A stricter take on the year’s most-hyped openings.
Most “best new restaurants 2026” lists run between 30 and 100 names. Almost none of those restaurants are worth flying for. They are good neighborhood openings, sometimes very good, but a meal at the new Italian spot in Brooklyn doesn’t justify booking a flight. The bar for flying somewhere to eat needs to be higher than the bar for going next Tuesday.
This is a stricter list. Seven restaurants that opened (or open) between November 2025 and the end of 2026, each worth the airfare on its own. The judgment is built on three things: the chef’s track record, the originality of the concept, and whether the meal is something you genuinely cannot get at home.
In this guide
- Bonheur by Matt Abé, London
- SoNoMa by SingleThread, Kyoto
- Esse, Copenhagen
- Jija by Vicky Lau, Hong Kong
- Nisaba by Manish Mehrotra, Delhi
- KARYU, Miami
- Emilia, Philadelphia
- The 7 at a glance: comparison table
- Best new restaurants 2026: what we left off, and why
- Why no Seoul, Singapore or Bangkok?
- Frequently asked questions
How we made this guide
This guide combines firsthand reporting where available with Michelin Guide data, reservation verification, chef track records, and direct analysis of major global openings between November 2025 and May 2026. Sources include the 2026 Michelin Guide ceremonies (Great Britain & Ireland, France, Italy, Nordic, Tokyo), the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list, James Beard Award 2026 finalists, Wine Spectator’s coverage of the SingleThread Kyoto opening, and reservation systems checked in May 2026 for current pricing and availability. Not every opening has been personally reviewed; where that’s the case, we say so plainly. Where we say a meal is worth a plane ticket, we mean a chef with a clear track record is doing something specific and uncommon.
1. Bonheur by Matt Abé, London, England
Opened: November 2025 Price: £195 (5-course Journey) / £295 (7-course Dream) / à la carte available Booking difficulty: Very hard. Six to eight-week wait for prime tables. Nearest airport: London Heathrow (LHR) Stay nearby:Claridge’s, The Connaught, The Beaumont Why it matters: Two Michelin stars within three months of opening, on the former Le Gavroche site.
Matt Abé spent over a decade running Restaurant Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road, the three-star flagship that quietly defined the upper bracket of London cooking through the 2010s and 2020s. When Le Gavroche closed in early 2024, ending the Roux family’s 57-year run at 43 Upper Brook Street, Ramsay bought the lease. He gave it to Abé. The Australian-born chef opened Bonheur (French for happiness) in November 2025.
In February 2026, the Michelin Guide awarded it two stars in its first appearance. Three months from opening to two stars is exceptionally rare and has only happened a handful of times in modern Michelin history. The cooking has classical French foundations (Abé’s specialty is sauce work, and the celeriac royale with caviar reads as a knowing wink at Le Gavroche’s legendary hare royale), but the room is pointedly modern: warm pinks and oranges, dried-flower installations, a Jamiroquai-and-Earth-Wind-and-Fire playlist that softens what could otherwise be a reverent space. À la carte exists, intentionally, as a counter-balance to tasting-menu fatigue.
Worth flying for if: You care about sauce work, classical technique, or the legacy of Le Gavroche. Bonheur is widely expected to add a third star within the next two to three Michelin cycles, which would make February 2026 prices look reasonable in retrospect.
Address: 43 Upper Brook Street, London W1K 7QR. Reservations open online; book at least six weeks ahead.
2. SoNoMa by SingleThread, Kyoto, Japan
SoNoMa by SingleThread at Capella Kyoto: the ochaya-style entrance (left), a seasonal course framed in winter florals (top right), the twelve-seat counter (bottom left), and chef-owners Kyle and Katina Connaughton (bottom right). Images courtesy of SoNoMa by SingleThread.
Opened: March 24, 2026 Price: ¥45,000 to ¥60,000 ($300 to $400) per person estimated Booking difficulty: Extremely hard. Twelve seats. Hotel guests get priority. Nearest airport: Kansai International (KIX) Stay nearby: Capella Kyoto (the host hotel), or Aman Kyoto, The Shinmonzen Why it matters: First international project from three-Michelin-starred SingleThread. Foreign chefs almost never open in Kyoto.
The first international project from SingleThread, the three-Michelin-starred Healdsburg restaurant where Kyle and Katina Connaughton have built one of the most distinctive farm-to-table programs in North America. The Kyoto opening is the most ambitious cross-cultural restaurant project of the year.
The premise is the inversion. SingleThread in Sonoma has always been described as a Kyoto-influenced California restaurant. SoNoMa is the mirror: a California-influenced Kyoto restaurant. Twelve seats, located inside the new Capella Kyoto hotel in Miyagawa-cho (one of Kyoto’s five historic geisha districts), the room is built in the style of a traditional ochaya teahouse. Chef Keita Tominaga, born and raised in Sonoma but trained at Tenoshima in Tokyo (which draws from Yoshihiro Murata’s Kikunoi lineage), runs the kitchen. Katina Connaughton is working with Kyoto-region farmers to grow heirloom tomatoes, peppers, and other Sonoma varieties on Japanese soil.
The wine program bridges natural California producers and Japanese sake breweries. The pastry program, SingleThread Entremets, is led by Emma Horowitz with Miu Morita, formerly of three-Michelin-star L’Effervescence in Tokyo.
Worth flying for if: You care about the philosophical experiment of cross-cultural fine dining, or you want to see what happens when one of America’s best restaurants tries to translate itself into Japan rather than the other way around.
Address: Capella Kyoto, 21 Yamatooji-dori, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto. Reservations through the hotel.
3. Esse, Copenhagen, Denmark
Opened: October 2025 Price: DKK 1,800 to 2,400 (roughly $260 to $345) for the tasting menu Booking difficulty:Hard. 42 seats, two seatings per night. Nearest airport: Copenhagen Kastrup (CPH) Stay nearby: Hotel Sanders, Nimb Hotel, Hotel d’Angleterre Why it matters: First solo project from Matt Orlando (Amass), continuing the New Nordic conversation after Noma’s pivot.
Matt Orlando is one of the most influential chefs of the last decade in Copenhagen, but most travelers don’t know him by name. He ran Amass, the East Copenhagen restaurant that pioneered zero-waste cooking and the use of fermentation as a core flavor strategy, until its closure in 2023. Esse, which opened in October 2025, is Orlando’s first solo project since.
The room is hidden in a back alley of the Nyhavn neighborhood, in a restored 1895 warehouse. Forty-two seats, two tasting menus (six and ten courses), and a continuation of Orlando’s zero-waste philosophy from Amass, but in a more refined frame. The cooking is technical without being cold. The Nordic ingredient palette is honored without being self-conscious about it.
What makes Esse worth a plane ticket, especially for travelers who already think they know Copenhagen, is that it represents the next phase of New Nordic cooking after Noma’s pivot away from a permanent restaurant. Orlando is one of the few chefs in the world who can credibly continue that conversation.
Worth flying for if: You care about fermentation, zero-waste cooking, or the trajectory of New Nordic. Pair it with Geranium, Alchemist, or Jordnær for a proper food weekend.
Address: Esse, Nyhavn, Copenhagen. Reservations on essecph.dk.
4. Jija by Vicky Lau, Hong Kong
The signature seasonal mushroom salad with pickled varieties at Jija, Vicky Lau’s Yunnan and Guizhou-focused restaurant in Hong Kong. Images courtesy of Jija.
Opened: November 2025 Price: HKD 800 to 1,200 (roughly $100 to $155) per person à la carte Booking difficulty:Moderate. Easier than Tate, harder than walk-in. Nearest airport: Hong Kong International (HKG) Stay nearby:Rosewood Hong Kong, The Upper House, Mandarin Oriental Why it matters: Vicky Lau’s most accessible concept, focused on Yunnan and Guizhou cuisine.
Vicky Lau is one of the most decorated chefs in Asia. She runs the two-Michelin-starred Tate Dining Room and Mora (her solo soy-focused project), and was named Asia’s Best Female Chef back in 2015. Jija, which opened in late 2025, is her newest concept and the most casual restaurant she has done.
The premise is Southwest China: Yunnan and Guizhou, regions Lau has been exploring on long research trips for the last several years. The cooking is ingredient-led and bold without being aggressive. Lime-shredded chicken with Sichuan peppercorn oil and peanuts. A signature seasonal mushroom salad with prized pickled varieties. Jija translates loosely as “conversation” in colloquial Cantonese, and the whole space is built for that, not for hushed reverence.
Hong Kong food coverage is dominated by the Western expat fine-dining circuit, which is one reason Lau’s regional Chinese projects have been quietly underrated by international press. Jija is the most accessible doorway into her work for someone who doesn’t already know Tate.
Worth flying for if: You want to see what the next decade of Chinese regional cuisine looks like in the hands of one of the genre’s most precise chefs, in a setting that doesn’t ask you to commit to a tasting menu.
Address: Hong Kong. Reservations through the restaurant directly.
5. Nisaba by Manish Mehrotra, Delhi, India
Opened: Early 2026 Price: INR 4,500 to 6,500 ($55 to $80) for the tasting menu Booking difficulty: Hard for weekend bookings. Easier weekday lunch. Nearest airport: Indira Gandhi International (DEL) Stay nearby: The Imperial New Delhi, The Oberoi New Delhi, The Lodhi Why it matters: Mehrotra’s deliberate step away from “progressive Indian” cooking into something quieter.
Manish Mehrotra spent over a decade running Indian Accent in Delhi and New York, the restaurant that probably did more than any other to put modern Indian cuisine on the global fine-dining map. Nisaba, which opened in early 2026, is his deliberate step away from “progressive Indian” cooking. It is his attempt to do something quieter.
The menu strips out the frills and pomp that defined Mehrotra’s earlier work. Tandoori bacon prawns with green chili yogurt and parmesan floss, and butter chicken with smoked makhani, achari mirch (spicy green chilies) and onion rings. The cooking is described as a tribute to India’s everyday food, but executed with the technical precision Mehrotra is known for.
Delhi’s fine-dining scene has been transforming rapidly in the last three years, partly driven by Indian wealth staying in India rather than going abroad, partly by chefs like Mehrotra returning from international careers. Nisaba sits at the center of that shift. It is the rare opening where a celebrated chef voluntarily downshifts from elaborate to direct.
Worth flying for if: You think Indian cuisine in fine-dining contexts has been over-fussy, and you want to see what an undisputed master does when he stops trying to impress.
Address: Delhi. Reservations through nisabadelhi.com.
6. KARYU, Miami, USA
Opened: Late 2025 Price: $385 per person tasting menu (April 2026) Booking difficulty: Hard. 12 counter seats.Nearest airport: Miami International (MIA) Stay nearby: The Setai, Faena Hotel, Four Seasons Surf Club Why it matters: First U.S. outpost of Tokyo’s Michelin-starred Oniku Karyu. The depth of wagyu sourcing is uncommon.
The Miami debut of Oniku Karyu, the Michelin-starred Tokyo restaurant, opened in late 2025 in the Design District. Twelve counter seats. The entire menu is built around Tajimaguro wagyu, the bloodline behind Kobe beef.
This matters because almost no American restaurant works with Tajimaguro at this depth. The animals are slaughtered in Hyogo Prefecture, dry-aged according to the Tokyo restaurant’s specifications, and shipped under cold chain conditions to Miami. The tasting menu walks through different cuts and preparations, with the chef explaining each as it lands. Roughly two hours per dinner.
Miami’s fine-dining scene has been building toward something for several years (the city now has 15 Michelin-starred restaurants, having had zero in 2022), but most of the recent openings have been brand extensions of New York or Tokyo concepts that lose something in translation. KARYU is the rare example of an authentic transplant. The Tokyo team is on the ground regularly. The sourcing is uncompromised.
Worth flying for if: You take meat seriously and want to understand wagyu beyond the marketing copy that appears on most American steakhouse menus.
Address: Miami Design District. Reservations on Resy.
7. Emilia, Philadelphia, USA
Opens: Spring 2026 Price: $50 to $95 per main / pasta tasting menu around $145 Booking difficulty: Very hard at launch. Walk-in seats reserved nightly. Nearest airport: Philadelphia International (PHL) Stay nearby: The Rittenhouse, ROOST Apartment Hotel, Four Seasons Philadelphia Why it matters: First Greg Vernick opening in six years, in the city that just received its first Michelin stars.
Greg Vernick spent fourteen years thinking about this restaurant. Emilia, which opens this spring in Philadelphia’s Fishtown-East Kensington corridor, is his first new opening in over six years and the most anticipated single restaurant in the country’s fastest-rising food city.
The context matters. Philadelphia received its first-ever Michelin stars in late 2025 (three of them, plus a green star and ten Bib Gourmands). Vernick is a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurateur. He is opening in Kensington, not Rittenhouse, which tells you everything about where Philadelphia’s culinary energy is moving. The restaurant is named after a baby name Vernick and his wife considered. The design intent is a neighborhood trattoria, not a destination, with 21 of the seats reserved nightly for walk-ins.
Pasta is the star, made daily in a glass-enclosed pasta room visible from the dining room. Wood-fired entrées, seasonal antipasti, and a wine list weighted toward Italian natural producers.
Worth flying for if: You want to see Philadelphia at the moment its food scene gets its international validation. Emilia plus Friday Saturday Sunday (now Michelin-starred) plus Pietramala (Green Star) plus Her Place Supper Club is a long weekend that will outperform most equivalent New York or LA itineraries on price.
Address: Fishtown-East Kensington, Philadelphia. Reservations on Resy.
The 7 at a glance
| # | Restaurant | City | Opens | Price | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonheur by Matt Abé | London | Nov 2025 | £195 to £295 | Very hard |
| 2 | SoNoMa by SingleThread | Kyoto | Mar 2026 | ~$300 to $400 | Extremely hard |
| 3 | Esse | Copenhagen | Oct 2025 | $260 to $345 | Hard |
| 4 | Jija by Vicky Lau | Hong Kong | Nov 2025 | $100 to $155 | Moderate |
| 5 | Nisaba | Delhi | Early 2026 | $55 to $80 | Hard weekends |
| 6 | KARYU | Miami | Late 2025 | $385 | Hard |
| 7 | Emilia | Philadelphia | Spring 2026 | $50 to $145 | Very hard |
Best new restaurants 2026: what we left off, and why
Some openings are getting more press than they deserve relative to the cooking. We considered, and rejected, several:
Maroon by Kwame Onwuachi at the Sahara, Las Vegas. A strong opening, but feels like an extension of his existing work at Tatiana and Dōgon rather than a new direction. Worth visiting if you’re already in Vegas. Not worth flying for.
Cleo Downtown, Manhattan. A promising neighborhood spot with a polished rotisserie format. Will reward locals. Not specific enough to draw international travel.
Gingie, Chicago. Brian Lockwood’s first brick-and-mortar, backed by James Beard winners. The cooking pedigree is real (Eleven Madison Park, El Celler de Can Roca, consulting on The Bear). But Chicago has stronger 2026 alternatives, including the relocated Atelier and Noah Sandoval’s All Well, neither of which fully justify a transatlantic ticket on their own.
Bistrot Le Héron, Paris. Part of a wave of French chefs opening more accessible second restaurants alongside their Michelin flagships. The category is one of 2026’s most interesting macro-trends, but no single opening yet stands above the others. Watch the space.
Flores Raras, Valencia. The rebrand of El Poblet under Carolina Álvarez is intriguing, but the restaurant’s identity is still settling. Better to revisit in late 2026.
We also did not include restaurants opening in the second half of 2026 where the opening date is not yet firm or where the chef’s track record is too thin to predict outcomes.
Why no Seoul, Singapore or Bangkok?
A fair question, given how dominant these cities have become on the World’s 50 Best and Asia’s 50 Best lists. The honest answer is that the most consequential Asian openings of 2026 are clustered in Kyoto, Hong Kong, and Delhi, the three cities we’ve included. The 2026 Seoul scene is mostly extension of established names rather than new directions. Singapore’s biggest recent openings (Odette’s various reincarnations, the Burnt Ends spinoffs) were 2024 and 2025 stories. Bangkok’s pipeline is rich but skewed toward 2027.
If we were writing this list in March 2027, expect Seoul and Bangkok to dominate it.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best new restaurants in 2026? The strongest openings of 2026, judged by chef pedigree, originality, and whether they’re worth flying for, are Bonheur by Matt Abé in London, SoNoMa by SingleThread in Kyoto, and Esse by Matt Orlando in Copenhagen. These three set the standard for the year.
Which restaurant opening is hardest to book in 2026? SoNoMa by SingleThread in Kyoto. Twelve seats, prioritized for Capella Kyoto hotel guests, and global demand from food travelers who have followed SingleThread for years. Bonheur in London is a close second: six to eight weeks for prime tables, with weekend dinner slots booking out further ahead.
Which Michelin-starred restaurants opened in 2026? Bonheur by Matt Abé in London earned two stars three months after opening. Row on 5 in London was promoted to two stars. The 2026 Michelin Guide ceremonies awarded 20 new one-star restaurants in Great Britain & Ireland alone, including Legado, Ambassadors Clubhouse, and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High in London. The Tokyo, France, Italy, and Nordic ceremonies added their own new stars across the year.
Which cities have the best new restaurants in 2026? London, Kyoto, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, and Philadelphia. Philadelphia is the genuine surprise on this list: the city received its first-ever Michelin stars in late 2025, and 2026 brings over 100 new openings, anchored by Greg Vernick’s Emilia.
Are these restaurants worth the price? For travelers who would otherwise pay similar prices at established Michelin-starred restaurants, yes. The pricing on this list ranges from $55 (Nisaba lunch) to $385 (KARYU), with the median around $200 to $300 per person before drinks. Compared to legacy three-stars like Geranium in Copenhagen ($600+), Frantzén in Stockholm ($500+), or Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London ($350+), the openings on this list deliver comparable or stronger value.
How far in advance should I book? For Bonheur and SoNoMa: book the moment reservations open. For the rest: six to eight weeks ahead is enough for most weeknight tables. Weekend dinner slots fill faster, especially at Esse and Emilia.
What’s the best new restaurant for vegetarians or vegans? Esse in Copenhagen runs adapted vegetarian versions of both its tasting menus on request, and the kitchen’s fermentation and zero-waste focus means the vegetable cooking is genuinely central rather than an afterthought. Jija in Hong Kong is also strong: Yunnan and Guizhou cuisine leans heavily on mushrooms, wild greens, and pickled vegetables, and the à la carte format makes it easy to build a meatless meal.
For another honest take on travel value in 2026, see our guide on what a week in Japan really costs.
Sources and update log
Primary:
- Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2026 ceremony
- SingleThread Farms / Capella Kyoto press materials
- The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025
- James Beard Foundation 2026 award semifinalist announcements
Secondary:
- Time Out, “The Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of 2026”
- Robb Report, “The 15 Most Exciting Restaurant Openings in the U.S. in Spring 2026”
- Wine Spectator, “SingleThread Opens SoNoMa Restaurant in Kyoto”
- Wallpaper, “Le Gavroche becomes Bonheur”
- The World’s 50 Best, “27 brilliant new restaurants to book in 2026”
Updates:
- Published: 24 May 2026
- Last reservation systems checked: May 2026
- This list will be updated quarterly as additional 2026 openings are confirmed and as Michelin Guide ceremonies in Tokyo (November), New York (October), and California (December) update the field. Bookmark this guide before planning any food-focused trip in 2026.
