This fall, be prepared to eat well. F&W Best New Chef alumni from across the country — including acclaimed culinary stars Daniel Boulud, Nancy Silverton, and Daniel Humm — are scheduled to debut restaurants across the country. We’re counting down the days until reservations go live.
The vast majority of these restaurants, from a casual fish-and-chips shop to a swanky Italian American steakhouse and more than a few tasting menus, were years in the making. Soon, you can pull up a seat and give them a try. Below, find nine restaurants where we can’t wait to dine this fall.
House of Louie (Houston)
2014 F&W Best New Chef Justin Yu
Opening: September 29
Long before Justin Yu became a F&W Best New Chef in 2014 and a James Beard Award winner in 2016, he bused tables in Los Angeles at his aunt’s Chinese restaurant, House of Louie, in Corvina, California.
“House of Louie was how I fell in love with restaurants,” says Yu. “There was magic there … it was just one of those [places] where it was exactly what you wanted, when you wanted it, but also gave you more than you expected.”
His upcoming concept, in partnership with veteran bartender Bobby Heugel and their hospitality group, Thorough Fare Co., will pay tribute to that storied restaurant with a shared name and a similarly warm, inviting approach to the space.
Expect Italian- and French-leaning dishes like Pernod-marinated spot shrimp, yellowtail crudo “alla scapece” with local alliums and mint, and fried lasagna with ragù bianco and Comté cheese fondue. It’s all served alongside ice-cold Martinis and classic cocktail riffs.
Spacca Tutto (Palisades, California)
1990 F&W Best New Chef Nancy Silverton
Opening: October
The dining room of Nancy Silverton’s new restaurant, Spacca Tutto, is underway.
Credit: Photo by Laura Grier for Spacca Tutto
After wildfires devastated the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles in 2025, the local hospitality industry has been gradually rebuilding. Spacca Tutto, a collaboration between the Mozza Restaurant Group, founded by 1990 F&W Best New Chef Nancy Silverton, and New School, a Los Angeles-based management and consulting group, will be one of its most exciting additions.
The restaurant will have a lot in common with Silverton’s Italian chophouse, Chi Spacca, but with more American steakhouse staples like steak tartare, crab Louie, and shrimp cocktail, all served in a supper club-like atmosphere.
River Sing (Dallas)
2014 F&W Best New Chef Matt McCallister
Opening: Late October
Plants are beginning to grow in the garden at River Sing.
Credit: Photo by Trevor Paulhus for River Sing
There has been a large Matt McCallister-shaped hole in the Dallas hospitality scene since 2023, when the 2014 F&W Best New Chef closed his seasonal American restaurant Homewood. Next month, he’s scheduled to return with River Sing, an intimate, 22-seat restaurant in the central Expo Park neighborhood.
The four-course tasting menu will spotlight the best of the area’s expert farmers, ranchers, and foragers.
“We want to celebrate the small producers from around North Texas and beyond, while in a setting that’s a bit more of a dinner party,” says McCallister.
This fall, that means dishes like foie-gras-stuffed sweet potato doughnuts, roasted lamb loin with ash juniper, chitarra aglio e olio, and more.
The Restaurant at Edna (San Luis Obispo, California)
2008 F&W Best New Chef Jeremy Fox
Opening: November
The dining room at the Restaurant at Edna looks out onto the vineyards.
Credit: Photo by Anya McInroy for Edna
Following the opening of Edna, a sprawling market, distillery, and tasting room located in the middle of the Edna Valley wine region, 2008 F&W Best New Chef Jeremy Fox will launch the space’s flagship restaurant.
The Restaurant at Edna will highlight the best of California’s Central Coast, with hyper-seasonal ingredients, a view of the vineyards, and of course, lots of excellent wine. Executive chef Matthew Schaler oversees a menu that will change frequently. Fall highlights will include a Mighty Cap mushroom ravioli, charcoal-grilled chicken with grapes and verjus, and a signature salad inspired by Schaler’s love of salad bars, with beet French dressing and a rotating selection of vegetables.
Brasserie Boulud (New York City)
1988 F&W Best New Chef Daniel Boulud
Opening: Fall
1990 F&W Best New Chef Daniel Boulud at his upcoming restaurant, Brasserie Boulud
Credit: Photo by Jason Varney for Rockwell Group
1988 F&W Best New Chef Daniel Boulud closed three of his Upper West Side restaurants, Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud, and Épicerie Boulud, to make way for a massive French brasserie slated to open this fall.
Brasserie Boulud unfurls across more than 10,000 square feet that’s split between two floors. It includes an airy dining room, a large bar, private dining rooms, and a speakeasy. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the restaurant exemplifies Boulud’s signature cooking style: sophisticated French fare with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients.
Humm (New York City)
2005 F&W Best New Chef Daniel Humm
Opening: Fall
A chicken dish from Humm
Credit: Photo by Jovanni Demitri for Humm
You might be familiar with Daniel Humm, the 2005 F&W Best New Chef behind the iconic three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Eleven Madison Park. Humm, the chef’s first namesake restaurant, will similarly highlight quality ingredients at peak seasonality, but the Mediterranean-inspired menu will be more casual and completely à la carte.
In addition to shareable plates, you can look forward to a stunning dining room with a wood-fired hearth, a full-ceiling mural by Italian artist Francesco Clemente, and pieces by American visual artist Rashid Johnson.
Calabash (New York City)
2024 F&W Best New Chef Camari Mick
Opening: Fall
The dishes at Calabash are inspired by Afro-Caribbean cuisine.
Credit: Courtesy of Calabash
Camari Mick, a 2024 F&W Best New Chef, has served both sweet and savory dishes that shed light on the African diaspora at award-winning NYC restaurants The Musket Room, Raf’s, and the Follow Your Roots dinner parties. That theme will carry through to her first restaurant, Calabash, scheduled to open this fall in the West Village.
The menu, designed by Mick and chef de cuisine Tajeh Porter, is largely influenced by ingredients and culinary traditions that span from West Africa to the Caribbean. Dishes will include suya steak and maduros (a variation of steak and eggs), and a Trinidadian-style bake with sardines and tangy chow-chow relish, coupled with house-fermented mocktails and adaptogenic drinks.
In the mornings, there will be a case full of sourdough bread and laminated pastries.
Chippy’s (New York City)
2023 F&W Best New Chef Ed Szymanski
Opening: Fall
The menu at Chippy’s includes fish and chips, disco fries, and fish sandwiches.
Credit: Photo by by Patricia Howard for Chippy’s Fish & Chips
Restaurateurs and married couple Patricia Howard and 2023 F&W Best New Chef Ed Szymanski made names for themselves during the pandemic with their viral fish and chips pop-up. That pop-up evolved into Dame, an English seafood restaurant with $32 fish and chips on the menu.
Chippy’s, Szymanski and Howard’s newest concept in their fast-growing NYC restaurant group, returns to the more casual, counter-service fish-and-chips shop. In addition to much more affordable fish and chips ($16), there will be a fried fish sandwich, fish nuggets, and disco fries, as well as sticky toffee pudding and banoffee pie for dessert.
Agosto (Boston)
2011 F&W Best New Chef George Mendes
Opening: Fall
The opening menu at Agosto will include chawanmushi with pickled Bang Island mussels and coconut.
Credit: Courtesy of Agosto
Agosto is a culmination for 2011 F&W Best New Chef George Mendes in many ways. Agosto, which means “August” in Portuguese, represents the month when he and his wife and business partner, Suzanne, met. The tasting menu will speak to his culinary history: his Portuguese heritage, his childhood in Connecticut, the years spent cooking in New York City, and finally, his big return to coastal New England. There will be lots of seafood and fresh, seasonal ingredients, and Portuguese spices like piri piri.
In addition to the chef’s counter, Agosto will have a bar with an à la carte menu. In early 2027, the Mendes duo will open a bakery and café next door named Baby Sister.
In case you missed it
Check out these two late summer openings from F&W Best New Chefs.
Related: The 11 Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of Summer 2026, From F&W Best New Chefs
Summerland (Atlanta)
1995 F&W Best New Chef Anne Quatrano
Opened: July 22
Summerland is located within Atlanta’s Upper West Market.
Credit: Courtesy of Summerland
Summerland is not your typical restaurant housed inside a grocery store. Located within Atlanta’s new Upper West Market, an indoor farmers market that features more than 30 local purveyors, Summerland is all about seasonality and sustainability. The kitchen is led by 1995 F&W Best New Chef Anne Quatrano and executive chef Faye Poon, and many of the ingredients come from Quatrano’s own Summerland Farm.
Brunch is the name of the game here. There are Georgia blueberry pancakes with locally made Banner Butter, eggs Benedict with housemade English muffins, and brodo with pastina and seasonal greens; plus plenty of cold-pressed juices and a bakery counter for takeaway.
Kira Omakase (New Orleans)
2017 F&W Best New Chef Yoshi Okai
Opened: August 20
Much of the fish at Kira Omakase is shipped from Japan.
Credit: Photo by Sam Hanna for Kira Omakase
2017 F&W Best New Chef Yoshi Okai has loved New Orleans since 2003, when his punk rock band played at an historic venue, Mermaid Lounge.
“The food culture has always stuck with me,” he says.
At long last, Okai has returned to open Kira Omakase, a tiny, 12-seat concept tucked inside Kira restaurant. It’s a chic, moody lounge with an à la carte menu that blends Japanese and Mediterranean cuisines. Okai’s tasting menu includes more than 20 bites using ingredients sourced from Japan to the Gulf Coast. Think chawanmushi with Gulf shrimp and Wagyu nigiri with negi tahini.
Okai will also regularly host cooking demonstrations where he’ll break down a whole tuna. Now that’s punk rock.
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