Peche

We weren’t shocked when Peche picked up the Beard award for Best New Restaurant and Ryan Prewitt won Best Chef, South. We’ve eaten our way through the menu of wood-fired seafood and have yet to find a dud. So we’ll gladly excuse the acoustic panels slapped on the ceiling to reduce the original, intolerable clamor to now-standard restaurant-loud. No one’s looking up anyway, given what’s on the small plates—which is what you should order—plus a whole grilled fish (ours was buttery, meaty, fire-crusted redfish with aptly low-profile salsa verde; you debone it). This is seafood not to be missed, especially the beer-battered fish sticks (really) and hearty crawfish gratinée. Okay, skip the shrimp toast and Betty Crockery tuna dip (it’s good, but we feel like we could make it at home; not so for the onion dip with pepper jelly and freshly fried chips). Make full use of the terrific craft beer, cocktail, and European wine menus. For your dessert, the chocolate peanut butter banana pie (duh). For maximum communicability we still like the booths along the back wall, though the raw bar is a fun spot (did we mention the raw fish is almost as good as the grilled, gilled goods?). Ultimately the point is to just go. And get the shrimp roll. Reserve in advance during peak periods.