The World’s 50 Best Restaurants according to Restaurant Magazine.
“Food has it over sex for variety. Hedonistically, gustatory possibilities are much broader than copulatory ones. Literarily, reading about food is more interesting than reading about sex. The authors of The Physiology of Taste and of Histoire d’O, for example, are writers equally obsessed, but how charming is Brillat-Savarin’s obsession, how sickening Reage’s! Similarly, how delightful it is to hear someone describe a magnificent meal, or comical to hear a botched one described, whereas listening to the same person describe a seduction is almost invariably boring, if not repulsive. Perhaps the reason for this is that eating is the more social function, sex the more personal, and as such eating shows people in a greater multiplicity of poses, moods, and characters than does sex. Modern psychologists to the contrary, there is more going on at the table than in bed.”
(Joseph Epstein (b. 1937), U.S. author, editor. “Foodstuff and Nonsense,” Familiar Territory: Observations on American Life, Oxford University Press 1979.)
In 2002, Restaurant Magazine published its first list of the world’s 50 best restaurants. Since then, the list has become one of the most respected arbiters of the planet’s top food temples. It has gained this renown primarily on account of its selection process which although it has changed somewhat over the years, remains, at least in my mind, fair and inclusive.
The process in 2002 was simple: Restaurant Magazine asked a number of well traveled chefs, restaurateurs and food critics to name their 5 favorite restaurants in the world. They then compiled a list of the top 50 based on the selections. Much has changed since then. This year’s list involved a much more elaborate process. The world was divided into 20 voting regions. For each region, an expert familiar with that region’s restaurant scene was appointed chairperson. The chairperson then selected a voting panel for their region. Each voter was allowed to vote for 5 restaurants, only 2 of which could be within their own region. Worldwide, 560 voters cast 2,800 votes from which the top 50 restaurants were chosen.
And so we have Restaurant Magazine’s The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2006. These establishments are the Meccas of my food dreams, the shrines of gastronomy and the bellwethers of change in fine dinning. Looking down the list, however, one must keep in mind that this is a mere snapshot of a very rapidly changing scene. Indeed, restaurants come and go and superstar chefs rise and fall. The truly great restaurants though have staying power. They are able to turn out fare at the very highest levels of quality and refinement and do this over and over again. Here are some of my personal observations, mumblings from a gourmand if you wish, on the list.
• I am sad that TAILLEVENT is not on the list. My feeling is that it’s just too crowded at the top. This venerable Trois Etoilles Michelin, I thought, deserved a mention. If you decide to eat there, you must first read A Meal Observed by Andrew Todhunter.
• I am overjoyed that PIERRE GAGNAIRE, another Trois Etoilles Michelin, has risen to number 3 on this year’s list, up from number 6 last year. We had one of our most memorable meals there in 2005. I don’t remember each and every one of the 37 courses presented to us but I can tell you that the experience was sublime. Cirque du Soleil for the senses, nirvana for the gastronomic soul.
• Fighting it out for top spot in the last few years are EL BULLI and THE FAT DUCK, both with 3 Michelin stars. What is most amazing is that these establishments are more laboratories than kitchens! Both Ferran Adria (elBulli) and Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck) are as much food chemists as they are chefs. Their craft is more molecular gastronomy than cooking. Both run food research and development facilities that could easily be mistaken for pharmacology labs. I have never eaten at either of the restaurants (Reservations at elBulli are taken years in advance.) but their reputations are unparalleled. To get an idea of what the food world is so excited about, leaf through a copy of elBulli 1998 - 2002 or elBulli 2005. I think you’ll be impressed. Ferran Adria also has a line of stainless steel tableware called FACES that’s pretty special.
• FRENCH LAUNDRY, Thomas Keller’s restaurant in California has been at or near the top of the list since 2002. Mr. Keller also scores an 8th place on this year’s list for his Manhattan eatery PER SE on 60th street.
• Only 2 Canadian restaurants have ever made the The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list: EIGENSINN FARM near Collingwood, Ontario and SUSUR in Toronto. We’ll be eating at SUSUR Friday November 3.
All this writing has made me hungry…and thirsty. Good thing we’re on our way to a tasting at Gosling’s new facilities this evening.
Joseph Froncioni
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