Locust

Locust is the most original restaurant in Nashville, and it wins with a startlingly short deck of cards: dumplings, beef tartare, dover sole, caviar, and a shaved-ice dessert people plan return visits around. Trevor Moran — who ran the kitchen at The Catbird Seat before building his own place in 12 South — cooks each of them past the point where anyone else bothers to go.

The room is compact and moves fast; the menu reads simple and eats anything but. Japanese technique, Irish instincts, and a fermentation habit collide in food that belongs to no category except Moran's.

Michelin gave Locust a star in the inaugural American South guide, and North America's 50 Best put it on the continent's list. For a restaurant this small serving a menu this short, that isn't recognition. That's a verdict.