Minibar (Café Atlantico), Washington. D.C.

This one-bite sandwich starts with a hollowed-out baguette filled with cheddar cheese spuma and caramelized onion jam. Quick-seared wagyu beef is rolled in plastic wrap to form a cylinder, then sliced super-thin and arranged carpaccio-style on top. Every flavor that’s in a cheesesteak is concentrated into this tiny package.

Selected by: Ming Tsai
TV Chef & Owner of Blue Ginger,
Wellesley, Massachusetts

Check out the entire list of Clean Plate Award winners. 

Bartenders are busy enough without having to police seats for customers who have stepped away to smoke a cigarette or use the restroom. That’s where the Seat Saver comes in—a hip, easy and multi-functional way to say, “this seat is taken.”

The Seat Saver works like a standard coaster when placed under a drink; when a customer wants to hold their place, they simply slip the coaster’s martini-olive-sized hole over the swizzle stick or the neck of a bottle to tell the bartender and other customers that they’ll be back. Besides that message, the Seat Saver can be logoed with the restaurant, bar or brand name for an effective merchandiser.

“Top of the glass, top of mind,” points out Eric Tecosky, who came up with the idea with partner Danny Lane while tending bar in Los Angeles. “Bartenders love it; customers love it,” adds Lane. Pricing is competitive with standard coasters and can be ordered from TheSeatSaver.com.