World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2008
Not even close to being gadget-related, but here’s a list of the world’s best restaurants, thanks to San Pellegrino and their site World’s 50 Best Restaurants. At the top of their list, which makes it the best restaurant in the world, is El Bulli in Spain.
50best’s comments about el Bulli include such superlatives as “dazzling dishes “, “astonishing inventions” and “results … that surprise, provoke, engage your sense of humour and taste divine” … mostly thanks to chef Ferran Adrià. Expect to pay about €250 ea.
Rounding out the top 5 are:
2. The Fat Duck (UK)
3. Pierre Gagnaire (FR)
4. Mugaritz (ES)
5. The French Laundry (CA)
Richard Vines who is London food critic for Bloomberg News, had a look at the W50B list & proceeded to splash a bit of cold water on it. While Vines appreciated the conception, presentation and quality of the top two restaurants, saying the “food was superb at both”, he is also unironically dismissive of the cusine calling it unalloyed and presumptive experimental theater. Vines also decries the lack of Asian representation on the top 50 list seemingly attributing it to Eurocentrism - while that’s partly true, most of the reason can be found in the practice of undervaluing the disharmony of ironic comedy and overvaluing the idea of idealising idealism.
Is El Bulli Really the World’s Best Restaurant? - Bloomberg, April 22 2008
