Best chefs in France 2005

[John Talbott]

As is traditional in France as in the US, the “best 10” or “best of” lists have begun to appear. I have already noted some of these from the 150 Young Chefs + Petit Fute, big Lebey and Pudlo, but a few days ago Francois Simon and crew at Le Figaro put them in perspective. Here’s what he said (more or less): that he trusts Lebey, that the Bottin followed Pudlo in “consecrating” Jean-Francois Piege of the Crillon, that Gault-Millau (among other silliness) persists in rating Marc Veyrat (La Ferme etc + La Maison etc) 20/20 while the Champerand ignores him. On the opposite page, a unsigned box notes that Jean-Francois Piege of the Crillon got the approval of Pudlo + Bottin, that Gault-Millau picked Thierry Marx of the Chateau Cordellian-Bages in Pauillac, that the Champerand picked Didier Elena of Les Crayeres in Reims, and Le Chef went with Olivier Roellinger of the Maisons de Bricourt in Cancale.

Also, as I reported in the Digest, Le Figaro listed the magazine Restaurant’s best places in the world, reporting that the Fat Duck is Number 1. The French were #6 Gagnaire, #11 Michel Bras, #16 Guy Savoy, #17 Alain Ducasse, #24 le Meurice, #26 l'Arpege, #29 le Cinq, #37 l'Auberge de l'Ill and #50 La Tupina.

Edited by John Talbott to add last paragraph.

Edited December 10, 2005 by John Talbott (log)