They're recently opened restaurants with designs as mouthwatering as the food.
And that's official.
A prestigious architecture award has named two restaurants in the US as among the 16 most beautiful eateries on the planet in 2025.
The accolades were bestowed upon beef-cuts specialist Beefbar in New York City and Japanese-cuisine emporium Japon in Miami Beach by the UNESCO Prix Versailles competition.
The judges described the décor in Beefbar, designed by the Monaco-based firm Humbert & Poyet, as "a perfect reflection of New York: a melting pot of influences from which novel expressions emanate that are as original as they are disconcerting".
The judges continue: "In the trendy Tribeca neighborhood, this building with Art Deco accents features high ceilings punctuated by tall arched windows.
"The interior is adorned in a lovely variety of textiles and materials, an abundance that was inspired by a kaleidoscopic vision of history: from a refined version of the historic motif in the Versailles parquet floor to a recollection of the industrial heritage of this part of Manhattan, and from garnet marble cladding to terrazzo flooring."
Japon, meanwhile, is lauded for "blending traditional Japanese craft with modern elements.”
The judges continue: "Envisioned by chefs Vijayudu Veena and Iván Monzón, this project contains all the exuberance and vibrant playfulness of this Floridian town and its multiple influences.
"The crane – a Japanese symbol of elegance, luck and natural beauty – is at the heart of the design narrative created by Saladino Design Studios. Its image welcomes diners at the entrance and continues across various materials, from mosaics to fabrics."
This restaurant has "an atmosphere with charm as timeless as it is unreal,” the judges add.
Also making the list is Ladurée Rue Royale in Paris, France – a refurbished version of the original Ladurée tea room dating back to 1862.
Prix Versailles says: "The hewn stone façade is resolutely Parisian, to be sure, but once visitors set foot inside the shop, which has been returned to its initial configuration, they are transported back in time through centuries and revolutions."
The French capital is also represented on the ranking by Ducasse Baccarat, in the former home of modern art muse Marie-Laure de Noailles (1902-1970) near the Arc de Triomphe.
It now houses an Alain Ducasse restaurant and features a "subtle fusion of raw materials with precious Baccarat crystal".
The judges add: "Contemporary artwork, furniture that honours the best French artisans, and plays of light and shadow make the experience unique."
Other restaurants on the esteemed list include the "unique" Smoked Room in Dubai; Lobster Club in Palma de Mallorca, lauded as feeling like "a summer's day by the seashore"; Julie's in the Notting Hill district of London, a restaurant with a "distinctive, decadent style"; and Coro in Orvieto, Italy, housed in a deconsecrated 16th-century church.
The world's most beautiful restaurants for 2025
- Gerbou, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Smoked Room, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Blackswan, Beijing, China
- Ōrtensia, Shanghai, China
- Lobster Club, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- Bouchon Carême, Helsinki, Finland
- Ladurée Rue Royale, Paris, France
- Ducasse Baccarat, Paris, France
- Julie's, London, United Kingdom
- Shell, Nusa Penida, Indonesia
- Coro, Orvieto, Italy
- Seven Island, Busan, Republic of Korea
- Kimyona, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Another Smith, Tha Sai Luat, Thailand
- Beefbar, New York, United States
- Japón, Miami Beach, United States
Jérôme Gouadain, Secretary General of the Prix Versailles, explained the function of architecture at these new establishments: "When we have a meal, we remember the taste of the dishes, the scent of a venue, the soundtrack of a meeting, and perhaps the recollection of an object. But who could really describe it all? What's certain is that a lived experience is, first and foremost, a human, inner experience that is shared and unique.
"In this arena, architecture has an eminently paradoxical, almost maternal, role to play, attracting guests into its warm embrace, enveloping them with its shapes and forms, and completely effacing itself to put the focus on the feast. It's impossible not to recognise the mission that is incumbent upon design here.
"Today, the Prix Versailles is shining a light on 16 effective, coherent and distinctly initiatory approaches marked by that humility, each one existing to feed its guests' bodies and souls."
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