New York City's Tatiana By Chef Kwame Onwuachi Receives Resy 'One To Watch' Award

The accolades continue to pour in for Chef Kwame Onwuachi's new restaurant in New York City, Tatiana. Recently named the best restaurant in the city in a rapturous review by Pete Wells in The New York Times, Tatiana has been overwhelmingly beloved since debuting in November of 2022. The star chef-helmed restaurant is adding a new jewel to its already dazzling crown: It has received the Resy "One to Watch" award from The World's 50 Best Restaurants.

The distinction, sponsored by reservation platform Resy, heralds the arrival of a promising restaurant destined to one day make the revered list of best eateries around the globe. The announcement came on May 24 after a congratulatory dinner at Tatiana. With a culinary style born from Onwuachi's Nigerian, Caribbean, and New Orleans influences, the menu at Tatiana highlights comfort classics like braised oxtails, curried goat patties, and cornbread and cod. 

William Drew, Director of Content for The World's 50 Best Restaurants, called out this signature style before handing over the award. "Chef Kwame and his team are trailblazers in delivering a standout gastronomic experience, putting Caribbean, African, and Black American cooking in the much-deserved spotlight," Drew said.    

Located within the Lincoln Center in Manhattan, Tatiana is Onwuachi's tribute to his beloved sister, the restaurant's inspiration and namesake. It's a pinnacle achievement for a young chef who's been generating steady buzz for the past six years. Since first came to national attention on season 13 of "Top Chef" in 2015, Onwuachi has helmed a number of restaurant ventures, including his esteemed D.C.-based Kith & Kin as well as the dismally short-lived Shaw Bijou. Still, even the Shaw Bijou lemon became a wealth of experience and stories that helped feed Onwuachi's well-received memoir "Notes from a Young Black Chef."  

After Shaw Bijou, Onwuachi opened Kith & Kin in 2017 and caused a shock in the dining scene when he left after three years, just as the well-reviewed restaurant was gaining world-class prestige. But Onwuachi had big plans on the horizon, i.e. Tatiana. The difference with Tatiana? Onwuachi finally owns his own restaurant near the Bronx, where he spent much of his childhood. The critics and New York culinary in-crowd adore this deeply personal restaurant, and it's become one of the hardest dinner reservations to land. Now that The World's 50 Best Restaurants has singled it out as the "One to Watch," one can only expect things to get more heated in the online queue.

For those hotly awaiting the full list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, mark your calendars for later this summer. On June 20th, they'll announce the winners of that title in Valencia, Spain.