slightly OT and LONG: Dinner at Manresa

Thanks for report. I quite enjoyed Kinch's cooking when he visited the James Beard House.

The Pierre Peters BdB is probably my current favorite NV Champagne (Ian, this is the one I served at dinner at my place). Very good stuff.

Salut/Hi Mark Lipton,

le/on Fri, 22 Apr 2005 00:15:13 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

Would this be an appropriate moment to point out that in that list, with 4 out of the top 10 and 14 out of the top 50, Britain beat both France and the USA for top restaurants, especially as the #1 spot has gone to "The Fat Duck" at Bray.

One in the eye for those I've seen recently here who knock food in the UK.

Of course, that the publication doing the ranking is UK-based will be used to undermine such observations by the less-charitably minded among us (heaven forefend! not by me). I do find it disturbing that the list manages to almost completely overlook the restaurants of East Asia (e.g.), but then again how seriously should we ever take such a list as this? It's just one step from that to the WS's annual "Top 100," about which we all have weighed in at one time or another.

It would have been interesting had you visited Manresa after your meal at the FL. I am reasonably sure that you would prefer the FL, but it's a question of two radically different approaches to fine dining by two extremely gifted chefs. Oh, well...

Mark Lipton

Not "food *IN* the UK" but "British food". Do you see the difference?

Dimitri

There's nothing wrong with food in the UK as long as it's from an Asian restaurant. ;^)

S moT

Well Ian, in all fairness this is a UK magazine doing the rating, so bias may come into the picture. Yes, I know that you can eat very well indeed in the UK, but some of the ratings seem strange. I love St John, but I would never imagine it to be in the top 50 in the world, way above Troisgros or Gambero Rosso who barely made it into the list. It just smacks of poor judgement, or just plain bias.

Besides, these lsits only engender the kind of reaction that one expects, such as "The UK has better food than France" (remember "Sassicaia is the best wine in the world, better than Petrus" ?).

For anyone touring the UK I would suggest buying Rick Stein's guide, it covers restaurants, markets, shops, farms and is a jewel of a book. Now THAT book is a lot more convincing than this top 50 thing. This is a better vision of food in Britain, far more interesting than the endless TV shows about the top-flight obnoxious british chef that is even more arrogant than Bocuse.

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Ian,

I haven't eaten in London, so can't comment on restaurants. Certainly London has gained a rep as a hot spot for chefs since mid-90s. But......this list is ludicrous.So there are 14 UK restaurants better than anything in Tokyo? Beyond obvious UK bias, let's look at NYC. WD-50 but no Le Bernadin? You have got to be #$%@ing kidding. Gramercy Tavern is the most dependable dining experience in NYC, but 15th best in the world? Masa has no track record- what % of voters do you think have actually eaten there? This list reads like a list of most press citations, not best restaurants.

This doesn't detract from British dining- from what I've read, Fat Duck is extraordinary. But this list really proves nothing.

Le Jardin des Sens number 33? If you like bad arrogant service, this is the place to go.

La Tour d'Argent? Robuchon? How old is this list?

A fabulous place like Troisgros at the bottom of the list?

Where is Regis Marcon?

Marc Veyrat I have not tried but everyone that has been there unanimously claims there is no better place to eat in the world. And it is number 46?

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Professionals here in Oslo have been ridiculing this British list, I read only today. Oslo has got no restaurants in it - but does own a number of Bocuse d'Or winners... Anders

Sounds like the list emulates Marvin Shanken's Wine Spectator Great Restaurant List in that it parrots the usual suspects as hyped in culinary magazines.

Also, there is a certain arrogance in declaring the list of the "50 top in the world". Could they not have called it "our favourite 50, among those that we know" ?

Could have been worse, they could have given a score from 50 to 100...

;-)

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Salut/Hi Mark Lipton,

le/on Fri, 22 Apr 2005 17:17:52 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

Fortunately for me, I'm already on record as saying the same thing a couple of days ago!

the restaurants of East Asia

So do I. In fact I've long felt that there's a franco-centred arrogance amongst those journalistsa who pronounce on excellence.

It would indeed. However there's a limit to what this mere human belly - and purse can withstand!

That said, I have as little desire to visit the Fat Duck as El Bulli, from what I've seen of both.

Salut/Hi D. Gerasimatos,

le/on Sat, 23 Apr 2005 01:28:04 +0000 (UTC), tu disais/you said:-

You're surely not suggesting that all food served in these 14 chosen restaurants are from all nationalities except british?

A pity you let prejudice blind you to the facts.

With all due respect, this restaurant list sounds like a bit of a joke. From an Australian point of view, it lists Perry's "Rockpool" as the best Australian restaurant - it isn't by a LONG way; there are a number better in Melbourne and Sydney.

Ron Lel

Sorry, that should read one of the best in Australia - as I said , it isn't.

I am. I will also posit that the wine served is also not British.

What are the facts? My cookbook of traditional British recipes lists "Quiche Lorraine" and "Croque Monsieur". I will credit the British for recognizing good food when they see it, though.

Dimitri