Junior, Cauponor Honored Among NYT’s Top Restaurants

Nashville restaurants Cauponor and Junior have landed coveted spots on The New York Times’ annual “Best Restaurants in America,” published Monday. New Orleans food writer Brett Anderson inked praise for both spots, which share a focus on small, creative menus built from global cuisines.

Chef Jake Howell, who has raked in accolades atop East Nashville’s Peninsula, opened Cauponor in July inside Germantown’s tony Neuhoff District; Philip Krajeck opened Junior last year on Dickerson Pike after years steering local favorites Folk and Rolf and Daughters.

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Philip Krajeck’s Junior Makes for a Trifecta Perfecta

Krajeck built his third restaurant with chef Brian Mejia and a team of Folk and Rolf and Daughters veterans

Where Junior cultivates classic cool, Cauponor leans into stylish simplicity, though both chefs clearly share a fondness for offbeat produce and quality seafood. Palate-pollination seems likely: Sungold tomatoes, raw tuna, melon, snails, French cheese, and vadouvan, a curry-like French spice blend, feature on both current menus. Summer supper at either may also introduce diners to the joys of muscadine grapes and several types of peppers — Jimmy Nardellos, habaneros, marseilles, marconis, madhatters and chilis pop across dishes.

Krajeck and Howell can add the hype to their trophy cabinets — Howell won the 2025 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast, and Krajeck has been a semifinalist for the same prize thrice, including last year. Krajeck boasts a laundry list of recognition for his restaurant family since opening Rolf and Daughters in 2012.

This week’s nods — reserved for 50 American restaurants — returns Nashville to the Times spotlight after the city was left off the 2025 roundup. National foodies have flocked to Nashville's fine-dining scene over the past decade, driven in part by high-profile media recognition. Last month, culinary magazine Bon Appetit highlighted Junior among its favorites. Michelin, the giant of food judgment, bestowed three single-star cooking designations on Bastion, Locust and Catbird Seat, along with several other city recommendations, in the the Michelin Guide's first consideration of the American South last year.

Buzz does not necessarily equal commercial success. Industry insiders speculate about a saturated market, labor difficulties and even a potential recession. The 2024 Times short list highlighted Bad Idea, which recently shed its Laotian menu for done-up Southern staples. Audrey, Sean Brock’s recently shuttered experiment, won its nod in 2022. In August, touted Sylvan Park dining room Lion’s Share booted its award-winning chef just months after opening.