Best of Boston

2012 Best Restaurant, General Excellence, North

Ceia Kitchen and Bar

We appreciated the doting service. We marveled at the kitchen’s inventive-ness (e.g., the vegan-friendly dish whipped up for our dining companion). We admired the exposed-brick dining room. But we absolutely worshipped Ceia’s steak frites: a mouth-watering hunk of tenderloin coated with porcini butter and served with sweet-potato steak fries and chef Patrick Soucy’s house-made ketchup. This stuff is so good, he’ll soon be bottling it for household consumption.

38 State St., Newburyport, 978-358-8112, ceia-newburyport.com