Get your appetite ready.

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A collection of banner openings across the country will be the leading factor in the restaurant industry's bounce back in 2022, despite the Omicron surge. Many chefs will be expanding their respective footprints, others returning to the kitchen and others embarking on their own ventures for the first time during this event. It's not the first time that yakitori omakase and Greek cuisine will be available in the nation's capital, but these are a few of the restaurants we're most excited to see open this year, from Haitian food in Portland, Ore., to yakitori omakase in New York City.

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El Alto, Los Altos, Calif.

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There is a Mexican restaurant in Silicon Valley being opened by Traci Des Jardins and Robert Hurtado that is influenced by California cuisine. With California produce and live-fire cooking, they'll offer a twist on Mexican cuisine influenced by Hurtado's Mexican roots and Des Jardins' maternal grandparents who immigrated from Mexico. You can expect dishes like confited duck and apricot mole made with almonds.

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Kann, Portland, Ore.

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When we had the opportunity to see Gregory Gourdet prepare his Haitian concept Kann on Top Chef's "Restaurant Wars" episode a few seasons back, we couldn't wait to see the full version of the dish. As part of a pop-up restaurant inside yurts last winter, Gourdet offered Oregonians a more fleshed out version of his restaurant. The restaurant was inspired by what he ate as a child, as well as the food he was exposed to when he traveled to Haiti and learned about Haiti.

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A lot of the ingredients are from the Caribbean and African continents, such as root vegetables, seafood, plantains, yuccas, taro roots, rice, beans, spicy chilies, coconut milk and all these tropical fruits,” Gourdet told Rich Report. The only thing that I want to make is a version of Haitian food that is traditional. I don't want it fazed up. I don't want it modernized.

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Habitué, Los Angeles

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As executive chef at Sweden's only Michelin three-star restaurant, Frantzen, Marcus Jernmark is heading to Los Angeles to open Habitué. The new venture involves Max Coane, chef Robert Sandberg, and wine director Marcus Jernmark. While Coane tells Rich Report details are being kept close to the vest for now, the pedigree of those involved is enough to pique our interest.

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Le Select, Chicago

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In a sense, it is a kind of homecoming for Daniel Rose. He grew up in Chicago suburbs, but later moved to the city with his old-school French at Le Coucou. After cutting his teeth in Paris, where he introduced his tasting menu to the world, Rose is now back in the Chicago suburbs. In a partnership with Boka Restaurant Group, he will open a French restaurant in the Windy City this year. The menu has not yet been announced, but expect a bustling brasserie from the Michelin-starred chef.

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Birch & Rye, San Francisco

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Located in San Francisco's Noe Valley, Anya El-Wattar, the modern Russian chef, is preparing some elevated borscht and stroganoff at Birch & Rye, a new restaurant from Moscow. It is not surprising to hear that the restaurant is based in the Bay Area, where you can expect El-Wattar to take those cultural touchpoints he is so familiar with and put them through the lens of California produce.

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Brochu’s Family Tradition, Savannah, Ga.

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Following his departure from Grant Achatz's heartland-driven Roister, Andrew Brochu had planned to open his own restaurant in Chicago. But the pandemic changed things. He and his wife left town after a space fell through and further delays, so they decided to open the boisterous restaurant in Savannah instead. Expect high-quality fried chicken and seafood with low fuss.

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Kono, New York City

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At the opening of his eponymous restaurant off the Bowery, Chef Atsushi Kono will take diners on an exciting journey to Tokyo with a kappo-style yakitori omakase. Aktori Kono has lived in Japan and led the Michelin-starred Yakitori Torishin in New York City for several years.

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Mena, New York City

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Victoria Blamey is now opening her own restaurant with Mena for the first time after leading Gotham Bar and Grill for a brief but triumphant period. As a result of leaving Gotham Bar and Grill at the beginning of the pandemic, Blamey began developing her new concept by taking residency positions at Blue Hill at Stone Bars and Fulgurances. A chef from Santiago, Chile, Mena will channel her global travels into Mena in Tribeca.

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Marigold Club, Houston

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Having opened the tasting menu spot in March last year, Goodnight Hospitality (master wine sommelier June Rodil, chef Felipe Riccio and proprietors Pete and Bailey McCarthy) has now come up with another concept. It is planned that Marigold Club will serve continental cuisine in an art deco setting, within which it will be set in an art deco building.

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Little Saint, Healdsburg

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With Little Saint, Kyle and Katina Connaughton, who own SingleThread restaurant in Sonoma, they will serve an a la carte, meat-free menu in a Ken Fulk-designed space. Their menu will be inspired by the produce of the area, which is sourced by their own farm. There will also be concerts, film screenings, and community events at the 10,000-square-foot Connaughton, which will include a restaurant, café, and wine shop.

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Este, Austin

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In Austin, he has packed the acclaimed Suerte restaurant with patrons. At Este, he hopes to repeat that feat. His new restaurant is expected to open in the spring, serving Mexican coastal cuisine cooked on charcoal grills. His recipes will be inspired by his trips to Guadalajara, Ensenada, and Puerto Escondido.

Gavin Kaysen at the RBC Gateway Tower, Minneapolis

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Having won two James Beard awards in his lifetime, the two-time James Beard Award-winning chef is expanding again in his hometown. In the lobby of the new RBC Gateway tower downtown, the chef behind Spoon and Stable, Bellecour Bakery and Demi will open a Mediterranean-inspired all-day café. It will be Kaysen and his team's job to run the full-service bar and restaurant within the Four Seasons hotel in the building when it opens.

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Philotimo, Washington DC

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There have been delays in construction caused by the pandemic, which have caused the restaurant's original opening date to be well past August 2020. Nicholas Stefanelli, who is the Michelin-starred chef behind Masseria and Officina, will use his Greek heritage when he opens Philotimo. When the restaurant does arrive this October, the chef well known for Italian cuisine wants to show denizens of the nation's capital a side of Greek cuisine that goes beyond feta and includes dishes from all over Greece.