Kasa Restaurant & Bar, Orlando

Kasa Restaurant & Bar's chefs completely shake up notions of how Asian flavors work together with their globally inspired menu. They take pad thai and transform it into a calamari appetizer, and they spice wild-caught wahoo with togarashi and stuff it into fish tacos along with kimchee aioli and sunomono vegetables. They also pile caramelized onion, pickled peppers, horseradish havarti cheese, garlic cream, and stone-ground mustard atop their drunken kobe brisket sandwich, using the tangy-sweet combinations to cut through the umami taste of the meat. And in Kasa's test kitchen, they constantly play around with flavors, crafting bites for the new sushi menu, for instance.

The food isn't the only reason trendy diners head to Kasa. The downtown Orlando eatery also draws guests in with its modern decor—accent walls covered in wood slabs, giant circular booths, seafood green dining chairs—and with its outdoor patio under giant palm fronds.