’s so much amazing food out there that we love to eat, and this list has to represent that.”

When all was said and done, though, the evening retained a distinctly New York flavor. For those with a sweet tooth, a dessert round of Oddfellows coffee and whiskey caramel ice cream was served float-style with Guinness’s classic stout. But it wouldn’t be a party without a classic New York nightcap—as the lights brightened, signaling the end of the party in the VIP lounge, a delivery of Scarr’s pizza gave attendees one more reason to celebrate.