Shepard Is One of the Best New Restaurants in America

Eater’s roving restaurant editor Bill Addison has been "zooming around the country in a blur of calories and miles," dining in hundreds of restaurants in numerous cities. His research culminates in a variety of reports from the road, as well as yearly features on the most essential restaurants in the country and the best new arrivals. The 2016 edition of the latter is out today; here’s Addison’s list of the 21 best new restaurants in America. One local spot made the cut: Shepard in Cambridge.

"Shepard feels immediately like a community haven," he writes — "a restaurant where hip couples and tweedy university types alike come to linger in a calm, open room." He finds the chicken wings "especially mesmerizing," served with a "potent" herb jam "that recalls the earthy depths of classical Persian stews." Another hit is the pork belly-laden seafood chowder, thanks to its "straightforward goodness."

To formulate this list, Addison dined anonymously around the country, visiting multiple restaurants in each city. (Not every city that he visited is represented on the list, and to be eligible, restaurants had to have opened between May 2015 and May 2016.) The 21 restaurants span numerous cuisines, from Korean to Italian to Scandinavian, and the represented cities include Los Angeles (Baroo), Portland, Oregon (Han Oak), Asheville, North Carolina (Local Provisions), Minneapolis (Upton 43), and more.

View the full list here >>>