New Orleans Hosts North America’s 50 Best as Dakar NOLA Reopens June 2 and Emeril’s Eyes Repeat
Updated
Updated · NOLA.com · May 27
New Orleans Hosts North America’s 50 Best as Dakar NOLA Reopens June 2 and Emeril’s Eyes Repeat
5 articles · Updated · NOLA.com · May 27
Thursday’s North America’s 50 Best Restaurants ceremony will be held in New Orleans, where Dakar NOLA and Emeril’s are widely expected to return after ranking No. 6 and No. 30 last year.
That optimism rests on the awards’ track record and New Orleans’ recent momentum in the 50 Best universe, where bars Jewel of the South and Cure now sit at No. 6 and No. 21.
Dakar NOLA enters the awards week in transition: its Magazine Street site has closed, and a new Leonidas Street restaurant opens June 2 with half the seats, an open kitchen and a higher-end format.
Emeril’s has kept refining its 2023 tasting-menu overhaul, with a $295 chef’s menu, kitchen welcome and increasingly polished service aimed at top-tier global fine dining.
Hosting the event is itself a win for the city, giving New Orleans more international culinary visibility and bringing ranked chefs and industry gatherings that support its tourism push.
How is Dakar NOLA's Senegalese-inspired menu redefining traditional Louisiana cuisine on the world stage?
With two Michelin stars, how is E.J. Lagasse evolving his father's iconic restaurant for a new generation?