This week Eater, a national food website by Vox Media, announced its list of the 12 Best New Restaurants in America 2023, including Charleston’s own Kultura.
According to Eater, the list was compiled with more than great food in mind: “Each restaurant on this list … reflects something larger about the way we eat. It might set a trend in motion, or subvert another. It might bring attention to a previously unheralded cuisine or neighborhood, or revisit familiar genres in unexpected ways.”
That description seems fitting for Kultura, a Filipino restaurant helmed by chef Nikko Cagalanan. After years of successful pop-ups, Cagalanan, along with Baguette Magic co-owner Paula Kramer, opened Kultura (the Filipino word for “culture”), on Spring Street this summer.
“The Philippines has a lot of influence from other cultures, Spain particularly with dishes like adobo, menudo and afritada, but then I took those dishes and made them my own,” Cagalanan said during an August interview with Charleston City Paper.
Eaters Carolina editor Erin Perkins described the unique appeal of Kultura in Eater’s “12 Best” list: “In a city that loves any excuse to party, Kultura makes its own kind of fun with Fruity Pebbles-topped cocktails, Ramen Mondays, Sinatra-heavy karaoke brunches, and a spirited staff.”
Charleston restaurants on national scene
Charleston itself is used to national publicity; the city consistently makes Travel + Leisure’s “readers’ favorite cities” list. Topping the list again this year, the Holy City was praised by readers for “so many incredible restaurants.”
And while the opinion of visitors and locals is certainly important — they’re the ones spending money at bars and restaurants around town, after all — there’s something to be said for the opinion of national publications, especially ones that choose Charleston restaurants over restaurants they’ve visited all over the country. They don’t just think the food is good; they think it’s important.
In the past few months alone, Charleston’s Vern’s made the New York Times’ Best Restaurant List 2023, while North Charleston’s recently opened King BBQ was included in Bon Appetit’s 10 Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of 2023.
The NYT list, now in its third year, celebrates restaurants that thrive in the face of “the upheavals in recent years,” noting that “this is an expansive moment for independent restaurants.” The publication sent a dozen reporters, editors and critics to hundreds of restaurants in the country to narrow the list down to its top 50.
In her description of Vern’s, food journalist Priya Krishna wrote: “Finally, wine bar food feels interesting again.”
Bon Appetit’s “most anticipated” list notes that “there’s a lot to be excited about in the restaurant world right now,” including the Chinese American offerings from Shuai and Corrie Wang’s King BBQ.
As Eater said: “A great new restaurant can be a fun experience. A best new restaurant announces itself as part of the national dining conversation.”
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