Summer is fleeting, even if it sometimes doesn’t feel like it when the mercury shoots up, up, up. These months are the prime time to be outdoors in places that are grey most of the year. In cities, where it’s bound to be especially sticky, take advantage of your window for refreshing bites that go light on the constitution.
Baleia, Boston
“Snack on octopus carpaccio and grilled sardines,” said The Boston Globe about this mellow Portuguese restaurant that recently debuted its outdoor-seating space. Whatever you decide to order, a glass of zippy vinho verde is always an excellent complement to summer dining.
Balkan Treat Box, St. Louis
The owners of this sandwich-centric shop are adept at seeing the matrix. Across countries like Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia, flatbreads are regularly served with — or around — a variety of meats and vegetables. Here, you could have a pljeskavica (a burger patty of sorts), cevapi (kebabs) or patlidzan (eggplant) served in a pillowy, charred bread. Or go with the comparatively familiar, the doner, a “worthy contender” for the best item on the menu, said St. Louis magazine.
Bruto, Denver
All hail the chef’s counter done well! At Bruto, the food is complex, as you might expect from a restaurant with a tasting-menu format. What sets Bruto apart is, in part, its “low-waste program” that uses “fermentation projects of all kinds,” said Eater. A guarantee that, here, you will always be eating the new along with the old.
Cvi.che 105, Miami
Zippy raw fish sluiced with lime juice and accompanied by both fresh and fried corn: This is what summer in the swampy dead of Florida necessitates. And the ceviche, along with its stylistic cousin tiradito, served at one of the multiple South Florida locations of Cvi.che 105, harnesses the “best flavors of Japanese cuisine” courtesy of chef-owner Juan Chipoco’s “creativity and background in authentic Peruvian dishes,” said Miami New Times.
Marination Ma Kai, Seattle
Seattle is far from a beach town. But there is water everywhere, and when the weather is beauteous, snagging a waterfront table at this Hawaiian-Korean spot is very much in order. “Grab a picnic table under the string lights,” said The Infatuation, and “let the lychee margaritas flow while you soak in the best waterfront view in the city.”
Mi Tocaya Antojería, Chicago
“This was very much about giving much due credit to all of the women,” chef Diana Dávila said to Resy about her restaurant, Mi Tocaya Antojería. “And that’s really how I have learned to cook Mexican food, is through all these fabulous women throughout my life.” The menu runs through many of the Mexican dishes common in restaurants in the United States: steak burrito, fish tacos, black beans. But Dávila’s touch is always personal.
Theodore Rex, Houston
The menu at Justin Yu’s Theodore Rex “feels uniquely Houston, as it pulls from a diverse range of flavors and cooking techniques,” said the Houston Chronicle. That might mean a northern Thai-style sour pork sausage with lime leaf and cucumbers is served on the same menu as melting onions in buttermilk with breadcrumbs.
Patios and big flavors are in season
