AAA has released its annual Diamond Awards list for restaurants across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean deemed exceptional dining experiences that are both educational and entertaining.
There are eight new restaurants among the list of 68 restaurants that earned the AAA Five Diamond rating in the past 12 months. One of the newcomers is Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare in New York City, where prepaid guests enter the "hidden restaurant" in Hell's Kitchen through an unmarked passageway in the back of a grocery store.
Restaurants with a five-diamond rating are visited several times by unannounced inspectors -- people who have a wide range of hospitality experience, including as hotel managers and food and beverage experts -- before a final decision is made by a panel of experts. The diamond ratings for restaurants started in 1985.
Here are all the New York restaurants with a five-diamond rating by AAA for 2018:
- Gabriel Kreuther
- Del Posto
- Jean-Georges Restaurant
- Blue Hill at Stone Barns
- Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare
- Daniel
- Eleven Madison Park
- Le Bernardin
- Marea
- The Modern
- Per Se
Only 0.2 percent of the more than 31,000 AAA inspected and approved restaurants are five diamond-rated. There are also 665 restaurants with a four-diamond rating.