Photo by Sid Hastings
Juniper
Juniper’s 2015 began with big news: John Perkins had hired Cassy Vires of recently closed Home Wine Kitchen as executive chef, and she would remake the menu of his Southern restaurant in her own fashion. This transformation was short-lived. Vires left in June, and Perkins took charge of the kitchen again, with Tim Zenner as his executive chef. So the year ended with Juniper back where it began three years ago — except when I dined there this winter, Perkins’ cooking struck me as even more focused and exciting than before, as if his stepping back from the kitchen had recharged him. His own voice came through more clearly in a playful “pop tart” filled with a thin layer of chicken-liver mousse and glazed with a preserved-lemon icing and a soulful riff on posole with country ham and the sophisticated sweetness of collard greens. Yes, Juniper is still a Southern restaurant — fried chicken, shrimp and grits, the stellar Pork and Beans — but now it feels like it’s on the precipice of something more.
Last year's ranking: 17
Opened: 2013
Must order: Pork and Beans (pork belly and Sea Island red peas with a fried egg, collard greens and maple syrup, $19)