Gourmet's Top 50 Restaurants 2006

[Lenski]

I have eaten in several of the restaurants listed in the "top 50 in the world" and I think that "Alinea" deserves to be there.  Achatz is as dazzling as it gets.

I've eaten at Alinea, and while I find the food and Achatz "dazzling," my experiences have been that appealing - from the service to the tastes. But, I do agree and recognize that the work Achatz is doing is very different and should be acknowledged on the international level.

Also "Tru" is missing (although my last visit there in July was a complete disappointment after many great dinners there).

Personally, I'd be pretty shocked to see TRU on the list. My one meal there was pretty good - service was excellent, but certainly not in the league of many of the other Top 50 in the World players that I've been to.

I would like to point out a little matter that caught my attention.  Is anyone surprised that Cantu is on the cover and the leading title is "America's leading Restaurant"?  I thought that "Moto" had been selected number one upon seeing the cover (and I was not  the only one).

I'm TOTALLY with you on this one... while maybe not number one, I do think that Moto deserves to be on the U.S. list.

Again, as many others have noted on this thread and others - it's all marketing.

u.e.

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I agree with you about the marketing ploy. However, it is marketing that can play great dividends.

My comment about "Tru" was not about the "world's best" but the "Gourmet" list. I think it might deserve to be on the US list.

[Osnav]

Just to reiterate Fat Guy's point,

IT IS A MARKETING THING!!!

I've been in the mag. pub. business for 30+ years and in almost every editorial meeting of every magazine client I have had I beg for LISTS (the 10 best shortstops, the 5 most popular cars, the 100 best album covers, etc.). 

And evertime I get one, I sell more copies than prior issues w/o lists.

To illustrate this further:  the only issue of Food & Wine I buy on the newsstand each year is the "best new chefs issue;  my favorite issue of ANY mag each year is the Saveur 100 issue. 

The reality is no matter what 50 restos were listed, people are going to disagree with the list(but they are going to read the list).  That's when we magazine folk say:

"Gotcha"

So have some fun with it, but don't take it too seriously(there'll be another list in 5 years).

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Historical question: Can we pinpoint when this phenomenon began?

I do know that the annual "Best of Philly" issue of Philadelphia magazine just produced its 34th iteration last August. It started as a total lark on the part of the magazine's staff, and it included a list of "worsts" that allowed the writers to throw well-deserved darts at notorious local figures and institutions.

By the time it turned 10 in 1984, the judging process had already acquired an air of High Seriousness about it, and the magazine's publisher, in his front-of-every-issue rantspace "Off the Cuff," went to great pains to state that it was impossible to buy one's way into the list.

And yet places that just about any Philadelphian will tell you remain among the best today (Taconnelli's for pizza, Tony Luke's for their roast pork sandwich) do not consistently appear in their respective categories. That's in part because some of them have been "retired", but "distributive justice" must have something to do with it too.

On a national scale, this is a big country with lots of large cities that would be centers of national culture in their own right in many smaller nations. It sort of follows, then, that an editor of a national magazine, no matter where it is based, would risk alienating a large slice of his potential readership if he selected a "best of" list that was lacking in geographical diversity, even if it was more accurate in terms of true quality.

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[jackbr4]

maybe it's because i am a bit biased having grown up in san francisco, but i was surpised there weren't a few more SF restaurants on the list. the style may be different from our east coast brethern, but it seems like we get the compulsary nods for chez pannise, the french laundry, and occasionaly zuni cafe, and then the list moves on. .. .

[ulterior epicure]

maybe it's because i am a bit biased having grown up in san francisco, but i was surpised there weren't a few more SF restaurants on the list. the style may be different from our east coast brethern, but it seems like we get the compulsary nods for chez pannise, the french laundry, and occasionaly zuni cafe, and then the list moves on. ..  .

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I agree (although not being from SF). I would have liked to see Manresa a little higher. Wasn't Cyrus mentioned too?

Just out of curiosity - what Bay area restaurants would you have liked to have seen on the list that didn't make it, jackbr4?

u.e.

[MarketStEl]

Did you want to say something, Osnav?

[The Cynical Chef]

And just where in the hell is 33 Liberty on this list...don't tell me it was #51!!!

[jackbr4]

maybe it's because i am a bit biased having grown up in san francisco, but i was surpised there weren't a few more SF restaurants on the list. the style may be different from our east coast brethern, but it seems like we get the compulsary nods for chez pannise, the french laundry, and occasionaly zuni cafe, and then the list moves on. ..  .

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I agree (although not being from SF). I would have liked to see Manresa a little higher. Wasn't Cyrus mentioned too?

Just out of curiosity - what Bay area restaurants would you have liked to have seen on the list that didn't make it, jackbr4?

u.e.

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ulterior epicure - i think there were a few that could have made it, the ritz carlton dining room san francisco is pretty spectacular from both a food and service perspective and i also think quince and a16 could have made the list. that being said, i am almost happier they didn't - it's hard enough to get a table at any of those places as it is!

[robyn]

I've eaten at 8 out of 50 - and more if you include chefs who were someplace else 2 years ago (but who have new places now that I haven't been to yet).

It is simply a very PC list. One of these - them and those. An avant garde place here - a more traditional place there. No food point of view at all. In a variety of geographical regions - with the inevitable scramble to come up with a few women - and other minorities.

Although I don't live in New York - or have any particular love for it - I can tell you that this list reminds me of how Ivy League schools used to (maybe still do) admit lesser kids from Kansas and Idaho instead of more qualified kids from the Bronx High School of Science in the name of "geographical diversity". The Ivy League schools didn't want too many Jewish kids - and this list doesn't want too many fancy pants New York restaurants. I mean - I liked York Street - but it was about 2 steps beneath David Burke & Donatella (which is certainly not the highest of higher end restaurants in New York) in terms of everything.

And - I am curious - considering the lead time in the magazine business - how did Guy Savoy - which opened in May - wind up on the list? Ditto with Michy's - which opened in January. Think the fix was in?

Let this all be a warning signal to those of you who worship at the alter of diversity - in any arena - without considering its impact on quality. Robyn

P.S. For those of you who mentioned Spago in a negative way - agreed. Although I've heard that the food you get there depends on whether you're known to the restaurant (which shouldn't be the case in any supposedly great restaurant IMO).

[robyn]

P.S. I've counted again - and I've actually been to more of the restaurants. But I don't think they should count. Locke-Ober's 25 years ago. Think not. Ritz Carlton at Buckhead 2 years ago when Bruno Menard (now at L'Osier in Tokyo) - was in the kitchen. Don't think so either. Or maybe it does. How many times do TPTB at Gourmet make it to Atlanta? Chefs make a huge difference - and chefs don't tend to stay in one place for 10 years these days. Heck - even at York Street - the maitre d' who made our meal (got us over all the little service issues) isn't there anymore (his mom wrote me email and said he opened his own restaurant).

[robyn]

Parker's New American Bistro, in Cleveland Ohio, is closing at the end of the year - Parker Bosley wants to devote all his time to the markets he has been working with.

However, perhaps with the opening of Michael Symon's Lola next week, Cleveland still has a shot at this list.  I agree with Fat Guy - these lists are pretty silly anyway.

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Well - if they are silly - why does a magazine like Gourmet Magazine - which I thought was almost on the verge of trying to be a serious magazine - do them? Seems to me that they sell enough ads without them.

Shame on Ruth Reichl. Robyn

[22tango]

Is that the Canlis in Seattle? At number 19?!!

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Yep, it is.

I haven't been to ONE of these places . Silly (because I know their wonderfulness is arguable), but that actually bothers me a little.

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I have to say that there is no way Canlis should be on this list! Just seeing it there I can tell that the list is combined for the average american who has bucks in his wallet and is easily impressed and likes to name drop- IMHO of course.

Having not been to Canlis, I find it interesting that this restaurant's ranking (or existence) on the list has raised the most eyebrows thus far... and it climbed from 2001.

I was shocked as well when I first saw Canlis on the list as opposed to others more worthy -- but then I figured it had to be about more than just the food. As others have said, politics come into play. Also, Canlis has one of the best wine lists in the world, an incredible view, stellar service, generations of satisfied customers, etc..., etc... While it may not be cutting-edge, their food is certainly not mediocre. I've no idea why it should be as high (and have recently risen) up Gourmet's list, but it may actually have enough points going for it to deserve being on the list.

[Max Power]

What I find interesting on this list is the juxtaposition of the two completely different styles of the top two restaurants, Alinea and Chez Panisse. Going from a place that serves burning leaves on bent wire during a 30 course palatte-sweating marathon of a tasting menu to a place that, due to its own influence, seems less spectacular as America's access to local farms and its return to cooking (somewhat--I know I'm pretty hopeful in saying that) grows is quite interesting. This is no judgement on whether either should or should not be there; it's just compelling that they be listed side by side. Like observing the Printing Press and the Mac right next to each other. So relevant to each other in such a strange way.

Edited October 16, 2006 by Max Power (log)