Secret restaurants of celebrity foodies

Where the world's best chefs, authors and cooking-show hosts love to eat

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Chef and restaurateur, Ming Tsai

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By Megan Wetherall

updated 12:32 p.m. ET May 25, 2009

We asked the world's best chefs, cookbook authors, food writers, cooking-show hosts, and specialty-food purveyors to tell us where they love to eat. The answers are all over the map (literally!), but there's one thing all the places have in common: Every one of them is worth traveling to.

WEST COAST & HAWAII

Marnee Thai — San Francisco
The Miang Kum appetizer is a marveling concoction of ginger, dried shrimp, dried coconut, peanuts, and chopped lime that you wrap in spinach leaves with a dab of special sauce (1243 9th Ave., 415/731-9999, Miang Kum $7.50). — Marion Nestle

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Rosso Pizzeria + Wine Bar — Santa Rosa, Calif.
This is a sweet little place that's deeply local. Get the white pizza! (Creekside Center, 53 Montgomery Dr., 707/544-3221, from $12). — Cindy Pawlcyn

Giusti's — Walnut Grove, Calif.
When it's nice out, customers arrive at this riverside bar and restaurant by boat. The fried chicken has an almost flaky coating (14743 Walnut Grove–Thornton Rd., 916/776-1808, dinner from $13.50). — Darrell Corti

In-N-Out Burger — various locations
There's so much pressure to follow the what's-new trend in burgers; this place holds its ground (229 locations in the West, from $1.50). — Thomas Keller

Side Street Inn — Honolulu
Side Street Inn has comfort food like pork chops and ribs with a passion-fruit glaze. Drink a Kona Longboard beer and be happy (1225 Hopaka St., 808/591-0253, entrées from $13). —Ming Tsai

SOUTH & SOUTHWEST

Pizzeria Bianco — Phoenix
The way they raise their dough, the fire. ... A good pizza is minimalist, and they do it right (623 E. Adams St., 602/258-8300, pizza from $11). — Lidia Bastianich

Bon Ton Cafe — New Orleans
Locals gravitate to the soulful cooking. They have dishes you don't find in most of the haute Creole restaurants, such as étouffées, proper Cajun-style bisques, and slow-cooked one-pot meals (401 Magazine St., 504/524-3386, entrées from $16). — John Besh

Tree House Pastry Shop and Café — Santa Fe, N.M.
Everything they serve here is just sparkling fresh. The deep-dish quiches are something to dig into, and not at all stodgy (1600 Lena St., 505/474-5543, quiches from $13). — Deborah Madison

The Pit — Raleigh, N.C.
Time—and only time—gets good 'cue done right, so they start the lunch barbecue the night before. My mouth waters for the triple-meat combo (328 W. Davie St., 919/890-4500, combos from $10). — Patrick Ford

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Scott's BBQ — Hemingway, S.C.
They cook whole hogs over open pits, slather on sauce with long-handled mops, and ferry the hogs to the cutting block on what looks like an old hospital gurney (27-34 Hemingway Hwy., 843/558-0134, sandwiches from $4). — John T. Edge

MIDWEST

Zingerman's Delicatessen — Ann Arbor, Mich.
Nate's Nosh sandwich (chicken liver, corned beef, coleslaw, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing on a roll) isn't on the menu anymore, but they'll make any of the old sandwiches upon request, and this one is a must (422 Detroit St., 734/663-3354, sandwiches from $6.50). —Gabrielle Hamilton

INTERACTIVE
You ate what?
True tales from real travelers.
Portland Malt Shoppe — Duluth, Minn.
I appreciate places that know they're the best but are still nice. You find that kind of friendly cockiness at this art deco shack set on Lake Superior. I've never had a better malt in my life (716 E. Superior St., portlandmaltshoppe.com , open summers, malts from $6). — Danny Meyer

O'Connell's Pub — St. Louis
When your cheeseburger arrives, it just blows your mind. The toasted bun almost melts into the meat: They're really one. I have mine with a draft beer, fries, and onion rings (4652 Shaw Blvd., 314/773-6600, burgers from $5.25). — Danny Meyer

NORTHEAST

The Clam Castle — Madison, Conn.
When I'm home in the summertime, we go for the lobster rolls. My wife always gets the classic cold roll with celery, mayonnaise, and herbs; I order mine warm (1324 Boston Post Rd., 203/245-4911, open summers, lobster roll $13). — Jacques Pépin

L.A. Burdick Chocolate — Cambridge, Mass.
Anytime I'm in Boston, I come here to buy chocolate-covered ginger. The tanginess of the ginger is perfectly balanced by the chocolate (52-D Brattle St., 617/491-4340, ginger chocolate $10 per quarter pound). — Marion Nestle

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Favorite local food markets

Oleana — Cambridge, Mass.
I always insist that my out-of-town friends try chef Ana Sortun's Turkish-themed Eastern Mediterranean food, much of it scented with peppers and spices that she imports herself (134 Hampshire St., 617/661-0505, entrées from $15). — Corby Kummer

Sapporo Ramen — Cambridge, Mass.
They make a beautiful broth with chicken, pork, and beef bones, and mirepoix, miso, and apple (1815 Mass. Ave., 617/876-4805, ramen from $7.75). — Ming Tsai

The Bite — Martha's Vineyard, Mass.
The fried clams aren't cheap, but they're more than worth it if you combine eating them with a sunset on Menemsha Beach (29 Basin Rd., 508/645-9239, open summers, fried clams from $13). — Michael Pollan

Satay Malaysian Cuisine — Hoboken, N.J.
My pick is the whole striped bass coated in spices and wrapped in lotus leaves, with a side of delicate coconut rice (99 Washington St., 201/386-8688, entrées from $13). — Danilo Zecchin

Fleisher's — Kingston, N.Y.
All the meat at this Hudson Valley butcher shop is local, natural, and delicious. The dry-aged steaks are miraculous—as are the sausages—but what brings me here is the Berkshire pork chops (307 Wall St., 845/338-6666, meat from $3.50 per pound). —Julie Powell

The Country Inn — Krumville, N.Y.
They serve Fleisher's meat, plus more than 500 varieties of beer. It's comfortable, occasionally raucous, and always friendly (1380 County Rd. 2, 845/657-8956, entrées from $9). — Julie Powell

Candle 79 — New York City
My favorite vegan restaurant in the U.S.—I recommend the grilled seitan (wheat gluten) chimichurri appetizer with a citrus-herb marinade (154 E. 79th St., 212/537-7179, appetizers from $8). — John Mackey

Chiyono — New York City
The pork belly is amazingly good because it's properly braised and has lots of good fat. It's served in a clean broth with a thumb-smear of Japanese mustard on the side of the bowl (328 E. 6th St., 212/673-3984, entrées from $9.25). — Gabrielle Hamilton

Congee Village — New York City
You won't find better five-buck noodles anywhere in the city; try the soy-sauce chow mein (100 Allen St., 212/941-1818, noodles from $4.25). — David Chang

El Quinto Pino — New York City
There's a lady bartender with serious attitude who brings out small dishes and Spanish wines. I always have the pringá sandwich: slow-cooked pork with a hint of morcilla, a type of blood sausage (401 W. 24th St., 212/206-6900, tapas from $3). —David Tanis

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