Louie Yu, executive chef, Sunda, Chicago
Price: $12
Stand back: There’s a new superfood for the new year and its name is ube. A bright purple yam that originated in the Philippines, ube is currently being featured throughout the menu at Sunda, a Chicago spot with new Pan-Asian cuisine. The ube bites are situated squarely on the sweet side of the savory vs. sweet brunch battle, with sweet cream, cheddar cheese and ube butter.

Ryan Sand, chef, Aster Hall, Chicago
Price: $4
This cupcake is a seasonal treat at Aster Hall, a food hall with two floors of 16 vendors on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. One of those vendors is a sweet stand called the Chocolate Bar. The cupcake is a bit of a riff on the ongoing s’more trend, with toasted molasses marshmallows swirled on top of an earthy sweet potato cupcake with post-pumpkin spice vibes.

Miky Grendene and Leticia Herrera Grendene, founders, Casa Tua, Miami
Price: part of $30 Winter Lunch menu
Miami souls suffering from an art hangover post-Art Basel can find splashy colors and edgy textures at Casa Tua, an elevated Northern Italian restaurant in Miami with locations in Aspen and Paris planned for this year. The antipasti portion of the Winter Lunch menu included this bracing salad of artfully arranged pale ivory fennel fronds against a bright backdrop of salmon carpaccio and orange.