In September 2026, The New York Times Cooking for the first time asked chefs from its annual list of 50 best restaurants in America to share recipes for their favorite dishes. Among them are braised butter beans with broccolini from Bar Panisse in Berkeley, where chef Amelia Telch continues the Chez Panisse tradition: simple, seasonal ingredients prepared with respect for their natural flavor.
Here the butter beans are cooked slowly until creamy, and the broccolini is added at the end, preserving its crunch and bright green color. The taste of earth and autumn is exactly what the California climate, with its mild winters and fertile valleys, provides. Without the local microclimate and the philosophy of farmers' markets, such a dish cannot be reproduced exactly.
Chef Amelia Telch, who works alongside the legendary Alice Waters, brings to the menu the respect for ingredients that was shaped over decades at Chez Panisse. She chooses produce from local suppliers, and her technique is minimal intervention, maximum natural flavor. This is not just a recipe but a continuation of a story in which food connects the farmer, the cook, and the guest.
Other recipes on the list reveal other corners of the country. In Wisconsin, at La Sirena, lamb birria is prepared according to Mexican tradition, but with the cold winters in mind: bone-in meat is simmered for a long time, absorbing the spices. In Phoenix, Durant's serves a classic shrimp cocktail with two sauces — a tribute to steakhouses and local seafood. In Arkansas, Lasang Pinoy offers taho — delicate tofu with tapioca in syrup, a street food of the Filipino diaspora.
These recipes show how economics and migration shape American cuisine today: farmers supply seasonal vegetables, immigrants bring techniques, and restaurants adapt them to local conditions. Tradition and commerce here do not conflict but reinforce each other — seasonality and quality remain the priority.
You can cook at home using the adapted recipes on the NYT Cooking website: beans with broccolini, birria, or taho. For a full immersion, it is worth visiting the establishments themselves in season — in autumn in Berkeley or in winter in Wisconsin, when the dishes reveal themselves especially well. Choose the markets and suppliers listed in the recipes to get closer to the original.
These recipes are a reminder that the taste of a place is born from a combination of soil, hands, and history that cannot be transported in its entirety.
