Meat with red wine, fish with white. The age-old adage may give you pairing confidence in a pinch, but when frequenting these wine-centric seafood spots, you can let the experts take the reins. Americans have learned to love the bounty of the sea, and fresh, creative fish dishes always brighten any lunch or dinner outing. Fish houses and French, Italian and Mediterranean restaurants alike are all serving exceptional seafood, and many of the best have top-notch wine lists to match.
We’ve picked nine restaurants across the U.S. where the chefs and sommeliers know how to pair and showcase the best from the sea and the cellar. The Wine Spectator Restaurant Award–winning seafood destinations listed below each offer well-chosen, quality wine lists that display vintage depth and excellent breadth across multiple regions. For more options, see Wine Spectator’s more than 3,500 Restaurant Award winners, including nearly 300 award-winning seafood restaurants and the more than 90 Grand Award recipients worldwide that hold our highest honor.
Do you have a favorite you’d like to see on this list? Send your recommendations to restaurantawards@mshanken.com. We want to hear from you!
Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St., New York City
Telephone (212) 554-1515
Website www.le-bernardin.com
Grand Award
Le Bernardin may be in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, but as a leader in luxury dining, it has transported diners to the shores of France for years. The Le Coze siblings established this monument to fresh, pristine seafood, and the restaurant continues to build its worldwide reputation under chef and co-owner Eric Ripert; he and celebrated wine director Aldo Sohm steered Le Bernardin to Grand Award status in 2021. Sohm has built a 1,300-label wine program and nearly 10,000-bottle cellar with vintages dating to 1875. There is strength in Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Germany, Austria and California in particular, including famed names such as DRC and Screaming Eagle. Across his prix fixe and tasting menus, Ripert spotlights the sea’s bounty with dishes such as lobster carpaccio with a squash-herb salad and steamed halibut with truffled sunchoke puree in a beef bourguignon sauce. (A vegetarian tasting menu is also available.)
Topper's at the Wauwinet
The Wauwinet Inn, 120 Wauwinet Road, Nantucket, Mass.
Telephone (508) 228-8768
Website www.wauwinet.com/dining
Grand Award
The elegant Wauwinet has been hosting parties on the eastern shore of Nantucket since opening in 1875. Today, the Victorian inn’s luxury dining establishment, Topper’s, continues to draw guests for outdoor dining on its waterfront patio. Sourcing ingredients exclusively from local purveyors, chef Kyle Zachary offers a menu of contemporary coastal dishes, such as smoked bluefish pâté, lobster-crab cakes, oysters in a mignonette sauce and yellowfin tuna with shishito peppers. (A vegetarian tasting menu features alternative dishes, such as artichoke cappelletti with a barigoule mushroom emulsion.) Zachary’s fare strikes a delicate balance, satisfying guests who expect classic New England fare as well as exciting those looking for something new. Tapping a 25,000-bottle cellar, wine director Jason Irving’s Grand Award–winning wine program functions similarly. There is an abundance of classics from California, Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône and Italy alongside offerings from up-and-coming regions around the world.
Bar Mar
120 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago
Telephone (312) 820-6602
Website www.thebazaar.com
Best of Award of Excellence
On the ground floor of a towering building on North Wacker Drive, Best of Award of Excellence winner Bar Mar is one of Chicago’s premier destinations for Spanish wines and Iberian-inspired seafood. Chef and humanitarian José Andrés has made a big splash in the Windy City recently, with half a dozen restaurant openings there, some as a partnership with the team behind the Restaurant Award–winning Gibsons Restaurant Group. Andrés is bringing lively Spanish dining to the shores of the Chicago River with three separate North Wacker restaurants. That includes Bar Mar, where lead sommelier Christian Shaum’s wine list features 500 selections from across Spain (with ample offerings from Rioja, Rías Baixas and Ribera del Duero) alongside other picks from throughout Europe. As the name implies, the bar's menu is rooted in los frutos del mar (the fruits of the sea). There is a large list of tinned delicacies, along with plates such as Andrés’ Asian taco filled with Ibérico ham, cured hamachi and caviar, or his mussels in escabeche sauce with Sherry vinegar and pimento peppers.
Catch
Aria Resort & Casino, 3730 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas
Telephone (702) 590-5757
Website aria.mgmresorts.com/restaurants
Best of Award of Excellence
With locations in New York, California, Colorado and Nevada (not to mention sibling Catch Steak restaurants), Catch—part of the acclaimed Landry's Inc. hospitality family—has shown itself to be a national leader in seafood dining. Located in the Aria Resort & Casino, Catch’s Best of Award of Excellence–winning Las Vegas restaurant has the most extensive wine list of the bunch, with 450 selections managed by sommeliers Chloe Helfand and Jorden Cruz. California and France are the strongest focuses here, represented by well-known wineries such as Napa Valley’s Heitz Cellar and Alsace’s Trimbach; wines from Italy, Oregon and beyond round out the list, along with a range of sakes. As with the rest of the Aria Resort, Catch draws a notable crowd of celebrities as a buzzy late-night destination. But you won’t want to miss dinner here. Chef Andrew Carroll’s Asian-influenced menu offers distinctive seafood preparations, including innovative sushi rolls with ingredients such as crispy potatoes, miso-honey sauce and chimichurri, alongside mains such as whole branzino and Cantonese lobster with oyster sauce, scallions and garlic.
Emeril's New Orleans Fish House
MGM Grand Hotel, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas
Telephone (702) 891-7374
Website www.emerilsrestaurants.com/emerils-new-orleans-fish-house
Best of Award of Excellence
Not only is New Orleans native Emeril Lagasse one of the world’s best-known chefs and restaurateurs (as well as a noted philanthropist), he is also one serious wine buff. Each of his celebrated restaurants holds a Restaurant Award, including Emeril’s (a Grand Award winner since 1999) and Meril in New Orleans, Emeril’s Coastal in Florida, Grand Award winner Delmonico Steakhouse in Las Vegas and, of course, Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House, a homage to seafood. This Vegas dining destination brings a taste of the Big Easy to the Strip, offering guests creole-inspired dishes from chef Ken Lum. That includes culinary classics such as jambalaya and gumbo, both with shrimp and andouille pork sausage. In addition to smaller plates such as jumbo lump crab cakes and Louisiana-style broiled oysters, the restaurant offers add-ons such as grilled lobster tails and an “Oscar Style” option (blue crab with creole hollandaise and grilled asparagus). This coastal cuisine is accompanied by a Best of Award of Excellence–winning, 1,350-plus–selection wine list from wine director Dylan Amos. With plenty of variety, the main focuses are on California, Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône, Italy and Germany. Guests can expect everything from Pio Cesare Barbaresco to Arista Chardonnay to Martinelli Zinfandel.
Fiola Mare
3100 K St. N.W., Washington, D.C.
Telephone (202) 525-1402
Website www.fiolamaredc.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Washington, D.C.–based Fabio Trabocchi, a native of Italy’s Marche region, owns four Restaurant Award winners—Fiola Mare, Del Mar and two locations of Fiola, in D.C. (a Grand Award winner) and in Miami—each of which demonstrates his long-standing commitment to the culinary heritage of Italy. Drawing inspiration from Trabocchi’s childhood in central Italy, Fiola Mare is the chef’s love letter to coastal Italian cuisine, highlighting the best of the Adriatic to the Amalfi Coast to Sicily and beyond. Standout dishes include Amalfi Coast hamachi with a Sorrento lemon granita and the restaurant’s celebrated seafood tower for two, which includes oysters, clams, mussels, tuna ‘nduja, shrimp , Catalan-style lobster and New Zealand langoustines. The dedication to authenticity is also evident in wine director Casper Rice’s Best of Award of Excellence–winning, Italy-focused list, which features about 1,300 selections, with strengths in Tuscany, Piedmont, California and Burgundy. The restaurant is open for indoor dining as well as outdoor dining at umbrella-shaded tables with views of the Potomac River.
RPM Seafood
321 N. Clark St., Chicago
Telephone (312) 900-9035
Website www.rpmrestaurants.com/rpm-seafood-chicago/15
Best of Award of Excellence
RPM, a venture from the Melman family of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises and the celebrity husband-and-wife duo Bill and Giuliana Rancic, boasts five Best of Award of Excellence–winning restaurants. Across these restaurants, RPM offers steak, Italian and—in the case of Chicago’s RPM Seafood—seafood excellence. Situated near the Clark Street Bridge along the Chicago River, this restaurant is a treat for seafood and wine lovers alike. Wine director Lindsey Becker’s list features more than 1,200 selections, with special attention shown to California, Italy and France, particularly Burgundy, the Rhône and Champagne. There are also delicious white wines from leading wineries in other regions, such as Austria’s Prager and Oregon’s Bergström. These are just a few of the delicious wines complementing the menu of raw bar and other sea fare, including seafood towers loaded with Alaskan king crab legs, oysters, Maine lobster and prawns.
Sea Salt
1186 Third St. S., Naples, Fla.
Telephone (239) 434-7258
Website www.aielligroup.com/sea-salt-naples
Best of Award of Excellence
With more than 9,000 bottles in its cellar, Best of Award of Excellence winner Sea Salt is a leading wine destination in Naples, Fla., a seaside city with a growing community of enophiles. (Its sibling restaurant in St. Petersburg, Fla., has held a Best of Award of Excellence since 2016.) Here, diners can choose from wine director Liset Zelaya’s diverse 1,200-selection list, with gems from across California, Italy and France, including verticals from celebrated wineries such as Sonoma’s Peter Michael, Burgundy’s Domaine Ponsot and Piedmont’s Gaja. Steps away from the Naples Pier, looking onto the Gulf of Mexico, the restaurant takes surf and turf to heart. Chef Josh Zeman’s menu includes the likes of swordfish Milanese and Key West pink shrimp ceviche from the sea, plus Kurobuta pork chops, free-range chicken and boneless short ribs from the land.
The Sardine Factory
701 Wave St., Monterey, Calif.
Telephone (831) 373-3775
Website www.sardinefactory.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Looking for a time-honored fish restaurant? Head to Monterey, Calif. There you’ll find the Sardine Factory, a Central Coast mainstay and Best of Award of Excellence winner that’s been serving seafood to the stars since 1968. Chefs Bert Cutino and Robert J. Mancuso’s menu offers diners seafood delights such as seared ahi steak with furikake (a condiment made from seaweed and sesame seeds), lobster ravioli and the restaurant's signature abalone bisque. For wine lovers, there’s an extensive 23,000-bottle cellar that represents some 2,000 labels. Managed by wine director Stephen Caldwell, the list spotlights regions around the world and offers deep verticals of California Cabernet and Bordeaux as well as excellent selections from Burgundy, Italy and Germany. As for seafood-friendly pairings, look to bottles such as Carneros bubbly from Gloria Ferrer or Sauvignon Blanc from Joel Gott, both featured on the by-the-glass list of about 40 wines.
—Edited by Collin Dreizen, Emma Grant, Julia Larson, Olivia Nolan and Megan Tkacy
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