The New York Times: Best dishes in America of 2024
After months of traveling to more than 30 states and eating in hundreds of restaurants, it’s not easy to keep track of all the dishes that crossed our tables. But on the other hand, there are some we couldn’t forget (including many from New York City, which we gave its own list). Whether soups or sweets, a single tasting-menu course or a perfect ham sandwich, these are the bites from 2024 that will linger in our minds well into the new year.
Lamb Posole at Paloma
It was bitingly cold in northern New Mexico in the spring when I found this heady soup, just in time. The grassy gaminess of the smoked lamb shoulder (from animals raised in the shadow of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains) was swaddled in the deep, piquant flavors of a guajillo chile bone broth, and balanced with a smattering of grilled nopales. The dish was cast an appetizer on the menu, but you’d really need nothing more. - BRIAN GALLAGHER