2 CA Eateries Named Among 12 Best New Restaurants In America

ACROSS CALIFORNIA — Two California restaurants are getting some national attention after being named to food blog Eater's 2023 list of the "12 Best New Restaurants In America."

According to Eater, being among the best new restaurants is not just about a fun experience. It is about being "part of the national dining conversation." The 12 restaurants selected reflect "something larger about the way we eat."

In California, we'll start with Bar Chelou, 37 S. Molina Ave. in Pasadena, which describes itself as a "weird kinda-French bistro and bar."

Eater writer Matthew Kang reviewed Bar Chelou and started by pointing out that its "name translates from French as 'weird bar,' and indeed, it’s pretty unexpected to find one of the country’s most daring new restaurants tucked into the historic Pasadena Playhouse."

Kang goes on to write that Chef Doug Rankin’s "delightfully avant-garde attraction layers Asian flavors into Spanish- and French-inflected dishes, all paired with spritzy cocktails and a stacked natural wine list. Rankin creates a 'piles of stuff' aesthetic with his small plates, embracing oddball combinations in a way that feels totally new and totally LA. A flat array of heirloom tomatoes covered with a healthy dusting of nutty Galician KM 39 cheese, breadcrumbs, and katsuobushi delivers an umami blast."

For the main course, Eater recommended a "butterfly of rainbow trout" that "looks textbook bistro, but instead of floating atop beurre blanc, it rests on creamy Spanish pil pil sauce swirled with garlic chive oil over a bed of corn rice."

For dessert? Kang conjured up images of Bar Chelou's "caramelized chocolate banana bar with hidden peanut butter crisp," for which he described as a "childhood treat by way of an Elvis fever dream."

Bar Chelou is open nightly from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Visit Barchelou.com/ for more information about parking, etc.

"Honored to be one of 'The 12 Best New Restaurants In 2023.'" Bar Chelou wrote on Instagram. "Thank you @eater for spreading the word & congrats to our incredible team!"

Next, we head to the Bay Area for another of the 12 best new restaurants in America.

Piglet & Co, at 2710 Mission St. in San Francisco, is a former pop-up that specializes in Asian-inspired comfort food. It describes itself as a non-traditional restaurant inspired by experiences of night markets, travels and Taiwan.

"Thank you @eater @eater_sf teams for including us in this piece. We are grateful and humbled by the opportunity to represent S.F. and the Mission District, our home, on this list," Piglet & Co wrote on Instagram.

According to Eater writer Lauren Saria, Piglet & Co is proof that San Francisco's spirit of creative risk-taking is alive and well.

"... The debut restaurant from longtime Bay Area chef Chris Yang and his partner Marcelle Gonzales Yang is one part moody Taiwanese night market and one part thrilling trip down someone else’s memory lane," Saria wrote.

"The Asian-inspired comfort food at Piglet & Co is just as unique as a fingerprint, the result of an amalgamation of influences from the partners’ personal histories and time spent living, eating, and traveling through destinations such as Bali, Hawai‘i, and Singapore," Saria continued. "Considering that Yang and Gonzales Yang raised thousands of dollars from fans and supporters to move the former pop-up into a permanent space, it makes sense to enjoy this restaurant with a big group: Split a platter of the mala-spiced barbecue spare ribs intended to echo Yang’s memories of family get-togethers, and pick apart a pile of three-cup chicken wings inspired by the classic Taiwanese dish."

Another must-order was the honey walnut shrimp toast.

Saria described Piglet & Co as "childhood nostalgia refracted through years of fine dining experience." So be ready to "settle in under the moody red-and-blue lights, ideally with a view of the old-school kung fu movies playing behind the bar; it’s going to be a raucous ride."

Piglet & Co is open for dinner Wednesday-Saturday from 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.; and Sunday for brunch from 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

"If there is a theme, it is that everything in our space brings us JOY in some form, or triggers some fond memory," the restaurant writes. "So please, come eat at our table, talk story and enjoy each other's company at Piglet & Co."

Visit Pigletandco.com/ for more information.

See Eater's Best New Restaurants of 2023.