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Texas Monthly revealed its picks for the state’s ten best new restaurants of the year today, and there are two Austin restaurants on the list: Texas-Japanese izakaya Kemuri Tatsu-ya in the number two slot and Hill Country-inspired restaurant Pitchfork Pretty at number 7.
Pat Sharpe, the magazine’s executive and food editor, was pleased with the list’s span, writing that she couldn’t “remember a year that included two such distinct outliers.” Houston chef Hugo Ortega’s Xochi nabbed the number one spot.
Kemuri Tatsu-ya, from Ramen Tatsu-ya chefs and co-owners Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto. is described as the place for “thrill-seeking diners,” out on East 2nd Street in Holly.
Sharpe agrees with other Austin food writers that East Cesar Chavez Pitchfork Pretty’s food goes beyond what its Hill Country-inspired menu suggests from chef Max Snyder, especially with what she dubbed as the “best bite” of the year: the quail egg shooter.
Austin’s honorable mentions include chef Philip Speer’s American diner-French bistro Bonhomie and South Lamar tapas restaurant El Chipiron.
Eater roving critic Bill Addison included Kemuri Tatsu-ya in his list of the 12 best new restaurants of the country last summer.
Last year, Texas Monthly’s ten best new restaurants of 2017 included three Austin spots: omakase Otoko and Italian restaurants L’Oca d’Oro and Red Ash.
- 2018’s 10 Best New Restaurants in Texas [Texas Monthly]