New York Times Announces 100 Best Restaurants in NYC: 6 ICE Alumni Honored
The New York Times released its 2026 edition of the 100 Best Restaurants in New York City today. The annual list serves as both a guide for NYC diners and a snapshot of the restaurants shaping the way New Yorkers eat.
This year’s rankings honor industry stalwarts while spotlighting several new concepts. From white glove destinations to beloved neighborhood spots, the restaurants on the list capture the breadth of New York’s dining scene.
Six of them are helmed by ICE alumni. Here’s more about these graduates, their restaurants and the prestigious NYT 100 Best.
No. 21: Le Bernardin
Orlando Soto, Executive Pastry Chef – Pastry & Baking Arts alum
Le Bernardin has been one of New York’s most iconic upscale restaurants for four decades. Led by Chef Eric Ripert and co-owner Maguy Le Coze, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant has, not surprisingly, landed near the top of the New York Times' list yet again.
A longtime fixture within the paper's food pages, Le Bernardin has appeared on multiple iterations of its “best-of” lists.
Dual diploma graduate Orlando Soto oversees the restaurant's pastry program. As Executive Pastry Chef, he brings technical precision and creativity to its dessert menu. Current offerings include an exotic fruit vacherin with guava sorbet and a Peruvian dark chocolate tart paired with Tahitian vanilla ice cream.
No. 36: Lilia
Missy Robbins, Executive Chef & Co-owner – Culinary Arts alum
Before her solo success, Chef Missy Robbins made her mark leading A Voce, a top-tier Italian restaurant where she maintained Michelin stars for nine years.
In 2016, she opened Lilia, and it quickly became one of NYC’s most sought after reservations. Set inside a converted auto body shop, the restaurant helped reshape Brooklyn’s modern Italian dining scene through wood-fired cooking, handmade pasta and ingredient-driven dishes like mafaldine with pink peppercorns and cacio e pepe fritters.
Robbins followed Lilia with Misi in 2018.
“There’s an intelligence at work in Missy Robbins’s menu,” the Times' critics wrote in 2024. “It focuses almost solely on vegetables and pasta, yet the ingredients are so appealing you never feel anything is missing.”
Since opening, both Lilia and Misi have made regular appearances in national publications, thus helping to define a new generation of Italian restaurants centered on simplicity, seasonality and technical precision.
No. 46: Yoon Haeundae Galbi
Bobby Yoon, Founder & Owner – Dual Diploma alum
After graduating from ICE with dual diplomas in Culinary Arts and Restaurant & Culinary Management, Chef Bobby Yoon worked at acclaimed restaurants Danji and O Ya before launching Yoon Haeundae Galbi in 2018.
The latter pays tribute to his family’s culinary legacy, drawing inspiration from his grandfather’s Busan restaurant, Haeundae Somunnan Amso Galbijip, which has operated since 1964.
Since opening in Koreatown, Yoon Haeundae Galbi has become synonymous with premium Korean barbecue in New York City, particularly dry-aged beef and short ribs. The restaurant’s return to the New York Times list — it has been included three years running — underscores the popularity and proliferation of Korean barbecue in New York.
The Times' critics wrote: “It used to be possible to argue in a good-natured way about where to get the best Korean barbecue in K-town. Since Yoon’s short rib appeared, though, it has really been the only answer.”
No. 52: Thai Diner
Ann Redding, Chef & Co-founder – Culinary Arts alum
Few restaurants capture downtown Manhattan dining quite like Thai Diner. Opened by Chef Ann Redding and restaurateur Matt Danzer following the success of their Michelin-starred Uncle Boons, the Nolita favorite blends Thai flavors with classic diner sensibilities — from khao soi to disco fries topped with massaman curry.
Since its 2020 launch, Thai Diner has won favor from both neighborhood regulars and international diners, and has appeared in multiple editions of the NYT list, thus cementing its place among Manhattan’s defining eateries.
No. 69: Shukette
Ayesha Nurdjaja, Executive Chef & Partner – Culinary Arts alum
Since opening in 2021, Shukette has built a devoted following for its lively dining room and bold Eastern Mediterranean cooking. The restaurant was opened following the success of Chef Ayesha Nurdjaja’s popular Chelsea restaurant, Shuka, and it quickly established itself as one of downtown Manhattan's hotttest menus.
"Your first impulse as you take in Ayesha Nurdjaja’s menu, which bounds from dips to four or more kinds of bread straight from the oven, from salads and pickles to the table-dominating Fish in a Cage, may be to ask for one of everything," Pete Wells, the former food critic for The New York Times wrote.
Known for colorful spreads, wood-fired meats and house-baked breads, Shukette's continued presence on the list reflects its staying power in one of the city’s most competitive dining neighborhoods.
No. 71: Lola’s
Suzanne Cupps, Chef & Owner – Culinary Arts alum
Chef Suzanne Cupps, a 2005 graduate of the Institute’s Culinary Arts program, opened Lola’s in 2024. Since then, it’s become one of the city's most talked-about restaurants, earning praise for its deeply personal menu rooted in Southern Filipino flavors.
Before opening Lola’s, Chef Suzanne built an impressive resume in acclaimed kitchens like Untitled at the Whitney Museum, where she earned recognition for thoughtful, ingredient-driven cooking.
As a newer addition to the NYT list, Lola’s joins a growing number of chef-driven spots delivering comfort food reimagined and hospitality inspired by home.
Congratulations to all of the chefs, restaurateurs and hospitality teams recognized on this year’s list.
