As a former journalist, I find it strange that the article glamorizes the selected restaurants and chefs (sponsored by a bottled-water company) and then way down in the story buries a vital piece of information: that the ratings are influenced by PR, wining and dining of the judges (influence peddling by the restaurants that want to get on the list). I know of quite a few food aficionados who are disappointed by this sort of groveling reporting and sham grading of restaurants. Perhaps the reporter should investigate and expose the "voting" process--rather the vote-buying process-- so diners will not be misguided to plunk down money for pricy and disappointing meals. I recently listened to one judge in horror about a campaign to get one restaurant on Asia's best restaurant list successfully. Perhaps the reporter should investigate how one restaurant (with mixed reputation) can stay on top of the list year after year--and, wait, when the owner quietly invests in another that restaurant also gets on the list! Scams in other industries, like sports (bribery, match fixing) are now routinely investigated and exposed, perhaps food writers need to take their avocation more seriously and critically, so we can put our faith (and our money) in honest, diligent reporting that guides us to eateries which we otherwise might not put on our "must list" of dining-- and then if the meal disappoints us we may simply blame it on our unaccustomed palate.
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The list is what it is - as with all such things, we are all free to pay attention or not.
I am in Malaga, Spain feasting on embarrassingly inexpensive dishes all over town - dinner for two with wine for under 20 Euros, that kind of thing.
On the other hand, I have eaten at Noma and consider it one of the culinary highlights of my life. I would probably enjoy dining at many of the Top 50 or the top 5000 for that matter. The leading chefs, like the leading fashion designers, set the pace for what will become mainstream in the future. More power to them.
JimLockardOnWine.com
I am in Malaga, Spain feasting on embarrassingly inexpensive dishes all over town - dinner for two with wine for under 20 Euros, that kind of thing.
On the other hand, I have eaten at Noma and consider it one of the culinary highlights of my life. I would probably enjoy dining at many of the Top 50 or the top 5000 for that matter. The leading chefs, like the leading fashion designers, set the pace for what will become mainstream in the future. More power to them.
JimLockardOnWine.com
Happy for Massimo Bottura, a modest and iconoclastic man whose twists on traditional Italian dishes are both fun and delicious (quite a few, such as his "parmigiano five ways" show the influence of his mentor, Ferran Adrià). The restaurant itself is quite small and the reservation system fair (if you are a Ferrari driver, you can of course always go there).
As for the powers that be behind the list - the list is a self-serving business and should be viewed as such.
As for the powers that be behind the list - the list is a self-serving business and should be viewed as such.
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I salute the posters here. Great comments.
A lot of the formulations of ratings is based on the human psyche that asks, "What is the best..." Glitzy catalogs will tell you what the best toe nail clipper is. The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants will tell you the best restaurant. The other 49 are there for one to try to get a reservation. My view is that ratings should create groups of good restaurants; it's much more realistic.
It appears to me that the posters here know food. The value of World's 50 Best Restaurants is that it encourages the discussion about food. This is a discussion well worth having. Let us have more great chefs who prepare fine food to encourage more and more people to understand the value of good food. As the astute posters write here, it's not price, it's quality.
A lot of the formulations of ratings is based on the human psyche that asks, "What is the best..." Glitzy catalogs will tell you what the best toe nail clipper is. The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants will tell you the best restaurant. The other 49 are there for one to try to get a reservation. My view is that ratings should create groups of good restaurants; it's much more realistic.
It appears to me that the posters here know food. The value of World's 50 Best Restaurants is that it encourages the discussion about food. This is a discussion well worth having. Let us have more great chefs who prepare fine food to encourage more and more people to understand the value of good food. As the astute posters write here, it's not price, it's quality.
Strange that within the list the names of the chefs at these premiere restaurants aren't listed.
I have just started watching Chef's Table on Netflix which features the chef from the #1 restaurant on this list, Osteria Francescana.
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I genuinely hope no distraught chef kills himself over these silly labellings. World's best wine. Worlds best Balloon! World's best church!
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The Michelin Guide is, imo, no different from Zagat--a GUIDE--and one I have no need for. I'd much prefer the local spot that does ___ better than anyone else over these pretentious places, regardless of where I am in the world. I'd rather do the research on food blogs and hear from locals what their favorite spots are, do my own research online, and then make my decision about where to eat.
Yes, I've been to a few of the high(est)-end spots, including Per Se, which turned out to be far more *fun* than I ever expected (I expected the food to be good). That was because the staff read the vibe at our table, while across the room there were couples sitting in near-silence looking bored. While the bottom line is about what the kitchen is doing, customers bring something to the restaurant too.
Yes, I've been to a few of the high(est)-end spots, including Per Se, which turned out to be far more *fun* than I ever expected (I expected the food to be good). That was because the staff read the vibe at our table, while across the room there were couples sitting in near-silence looking bored. While the bottom line is about what the kitchen is doing, customers bring something to the restaurant too.
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You realize this article has nothing to do with the Michelin Guide, right?
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An interesting guide, sure, but, at the end of the day, the Best Restaurant for me -- and, I'm guessing, for you -- is determined by factors which are far more subjective.
Personally, I'll take a vibrant, hearty hole in the wall like the Left Bank's L'Ami Jean over the strained opulence of Le Meurice any day of the week.
Personally, I'll take a vibrant, hearty hole in the wall like the Left Bank's L'Ami Jean over the strained opulence of Le Meurice any day of the week.
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I've eaten high-end, and it was fun and yes - revelatory, but my beloved restaurants are all strip-mall hole-in-the-wall places where it's hard to top $20, the seats are plastic, and pampering is rarer than tablecloths. My absolute favourite is Malay Satay Hut in Redmond, WA, a hilarious cavern of a place dominated by a large karaoke screen and decorated by a ten year-old who was VERY into spaceships.
The idea that the restaurants of the world can be graded on a single scale is simply silly.
The idea that the restaurants of the world can be graded on a single scale is simply silly.
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Couple more details on Malay Satay Hut. My death-row meal is their Curry Chicken Noodle (still $9 on the lunch menu). More importantly, the place is one of the last refuges of Nonya cuisine (native to Singapore) that is inexplicably slowly drifting into extinction.
To grade an establishment like that on a single scale, alongside Le Bernardin? Apologies o Eric Ripert, but the idea is simply silly.
To grade an establishment like that on a single scale, alongside Le Bernardin? Apologies o Eric Ripert, but the idea is simply silly.
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Agreed. Malay Satay Hut is a mess of building but the food is outstanding - and not $500 a plate.
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I live in New York, and I have been to Eleven Madison Park few times - each time extremely disappointing. The food is blunt, the presentation is weak, the space is though beautiful, but limited. In comparison, my best dining experience was in Blue Hill. Every detail - from serving, presentation, and incredible taste of every dish - was phenomenal. Based only on this experience, I would be very skeptical about the rating.
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Everyone is so full of complaints. Think of it this way: the best meal in the entire world can be had for about $500 per person - less than a seat at Hamilton, a ticket to a pedestrian NBA Finals game, or any number of less memorable indulgences. It may seem like a lot, but a night at a restaurant on this list can be among a life's most memorable, and costs less than you'll pay for one year's subscription to the newspaper we are reading. Good food is one of the world's most accessible luxuries: the very highest of high culture is something that many people can afford, if not frequently, then at least once in their lives!
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The best meal in the entire world can be had for five dollars, if you're eating with the ones you love. Send the remaining 495 dollars to your local food bank.
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The list should be renamed the World's 50 Best Restaurants for rich people who can afford it and/or be allowed in without a year's wait.
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Happy to be one of the common men to have dined in few of these extraordinary places without any prior reservations or influence.
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Food. Preferences. You like traditional food: good for you! You like high-end cuisine: great! You enjoy a bic mac and fries every once in a while: why the heck not?
Why does everyone feels that their opinion should reign supreme in matters so subjective as food appreciation.
I'll admit, though, that the title "World's best restaurants" is pretty darn pretentious.
Why does everyone feels that their opinion should reign supreme in matters so subjective as food appreciation.
I'll admit, though, that the title "World's best restaurants" is pretty darn pretentious.
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Regardless of what you think of this list, try to watch the Chef's Table series on Netflix. Absolutely stunning and a fascinating look into the minds and lives of some brilliant chefs.
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Meaningless ranking, unless you prize pretentiousness & ludicrously high prices … which certainly applies to the Modena restaurant Francescana, in a town full of reasonably priced, unpretentious good restaurants.
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What a joy to read of other peoples frustration with the cuisine of tweezers and squeeze bottles.
I read a satire recently about a restaurant wherein artisinally curated dishes were paraded past diners, who were forbidden to touch the plates. They were not worthy. We seem to be headed there.
I read a satire recently about a restaurant wherein artisinally curated dishes were paraded past diners, who were forbidden to touch the plates. They were not worthy. We seem to be headed there.
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This list is a flat out publicity stunt. It has no context. For context, go back to the Michelin guide in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. When I was at working at Troisgros in 70's, there were 13 3 star restaurants in France. The ratings were absolutely correct and carefully vetted. People flocked to Troisgros, way off the beaten path for one reason, the food tasted better and the restaurant was a joy to experience. And yes, I will confirm we had no tweezers, squirt bottles, foam makers, or eye droppers in the kitchen. We made delicious food and made sure everyone had fun.
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Talk about the 0.00001 percent of restaurants while the rest of us eat at fine dining establishment. Pretty full of themselves. Just like the wine and liquor "experts" who continue to hold sway what constitutes "great" for all of us.
I for one would not eat at any restaurant where the primary implement in the kitchen is a pair tweezers. These judges seem to value plate presentation and PR over the the food. And yes I have eaten in these restaurants over my years (being honest; never on my nickle)
So give me local restaurants where chefs provide quality food without the pretentiousness.
I for one would not eat at any restaurant where the primary implement in the kitchen is a pair tweezers. These judges seem to value plate presentation and PR over the the food. And yes I have eaten in these restaurants over my years (being honest; never on my nickle)
So give me local restaurants where chefs provide quality food without the pretentiousness.
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If you want to see a lot of tweezers, try Chef's, the Netflix series that follows the lives of the chefs of these top 50 restaurants.
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Sorry and I'm sure I get blasted for this, but... Preferences in food styles and taste are so varied that the Michelin Guides are almost meaningless.. Especially beyond France. (For any number of reasons, let us be grateful that American cooking is not measured by a French Meter stick. The inspectors may be French, but we will never know. When one wants to evaluate American food, American standards should be used. The Americas are not competing with the French and I'm not sure that some of the French inspectors know anything of us or why we cook and eat as we do. ( sure as heck to not understand The French ideas!) If a national guide to national guide to excellent food is not possible, perhaps that world famous tire maker should retract its horns, limit reporting and [guides to France alone and pay more attention to making auto and truck tires. tires. That a French inspector does not care for a particular dish from the Americas, means nothing. They have zero idea about what we eat and how we eat it, yet love to grade us by their standards. Sorry folks, but this is not France. We do not cook or eat their way - and we do not want to. My suggestion is to blow off the North American editions, limit their remarks to France and border nations - and move on. as much as I love my French friends, I am NOT French and I do not much are about what they eat or how the eat it. The article about whole small birds, napkins over the head, was too much. NO!! And go away!
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