Shaw-naé's House

Shaw-naé Dixon learned to cook beside her grandmother, who taught cooking on Staten Island for decades, then built a catering business feeding film and TV sets before turning the ground floor of a house on Van Duzer Street into a restaurant in June 2021. It has six tables, couches and a faux fireplace, and it feels like a family dinner that happens to take reservations. In 2024 The New York Times named it one of the 50 best restaurants in America.

Start with the Sugar Daddy Wings, glazed with maple and cinnamon, and the cornbread, which changes daily. Then oxtails over rice, fried catfish or chicken, ribs, and sides worth the trip on their own — mac and cheese and deeply savory collard greens. Soul fries, buried under mac and cheese, greens and fried catfish, is the dish for the table. It is small and open only late in the week, so book well ahead.