Bon Appétit hosted a dazzling party at one of Portland, Oregon’s top restaurants to unveil the Best New Restaurants of 2024. Editor in chief Jamila Robinson was joined by restaurant editor Elazar Sontag and members of the Bon Appétit team to celebrate alongside a star-studded list of attendees.
Hundreds gathered at Kann (one of Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants of 2023) to raise a glass to the restaurants that earned a coveted spot on this year’s list. Partygoers included Oregon governor Tina Kotek, award-winning chef Erick Williams of Chicago restaurant Virtue, Ben Jacobsen of Jacobsen Salt Co., star local chef Akkapong Earl Ninsom, and a host of Best New Restaurant winners from years past.
Governor Tina Kotek and First Lady Aimee Kotek WilsonPhotograph by Michael Raines
Hosted by the restaurant’s James Beard Award–winning chef-owner Gregory Gourdet, the celebration featured a greatest hits spread of Kann’s dishes, which combine Haitian inspiration and its Pacific Northwest locale. “It was really awesome to be on this list with my team last year,” Gourdet said during a speech. “One of the missions of Kann was to really put Oregon on the map. When we were thinking about designing this restaurant, we were thinking about a global place where people from all over the world could come and experience Haitian cuisine.”
Chef Gregory Gourdet gives remarks.Photograph by Michael Raines
During the ceremony, Robinson spoke to the forces that shaped this year’s list. “The most important and exciting trend that we saw as we were scouting restaurants all over the country was collaboration,” she said. “You were coming together in ways that were making something new, beautiful, and, of course, delicious.” In that spirit of collaboration, the chefs of this year’s Best New Restaurants gathered for group portraits and celebrated and toasted each other’s achievements.
