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Where to eat now 2007: the best new restaurants of the year are whipping up everything from beef short ribs and pork tenderloin to sea bass and roasted duck. And the snails are going fast.

Article Excerpt
People are forever cornering me at parties and asking, "What's your favorite new restaurant?" That question is on my mind especially at this time of year, when we publish our annual roundup of the top new places to dine. Sometimes when asked I hem and haw and can't make up my mind, because so many recent openings are similar in style and quality. Not this time around. Except for two--a bistro and a brasserie--the choices for 2007 are apples and oranges and pomegranates. [paragraph] Another oddity of the year is that the restaurants grouped themselves by city. In the three previous years that we've published our ten best, the mix has been almost random. But Dallas had exceptional contenders this time, and it nailed the top three slots. Houston came on strong with the next three, and then Dallas jumped in again. Austin claimed the subsequent two places, and San Antonio chimed in with the last. (Five runners-up, including two more from Dallas, by the way, are listed under "The Best of the Rest" on page 115.) [paragraph] Now, down to business: To refresh your memory on the rules, the candidates must have opened between November 1, 2005, and October 31, 2006. As always, new means new: new owner, new chef, new name (thus Aries, in Houston, which changed its name to Pic and rejiggered its menu, was not in the running because chef-owner Scott Tycer is still at the helm). Second locations of Texas restaurants are not eligible (so the Austin edition of Dallas-based Taverna doesn't count). But we do consider the first Texas location of an out-of-town operator (a case in point being the Dallas edition of Craft, recently arrived from New York). In conclusion, let me just observe that competitive eating is a recognized sport. Go forth and see if you agree with my choices.

1. STEPHAN PYLES

DALLAS When the chef, who was a founding father of Southwestern cuisine and the creator of much-lauded Star Canyon, opened his eponymous new restaurant a little over a year ago, the ever-snarky food community was abuzz: Would he pull it off or fall on his face? The biggest doubter of all was Stephan Pyles himself, who had been out of the picture--traveling, consulting, and generally living the life of Riley--for five years. It took a few months to smooth out the rough spots, but the answer is clear: Pyles is back. Intellectually, his new place is as stimulating as anything he's done. He takes the original notion of Southwestern cuisine--Mexican flavors elevated by classical techniques--and sends it on a world cruise, hitting Hispanic ports of call from Spain to Peru. The dish I love, love, love is the tasting of three ceviches, a universe of novel and voluptuous tastes and textures, including silky Honduran tuna with coconut milk, ginger, and basil. It's fusion cuisine that works. In addition to surf, Pyles does turf quite nicely, as evidenced by his rack of lamb crusted with coriander and sided by a crispy Ecuadoran-potato cake. The...

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