Assuming one wants to redesign an existing site or start a new one, what is the place to meet good designers?

Seemingly simple question, but I am still struggling with an answer, in about 15 years of running a business online. Popular freelance sites offer myriads of options, however, many appear to be proposing variations of cookie-cutter themes.

Where one may get a chance to approach such a rare and elusive species as a designer?