Restaurant openings are not easy to keep up with. You tick one off the list and another has already gone to the top of everyone’s list before you’ve finished your first glass of champagne. Try keeping track of global openings over the course of a year and a hard task just got impossible – and 2024 is obviously no exception.
This year was another fruitful one, with openings covering every realm of the restaurant world, from out-and-out fine French dining in one of Tokyo’s fanciest hotels to Korean fried chicken paired with champagne in NYC.
Below, you’ll find a selection of Elite Traveler‘s top restaurant openings of 2024. It’s absolutely not exhaustive – no list of this type could ever claim to be – but instead it’s a roundup of a very small selection of new restaurants that got us excited about the thrill of going out for dinner.
[See also: The Most Anticipated Hotel Openings of 2025]
Héritage by Kei Kobayashi, Tokyo
Héritage by Kei Kobayashi opened in January on the 45th floor of the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo, confidently plonking itself into the heart of a very well-established fine dining scene.
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Rooted in French traditions but always with one eye on appealing to a modern palette, Héritage’s menu aims to test, intrigue and delight rather than just feed. The formula paid off, and less than a year after opening, Héritage by Kei Kobayashi received its first Michelin star, with the guide heralding it as opening ‘new horizons in gastronomy’.
Coqodaq, New York City
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Brought to you by the team behind Gracious Hospitality Management (which counts Michelin-starred COTE Korean Steakhouse in its portfolio) and led by restauranter Simon Kim, Coqodaq opened in the chilly days of January and, within mere weeks, was undisputedly NYC’s hottest restaurant – and without doubt one of the world’s top openings of 2024.
The uber-cool, almost cathedral-like interiors certainly helped secure this accolade, but the concept was the real deal-sealer: sweet, spicy, salty Korean-style fried chicken paired with vivacious (there’s over 400 to choose from, each selected by beverage director and wine maestro Victoria James). Managed to bag a table? Order The Bucket List – a sharing chicken bucket with two types of chicken; original and soy sauce garlic glaze; chicken and ginseng consommé; a selection of pickled veg; cold noodles; and frozen yogurt to finish.
Avery, Edinburgh
Technically, Avery isn’t new. Its first iteration was a San Francisco restaurant (although, before that it was technically a rotating pop-up), which opened in 2018 and was awarded a Michelin star in 2021. But in 2023, chef-owner Rodney Wages announced an unconventional decision: he was going to relocate his restaurant (and his family) over the Atlantic and re-launch Avery in Edinburgh.
Avery 2.0 opened in May in the trendy Stockbridge neighborhood with a menu that maintained many of Wages’ signature dishes, reworked to incorporate ingredients from Scotland’s natural larder. Presented in a lengthy 15-course tasting-menu format, the culinary experience calls on Japanese, French and Nordic culinary styles.
Kioku by Endo, London
Raffles London at the OWO snatched all the headlines (including ours) when it opened in September 2023, but the swanky five-star hotel has had a steady rollout of restaurant launches since. One of the latest is Kioku by Endo, which opened up on the sixth floor (i.e. pretty high up by London standards) of the OWO in May.
Headed by Endo Kazutoshi – most famous for his Michelin-starred Endo at the Rotunda – Kioku by Endo is a la carte affair that gives us an insight into the chef’s idea of East-meets-West cuisine. There’s sashimi and nigiri but also duck breast served with barley miso and hispi cabbage, and ravioli. Fusion food isn’t novel in London, but Kioku by Endo’s swanky interiors, prime position and top-name chef made it one of London’s most exciting restaurant openings of the year.
[See also: Mauro Colagreco Makes His UK Debut at Raffles London]
The Corner Store, New York City
As the first new opening from Catch Hospitality Group in 13 years, The Corner Store opened in September with much anticipation. Nostalgia is the name of the game here, with kitsch menu highlights including bite-sized pastrami sandwiches, cheesy pizza rolls doused in hot honey, shrimp cocktail, loaded fries and vodka-soaked oysters.
Drinks are a big focus too – namely the martini. They’re made tableside and range from the classic dirty serve to fun riffs including a sour cream and onion concoction. Interiors are nostalgic too and hark back to vintage New York dining rooms, with a warm inviting atmosphere.
Vespertine, Los Angeles
Seven years since it first opened, and four since it shut, Jordan Kahn’s Vespertine re-opened in April 2024. Located inside the quirky and arguably drastic Eric Owen Moss Architects-designed The Waffle building in Culver City, Vespertine is a culinary experience rather than just a dinner, with guests invited to make their way through the rooms as the meal plays out.
Kahn’s highly experimental menu spreads over a multitude of courses, with all five senses engrossed. Kahn is highly concerned with ingredient provenance and has worked hard to create a supply chain that prioritizes biodynamic and regeneratively grown produce, as well as some foraged goods. Despite Vespertine’s hiatus, its two Michelin stars were quickly won back and its status as one of LA’s hottest restaurants easily reinstated.
[See also: The Best Restaurants in Los Angeles]
FZN by Björn Frantzén, Dubai
Chef Björn Frantzén’s culinary empire is an impressive one: there’s the eponymous Frantzén, Stockholm’s three-Michelin-starred gem, but also Zén, the Singapore outpost that went on to snag three stars of its own. The latest to join the clan is FZN by Björn Frantzén, sitting happily inside the luxurious walls of the Atlantis the Palm hotel.
Invitingly intimate with just 27 seats per sitting, FZN serves Frantzén’s signature modern European cuisine with Japanese influences. Pre-dinner canapés are served in a stylish living room, followed by a nine-course tasting menu in the sleek dining room and perhaps a nightcap on the terrace with Dubai’s skyline as your backdrop.
[See also: The Best Fine Dining Restaurants in London]
