The World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards, 2021

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by homebucket

From what I understand, these lists are historically biased towards French cuisine and technique, "new" American, and Japanese cuisines. It's good to see that there are other ethnic cuisines that are starting be recognized as "elevated".

And it's a peers awards. Those chefs must know each other during their education in Paris, so a bit of politics must also play a role.

About São Paulo, I said in the foodie thread that is location helps. It's on the rough Downtown, and not on the fancy districts. That helped the hype.

But other that, I don't see how US-Canada is underrepresented. Haute cuisine is a Western-centric and Europe is the centre of it, so it's only natural there are more restaurants from there. And obviously, rhere are plenty of good restaurants in Asia, Latin America. It's a world list, not an US one.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by homebucket

From what I understand, these lists are historically biased towards French cuisine and technique, "new" American, and Japanese cuisines. It's good to see that there are other ethnic cuisines that are starting be recognized as "elevated".

That's why I usually never look at these lists, because there's an obvious cultural bias. Kind of like with that French tire company travel guide, Michelin.

And I really don't know what the criteria for this organization is; "The World's 50 Best Restaurants." This is from their website, under ABOUT US: "The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is more than just a list. It is a celebration of the universality of cuisines." BWAHAHHAHAHHA!!!! https://www.theworlds50best.com/about

Where is Indian cuisine represented? And how about African cultures' varying cuisines?? The only African restaurant that made the list is from *South Africa*, and I somehow doubt it's native/indigenous culture cuisine.

I went on a few of these restaurants' websites and couldn't even find proper menus. WTF do they even serve? I've seen a few pictures, but WTF is this:





I'm at work and it's almost lunch time, but my body is having no reaction; whereas when I look at this:


Ethiopian food Wikmedia commons

...I'm already salivating. And Ethiopian cuisine has to be one of the more ancient and developed cuisines out there, yet I somehow doubt any Ethiopian restaurant ever made this list? I don't have an Instagram account, but when I looked at Geranium's instagram, I don't even see pictures of food, most of their pics are of their fricking staff!
https://www.instagram.com/restaurant_geranium/

Yes, there's a cultural bias with these kinds of lists and "awards." These tend to list places with white tablecloths and where you must eat everything with silverware or chopsticks; no eating with your hands, even if it's culturally acceptable in that culture.

[dc_denizen]

Plus the top Asian restaurants are french

Lol , who would go all the way to Singapore, one of the top food destinations in the world , to eat at a french restaurant !!

Also I’m sure that the Slovenia restaurant is great , but better than anything outside of nyc and sf , no. That’s like picking some random farm to table Hudson valley restaurant and calling it top 50

[10023]

Originally Posted by Double L

It must cost a fortune to eat at these places.

Some yes. Others are not unusually expensive for a high-end restaurant.

I have eaten at 6 of these places (slacking a bit these days… there have been past lists where my count was in the low-double digits).

[Crawford]

The top American selections aren't particularly expensive. They're also pretty casual.

The #2 American selection, I'd go with my 4 yo.

A possible explanation for the omission of the big name, formal restaurants - most were closed during the pandemic. In NYC, basically all the really high end restaurants were closed since last March and only recently reopened. This was probably true elsewhere in the U.S.

[10023]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

That's why I usually never look at these lists, because there's an obvious cultural bias. Kind of like with that French tire company travel guide, Michelin.

And I really don't know what the criteria for this organization is; "The World's 50 Best Restaurants." This is from their website, under ABOUT US: "The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is more than just a list. It is a celebration of the universality of cuisines." BWAHAHHAHAHHA!!!! https://www.theworlds50best.com/about

Where is Indian cuisine represented? And how about African cultures' varying cuisines?? The only African restaurant that made the list is from *South Africa*, and I somehow doubt it's native/indigenous culture cuisine.

I went on a few of these restaurants' websites and couldn't even find proper menus. WTF do they even serve? I've seen a few pictures, but WTF is this:

I'm at work and it's almost lunch time, but my body is having no reaction; whereas when I look at this:

...I'm already salivating. And Ethiopian cuisine has to be one of the more ancient and developed cuisines out there, yet I somehow doubt any Ethiopian restaurant ever made this list? I don't have an Instagram account, but when I looked at Geranium's instagram, I don't even see pictures of food, most of their pics are of their fricking staff!
https://www.instagram.com/restaurant_geranium/

Yes, there's a cultural bias with these kinds of lists and "awards." These tend to list places with white tablecloths and where you must eat everything with silverware or chopsticks; no eating with your hands, even if it's culturally acceptable in that culture.

Well, that’s all nonsense.

Pujol for instance is a Mexican restaurant in Mexico City, which I’m happy to have been to. And Cosme is a Mexican restaurant in NYC that I have also been to. There didn’t used to be any Mexican cuisine on these lists, but that’s because no one had attempted to create a Mexican restaurant with that kind of ambition until Enrique Olvera.

I love an Ethiopian restaurant as much as anyone, but the place you posted is not a fine dining restaurant. Maybe someone will create one.

There is, for example, a West African restaurant called Ikoyi near my office in London. It is fantastic and recently won a Michelin star. The dining room is probably too small to make this particular list, but neither Michelin or this list have a “bias” against that cuisine - there just aren’t many examples of people doing West African cuisine with such a focus on sourcing, technique, service etc.

[3rd&Brown]

These lists are so stupid. It's just about which restaurants have the best publicists.

Also. If you travel a lot in the US and know food, you also know there is amazing food in places that are not NY or SF.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by 10023

There is, for example, a West African restaurant called Ikoyi near my office in London. It is fantastic and recently won a Michelin star. The dining room is probably too small to make this particular list, but neither Michelin or this list have a “bias” against that cuisine - there just aren’t many examples of people doing West African cuisine with such a focus on sourcing, technique, service etc.

Well, given that Michelin only covers food in a few cities, means it's inherently biased.

They make a list of the "best restaurants" in the 20 or so cities they cover. They proclaim them the best restaurants in the "world" and don't cover the other 100s of cities with over a million people. The whole concept is biased.

[muppet]

So a Slovenian restaurant CAN'T be better than anything in NYC or SF? The experts at Michelin don't know what they're talking about pffffft, because by dint of being in Slovenia and run by Slovenes it just literally isn't possible? As declared by someone who hasn't even tried it.

Talk about assumption and bias.

• Video Link

[mousquet]

The Bocuse d'Or held in Lyon, France every 2 years may be the most prestigious international cuisine contest in the world.
It's like the official Cuisine World Cup and gives you an idea of what countries are serious in cuisine.
The Scandinavians are very good at it indeed. It's well known, they have some fine lifestyle up there.
Americans on here may be reassured by seeing they managed to win it in 2017. I'm hardly surprised because the US draws some good chefs from all over the world and they'd worked hard to win the 2017 edition, or so I read in a recent article.
Winning this tournament would require a lot of careful planning and training. It would be some real team work, as high-end cuisine always is.
Good to see France got the title back this year.

I'm a bit astonished Japan never won it, though. Because they have quite a little bunch of 3-star Michelin restaurants. They had more of them than France herself a couple of years ago, but the French fought back.

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by muppet

So a Slovenian restaurant CAN'T be better than anything in NYC or SF? The experts at Michelin don't know what they're taling about pffffft, because by dint of being in Slovenia and run by Slovenes it just literally isn't possible? As declared by someone who hasn't even tried it.

Talk about assumption and bias.

I know, right? Instead of being stimulated to find out there are so many great unknown things out there, people get angry.

[MolsonExport]

No thanks; I'm good.

telegraph

[badrunner]

That place has gold leaf it must be good.

[10023]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Well, given that Michelin only covers food in a few cities, means it's inherently biased.

They make a list of the "best restaurants" in the 20 or so cities they cover. They proclaim them the best restaurants in the "world" and don't cover the other 100s of cities with over a million people. The whole concept is biased.

They cover more than 20 cities because some guides are regional or national. And when you’re talking about restaurants in the category they are evaluating, it’s unlikely that any are really going to fly under the radar for long. There are certainly cities without Michelin guides that have restaurants of Michelin star quality, but foodies tend to know which these are and the question is usually “when will City X get a Michelin guide?”.

The reason that it is extremely unlikely for there to be a restaurant in Slovenia that is as good as the best restaurants in NY or SF is that there simply isn’t a market for it. There may be a chef who is as talented as the chefs in those cities, but that’s not what the ratings are about. There is simply no way that anyone could afford to recruit the staff and match the level of service at the top Michelin restaurants when customers can’t/won’t pay the prices required to make that model viable.

It’s because of this that the Michelin guides are actually more plausible than if you tried to rate more accessible food globally. Like you couldn’t create a reliable guide of the best street food in LA or NYC, let alone the world, because it would be impossible for any reviewer to sample it all. But when someone is setting out to win Michelin stars, it’s pretty obvious.

[mousquet]

Yeah, that's some kind of nouvelle cuisine...

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

No thanks; I'm good.

telegraph

I don't like it either.
First off, it's overpriced. In nouvelle cuisine restaurants, they bring you huge plates with almost nothing in the middle. And it's expensive. Then you're like - wtf? is that a scam? I'm going to be hungry when I get out of this restaurant.
Second, they try so hard to look fancy that they end up being creepy. Someday, they'll serve you with raw shellfish. They'll bring them alive to you, then you'll have to kill and cook them by yourself.

In my country, the good old bouchons lyonnais are still some of the best references.


https://planete-appro.fr/bouchons-lyonnais/


https://thisislyon.fr/food-and-drink...-is-a-bouchon/

This is cheaper than cuisine nouvelle and far more generous. When you get these things down into your stomach, you're satisfied and no longer hungry. You might even need to take a little nap to digest it.
I like it very much. In fact, everybody likes it.

[10023]

Clearly these restaurants, this entire category of cuisine, are not for some of you. You can leave it at that and stop posting photos of food from your local cheap restaurants.

[ocman]

Originally Posted by homebucket

From what I understand, these lists are historically biased towards French cuisine and technique, "new" American, and Japanese cuisines. It's good to see that there are other ethnic cuisines that are starting be recognized as "elevated".

Doesn’t really disprove the point. These restaurants are still "elevated" through French technique and kaiseki/french presentation and format. It’s a western/eurocentric standard judging on their own terms. My issue with Pellegrino is that it's so trend following, restaurants falling in and out of fashion depending on whether foam and a bubble of bacon air is in or out, or it’s the year of flowers on a plate; and certain cities becoming the new darling.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by 10023

Clearly these restaurants, this entire category of cuisine, are not for some of you. You can leave it at that and stop posting photos of food from your local cheap restaurants.

Have you tried “Sans Noblesse” in Hampstead Heath? The chef there, a certain Mister Snawb, does the most perfect Steak and Kidney Confection in Phyllo Pie…

[Manitopiaaa]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

...I'm already salivating.

You'll be salivating out of hunger after you eat it too, cause that's like 30 calories for $200.

I can't imagine going to these pretentious places. NYT recently tore one to shreds. It made me smile: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/d...ant-based.html

[ocman]

NYT also had the balls to rightfully tear apart Peter Luger and Per Se for riding on their past laurels. But the point of these small plates is that you’re going through 12 or something courses. If you leave hungry, that’s not a sign of a great restaurant at the $200 tasting menu level.