The Abbey Tucson, Tucson

Serial restaurateur Brian Metzger never lets success with his current restaurants stop him from making his next culinary dream a reality. The Abbey's intimate brick-and-stone dining room marks his second foray into comfortable fine dining. Along with executive chef Virginia “Ginny” Wooters, he drafts a menu full of contemporary comforts, such as their take on updated versions of gnocchi and pot pie. Their influence extends from the kitchen to the full bar, where mixologists whip up craft cocktails spiked with fresh, seasonal fruit juices.

Whether seated on the wrap-around patio or gazing out the windows of the dining room or bar, a rolling vista of foothills tumbles away before diners' eyes, often igniting memories of joyfully rolling down hills as a child or painfully falling down hills as an adult.