Every year, when considering this award, I sit back and think through the last 12 months of meals. Which was the most memorable? Delivered the most pleasure? Made me giddy with joy? And once again, I have to admit — that meal happened at Trois Mec. I’m still dreaming about a bowl containing tender chunks of bay scallop and foie gras swimming in a matsutake mushroom and miso broth, which was flecked with pickled sunchoke and hazelnut oil. Over the summer, the restaurant’s vegetable dishes seemed to draw inspiration from some of the most exciting cooking happening in Paris, with elegant, playful takes on asparagus and citrus, and a chanterelle crudite that was at once foresty and fresh. As the restaurant’s chef/owners Ludo Lefebvre, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo march on to ever more crowd-pleasing projects, it’s nice to know that their most personal little fine-dining spot retains all of its weird magic.

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