208 markerboard behind the counter that lists the daily specials. Try anything. All of it is perfect. And stuff yourself with some stellar sweets and an espresso before waddling out the door. 22222 B EST F R E N C H R ESTAU R A N T Sottise 1025 N. Second St. 602-254-6378 sottisephx.com Sottise effortlessly showcases French bras- serie cuisine and culture from its white- washed bungalow-turned-restaurant in downtown’s Roosevelt Row. Helmed by restaurateurs Esther Noh and TJ Culp, Sottise’s menu vacillates between luxury and comfort. Seafood towers brimming with oysters and caviar can be ordered alongside deviled eggs and boquerones. There are French classics, including escargot and croque madame, as well as playful riffs using traditional ingredients. Take Sottise’s duck dish, which is infused with nuance thanks to five-spice, Calvados-infused honey, rich hazelnuts and a fresh pop from grapes. It’s a stunning dish that you’ll find yourselves passing around the table to share with your dining companions. The bar shines bright at Sottise as well, with a deep list of French wines and a regularly rotating selection of whimsical craft cocktails. B EST CA R I B B E A N R E STAU R A N T Cool Vybz Jamaican Restaurant 2340 W. Northern Ave. 602-601-5731 instagram.com/coolvybz_ jamaican_restaurants Caribbean restaurants are popping up every- where right now. Some of them are quite good, but we find ourselves returning to Cool Vybz Jamaican Restaurant. While the dining room is more functional than fancy, this little joint brings the sizzle where it counts. Chef Nakia Raymond was a seasoned hand back on the island, and here he keeps the focus on developing layers upon layers of flavor in a short list of dishes that pack a wallop. Raymond’s curry goat is sensational, so tender and flavorful you’ll want to slurp it off the bones, and his oxtails are a thickly spiced, gelatin-loaded umami bomb. The brown stew snapper plays a little like a complex, spiced sweet and sour dish. And jerk chicken might be a predictable selection, but it’s also a wise one. This is no barbecued chicken dipped in sauce. Raymond’s jerk is deeply imbued with a wild mix of herbs and spices, kicked up with a significant blast of Scotch bonnet peppers, then charred and smoked until you can smell it from across the room. 22222 B E ST V I E T N A M E S E R E STAU R A N T Broken Rice 66 S. Dobson Road, Mesa 480-668-5959 No doubt, some will squawk at a selection that doesn’t serve pho. But let this be a reminder that the cuisine of an entire nation — any nation — isn’t defined by one dish. Broken Rice, until very recently known as Com Tam Thuan Kieu, has been around the block, an anchor restaurant at Mekong Plaza for 15 years. That’s because it boasts a menu that’s reliably delicious — an extensive list headlined by their titular dish, com tam, or broken rice. Permutations abound, though the titanic Com Tam Thuan Kieu 10 Mon is a great place to start. This sampler platter includes vittles such as imperial rolls, grilled pork sausage, shrimp paste wrapped in tofu skin and cha trung, a sort of eggy meatloaf. There’s an abundance of brightly dressed salads, and those who just have to have soup would do well to give the hu tieu a spin. Clear and silky, it’s loaded with your choice of meats, vegetables and noodles. But there’s no pho here. And Broken Rice is no lesser for it. 22222 B E ST T H A I R E STAU R A N T Lom Wong 218 E. Portland St. 602-675-0522 lomwongaz.com Is there any restaurant in Phoenix that has altered the public’s perception of an interna- tional cuisine as suddenly and drastically as Lom Wong? Perhaps Barrio Café, when it opened diners’ eyes to a world of regional Mexican cuisine. But transformative restau- rants like this are rare, and they deserve to be celebrated as such. Yotaka and Alex Martin continue to refine their microregional Thai fare, taking suspicious customers accus- tomed to Bangkok-style food on a ride through both Chiang Rai and the Moklen villages of southern Thailand, introducing them to dishes like boo pad pong garee, stir-
