The 2025 Yankee Food Awards

It’s been a good couple of years for New England food lovers. Dozens of inventive, well-sourced, fun restaurants have opened, and despite the many challenges now facing restaurateurs, the quality has been high. We’ve also seen artisan food makers opening up new small businesses all over the region, or launching new products. Wherever you are in New England, check out a local farmers’ market or a new café—you will find treasures.

When we first dreamed up our annual Food Awards back in 2013, our goal was to highlight the best of New England–made foods—from artisan cheeses, chocolates, and charcuterie to mail-order lobster roll kits and blueberry muffins—while also giving our readers some fresh ideas for holiday gifting and entertaining. We scoured markets, tasted extensively, and consulted experts … and we’ve continued to do that for every Food Awards since. All the winners we selected are at the top of their class, made locally, and available to everyone (i.e., shipped nationwide).

Last year, we brought chefs and restaurants into the Food Awards fold for the first time. New England has an incredible dining scene, with eateries that attract visitors from around the globe. But most important, we live in a world that’s saturated with opinions. The law of averages means that most crowdsourced-review sites give the same three to four stars to nearly every restaurant. And AI can’t eat. What we have to offer, as editors whose job is to continually track the food scene, is curation—to wade through the many options out there and make recommendations we can stand behind.

And this year, we decided to focus exclusively on the best of the new: restaurants, chefs, and products that have launched (or relaunched) since 2023. Our six states are constantly innovating, and that’s worth celebrating.

2025 Yankee Food Awards

Best New Restaurant

Frankie’s (Burlington, VT)

It may be less than two years old, but Frankie’s is a legacy restaurant. Located in the space that once housed the famed Penny Cluse Café, it’s also helmed by Hen of the Wood alums Jordan Ware and Cindi Kozak. So it’s no surprise that a love of Vermont—its farms, its artists, its signature foods—suffuses the place. One twist: abundant seafood options, like brothy littleneck clams with pancetta and roasted onions, or the perfectly grilled swordfish with celery beurre blanc and romano beans we tried last summer. As for creemees, they show up not just in the desserts but on the cocktail menu as a base for a clarified milk punch.

Best New Chef

Nikhil Naiker, Nimki (Providence, RI)

This past year, Naiker was a finalist for a James Beard Award in the Emerging Chef category—an extraordinary recognition. Born in Fiji, raised in coastal California, and educated at Johnson & Wales, Naiker combines local ingredients with Indian and Oceanic flavors in a style he calls “New England Tropical.” We love that his restaurant, which started as a pop-up and is now part of the bar/restaurant known as Courtland Club, offers brightly flavored, imaginative fare at a very reasonable price point (starters under $20; mains under $30). Try the local seafood in coconut curry sauce, any of the crudos, or the spicy fried chicken sandwich with tamarind chutney and cilantro-jalapeño slaw.

Best New Farm Stand

Beetlebung Farm (Chilmark, MA)

The 18th-century barn that houses the Beetlebung farm stand was deconstructed in New Hampshire and shipped to Martha’s Vineyard, but it looks like it’s stood there for centuries. Inside, it’s something out of a Nancy Meyers movie: all wicker baskets, stone, and blond wood. But this is a serious regenerative farming operation with a goal to feed the island (farmers and fishermen get a discount). Don’t miss out on the beans, the greens, or the baked goods—especially the whole-grain sourdough, made with grain milled on-site.

Best New Italian

Strega (New Haven, CT)

The Italian equivalent of France’s Michelin Guide is the highly selective Gambero Rosso, which recently awarded this Elm City favorite two out of three forks, or due forchette. The restaurant, which had earlier locations in Milford and Branford, offers an experience that feels very modern-Italian—from the polish of the service to the artfully composed plates, and to the 16-peppercorn cacio e pepe and an eggplant Parmesan made with the cannellino flegreo tomato, coveted for its sweetness.

Best New Brunch

Ocotillo (Portland, ME)

Sister restaurant to Terlingua, the popular Tex-Mex barbecue spot in Munjoy Hill, Ocotillo brings the same warm vibes and south-of-the-border accent to Portland’s West End. Start with a smoked brisket breakfast taco or the huevos rancheros (red and green chili salsas, eggs over easy, corn tortillas, refried beans). Tuck into buttermilk-masa pancakes with caramelized pineapple syrup and maple butter. And don’t forget to finish with the churros.

Best New French

The Franklin (Bristol, RI)

Inside this nondescript building on a Bristol side street is a fast ticket to Paris. The hypnotically beautiful room, a pastiche of French style, is all marble-topped surfaces, amber lighting, and gallery walls. The menu is stocked with beautifully rendered Gallic classics like duck confit, pommes puree, and chocolate pot de crème. And it all comes courtesy of David Fierabend—the design guru behind Tiverton’s Groundswell Café and associated garden, kitchen, and home stores—and his culinary team.

Best New Bakery

Flag Leaf Bakery (Greenfield, NH)

Opened in 2022 but resettled into a new, larger location in 2025, this beloved bakery is renowned for its hearty, hearth-baked sourdough loaves, impeccably laminated croissants, pecan pull-apart breads, Christmas stollen, and “cruffins” filled with pastry cream and seasonal fruit. Truly worth making the trip.

Best New Value Meal

Amba Café & Rotisserie (Cambridge, MA)

Given the talented team behind this East Cambridge newcomer—chef-restaurateur Will Gilson and pastry chef Brian Mercury of Puritan & Co., The Lexington, etc.—we knew the food (casual Mediterranean) would be great. What we didn’t expect was what a great deal it would be. The whole rotisserie chicken value meal serves up a crisp-skinned, shawarma-spiced bird with two mezze appetizers, two sauces, two sides, and pita bread, all for $40. Our favorite options: green feta dip, hummus, black garlic tahini sauce, Urfa chili crisp, farro salad, and harissa-glazed carrots.

Best New Pastry Chef

Julien Tessier, Julien’s Farm Store (Granby, CT)

At his bakery/market/farm in northern Connecticut, Tessier isn’t just making fresh glazed crullers, flaky pain au chocolat, or rich layer cakes crowned with buttercream and home-grown blossoms—he’s creating community. Together with husband Christopher Peregrin, Tessier has turned an underutilized corner of a rural horse farm into a destination and gathering place, where customers cozy up to cups of hot cocoa with caramelized marshmallows in winter and gather around the communal garden table in summer.

Best New Coffee Shop

Dreamscape Coffee (Woodstock, VT)

It’s hard to imagine a cozier spot than this village café, which looks a bit like Alice in Wonderland’s library and serves a serious and seriously fun lineup of seasonally inspired drinks. On a late winter day, we loved the Epiphany latte with local honey, caramel, and a dash of cayenne. Also fun: Two of the owners, James and Rachel Williams, are Arizona transplants who source their terrifically smooth coffee beans from FreeForm roasters in Sedona.

2025 New England Food Awards | Best New Artisan Foods

1. Canned Rosé Sparkling Beverage by Töst (Dorset, VT)

Blending white tea, elderberry, and ginger, these nonalcoholic sparklers taste sophisticated, celebratory, and just dry enough (and have fewer than half the calories of wine). The brand launched in 2017, but the convenient can format is new this year. Try the rosé in our Snowdrift Cocktail.

2. Blueberry Jerk Marinade by Backriver Blends (Topsham, ME)

Midcoast meets the West Indies in Jordene Trueh’s kitchen, where she combines the layered warmth of classic jerk seasoning (from thyme, ginger, and three kinds of peppers) with wild Maine blueberries. The berries add a fruity high note, as opposed to sweetness, and the result is a deeply savory and vibrant marinade for grilled or roasted meats or vegetables. We also love a dollop in our chowder.

3. Mini Jam Set by Lighthouse Keeper’s Pantry (Yarmouth Port, MA)

After bringing products to market for Martha Stewart and Ree Drummond, Cape Cod native Kelly O’Connell turned her jam-making hobby into a business in 2020; she has since expanded it into 50 sweet and savory products. This jam set includes her most popular flavors (including lemon-strawberry and black fig), all offering a bit of summer sunshine to brighten a winter morning. Next time you’re on the Cape, visit O’Connell’s flagship café—home to the Fluffy Seagull latte, a viral hit made with peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff.

4. Salts of the World Chocolate Collection by M. Cacao Chocolates (Amesbury, MA)

From the minds of French master pastry chef Delphin Gomes and former robotics engineer Michael Nichols comes a fresh take on the salty sweets phenomenon: a collection of eight or 16 bonbons inspired by countries such as Tibet, Peru, and Cyprus. Each bonbon features a signature chocolate ganache (think: port wine–paprika milk chocolate for Portugal) sprinkled with a salt from that country.

5. Withersbrook Blue by Jasper Hill Farm (Greensboro, VT)

Leave it to the cheese geniuses at Vermont’s much-lauded creamery to improve on an already-excellent creation. A variant of their award-winning Bayley Hazen Blue recipe, Withersbrook Blue is soaked in Eden Ice Cider (made just up I-91), which gives it the most wonderful sweetness and apple essence.

6. Organic Wellness Tea Collection by Grace Farms Tea & Coffee (New Canaan, CT)

Grace Farms serves many missions as a nature, community, and arts center. Its stunning campus is well worth a visit. The nonprofit has expanded its reach with a line of coffees and teas that donate all profits to organizations that fight forced labor worldwide. This new collection of organic tea blends combines ingredients such as turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and black pepper (called Breathe) or Earl Grey crème, reishi, and yaupon (Rise) to taste great and help you feel better.

7. Hooper Cheese by Vermont Creamery (Websterville, VT)

Named in honor of cofounder Allison Hooper, this doughnut-shaped, washed-rind cheese has a flavor and texture reminiscent of a robiola: richly creamy, buttery, tangy, with a hint of mushroom. Hooper was vital to the creation of the Vermont artisan cheese industry, and this little beauty does her honor.

8. Halva Babka by Navad Bakers (East Providence, RI)

After graduating culinary school at Johnson & Wales, Guy Hanuka began growing his bakery, which specializes in Jewish breads and pastries like onion-poppy challah, chocolate babka, and his newest creation, in which tender, buttery, pastry is threaded through with sweet sesame paste and dark chocolate. 

9. Cook New England Spice Set by Skordo (Brunswick, ME)

Here’s the ideal gift for the homesick New Englander: a collection of nine herb and spice blends, from Maple Salmon Rub (granulated maple, garlic, thyme) to Seacoast Spice (mustard, onion, chili powder, coriander—perfect for seafood) to Maine Blueberry Rub (berries, pepper, sumac, rosemary) and North Woods Steak Salt. Order online or visit Skordo’s shops in Portland, Maine, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

This feature was originally published in the November/December 2025 issue of Yankee.

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