The Year in Focus: Best Photos of 2025
A collection of our favorite images from the year, capturing each city’s character through composition, light, color, texture, and point of view.
PHOTOS: WILL BLUNT AND ALEXANDER ZEREN
NEW YORK CITY
New York City's vibrant, varied cultures are expressed through the city’s diverse and singular food and beverage scene. This collection of photos shows the breadth and depth of New York’s unparalleled kitchens. From gritty comfort foods to Michelin Star tasting menus, our photography captured the full culinary spectrum of the city with hometown traditions shining as bright as some of the finest dining in the country. Shot from late spring through early fall, the images feature the warm, golden light of the summer months. The increased zenith of the sun in this season brought light through windows that would be blocked or dim during colder months. The greater availability of strong sunlight allowed us to highlight the natural, lively colors of the plentiful seasonal produce we saw. These colors, along with the playful use of light and shadow, are prominent themes throughout our time on the ground and in this selection of photos.
Click each image for more information on the dish, drink, restaurant, and featured professional.
MIAMI
If you'd never considered Miami a culinary destination, this selection of photos will tell you everything the hospitality community in South Florida already knows. It's proof that Miami puts forward true culinary prowess. The food and beverage professionals we met with presented plates and glasses as beautiful and lush as the tropical region itself. The palette of colors is as vibrant and saturated as it is varied and striking. To our delight, the prominent component of many of the dishes we were served was, perhaps naturally, seafood. Cities don’t get much more coastal than Miami, after all. Often harvested that day, the bounty of the ocean was undoubtedly top tier. No matter the ingredients showcased, each dish and drink demonstrated the visual excellence, striking flavors, and thoughtful textures coming out of the city’s kitchens, bakeries, and bars.
Click each image for more information on the dish, drink, restaurant, and featured professional.
RUST BELT
The fact that most of these photos were taken in the winter into early spring reveals itself through the cooler tones in many of the images featured. Despite the cold, this may have been the best time to explore hospitality in the cities of Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. The hearty soul and rugged strength of the region shone even more brightly in the darker season. Many of the establishments we visited were transforming once-shuttered buildings into thriving brick-and-mortars, finding new life in repurposed and refurbished spaces. Hard industrial skeletons, softened by thoughtful design, are now being used by hospitality professionals to serve their local communities. When the sun did shine, it offered moments of comforting warmth, not unlike the flavors we encountered throughout the market. Rising above this comforting palate, though, was a tangible sense of deep care for what was being delivered at the table and at the bar. Lighter flavors and colors were showcased, including seafood that could give coastal cities a run for their money—a welcome and pleasant surprise. The beverage scene was equally strong, across both cocktails and brewing, delivering depth of flavor and striking presentation that popped off the bar top (and into our mouths).
Click each image for more information on the dish, drink, restaurant, and featured professional.
HOUSTON
Being one of the most diverse and international cities in the country, it should come as no surprise that Houston’s hospitality scene is equally varied and expansive. These photos add to the growing body of evidence that Houston’s culinary community is capable of going toe to toe with any city in the country. We saw strong influences from Latin America and the Gulf, alongside Southeast Asia and beyond. The city is truly a food lover’s dream, where even a little effort can lead to being spoiled for choice. We encountered bountiful seafood from the nearby coast and top-notch produce from the vast farmlands of the Lone Star State. Sunlight was also plentiful in this market; between that and the long days, we rarely needed artificial light to capture our subjects. Food arrived on custom plateware and in plastic baskets wrapped in paper, but whatever the vessel, the contents were consistently compelling. Beyond the standout flavors, there was an unmistakable sense of pride, care, and love behind every bite and sip.
Click each image for more information on the dish, drink, restaurant, and featured professional.
SEATTLE
In Seattle, we conducted our tastings throughout the summer months, when long days brought an abundance of sunlight and the city was at its most verdant. Everything, including the hospitality scene, felt alive with light, color, texture, and flavor. It was peak season for the city in many ways, including produce availability. In turn, the professionals we met made a clear effort to highlight what their purveyors had brought them. Warm sunlight streamed through windows during most of the long days we spent on the ground. Even when the sun wasn’t shining, Seattle’s signature cloud cover offered excellent soft light to work with. The cuisines and flavors we experienced in this market were wide-ranging, as was the color palette. Asian, Spanish, French, Latin American, and Middle Eastern influences were all represented at a high level, to name just a few. Ultimately, though, what made Seattle special was the people themselves. Despite what we had heard about the “Seattle freeze,” we found a pillar of the PNW filled with professionals as inviting and caring as the food they prepare every day. Seattle proved to be a fitting market to round out a strong year—one that spanned the entire country.
Click each image for more information on the dish, drink, restaurant, and featured professional.
