On September 19, the New York Times released its list of 2022’s top 50 restaurants in the country. One Portland restaurant made the list, and unsurprisingly, it’s one that’s already gotten quite a bit of buzz and is currently the toughest reservation in town: Kann.

Gregory Gourdet’s Kann opened just six weeks ago after years in the works. The former Departure chef, author of award-winning cookbook Everyone’s Table, and Top Chef contestant and judge plotted a restaurant centered around Haitian wood-fired cooking, with values that aligned with his own—a dairy- and gluten-free paleo-friendly menu with vegan options, cocktails both boozy and alcohol-free, and a leadership staff comprised entirely of entirely BIPOC, women, and LGBTQ employees. 

Already, that hard work is paying off. “At Kann, Gregory Gourdet realizes his long-gestating vision for a restaurant that treats the food of his Haitian forbears with the seriousness he learned to apply to Asian and European cuisine as a young chef. … Kann leans into the lapel-grabbing power of dynamically spiced, live-fire cooking,” the Times story reads.