TWIGS AND BARK, REJECTED: The Roskilde-sickness-inflicting New Nordic restaurant Noma has been dethroned from its three year reign as Greatest Restaurant in the World According To Restaurant Magazine, bumped down to number two in favor of El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, whose standout dish is described as "Charcoal-grilled king prawn, king-prawn sand, ink rocks, fried legs, head juice and king prawn essence."
The Red, White, and Blue is represented in the top 50 by Eleven Madison Park (NYC - 5), Per Se (NYC - 11), Alinea (Chicago - 15), Le Bernardin (NYC - 19), Daniel (NYC - 29), and French Laundry (Yountville - 47).
What explains the difference between French Laundry and Per Se. As I am led to understand, they do -- more or less -- the same thing under the same leadership, training, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteI've eaten some final meals in my life, but I still think the single best meal I ever had was on the Yurok Reservation when I was in the midst of a lawsuit over the Klamath River. 3/4 pound salmon filets -- caught about an hour before they went on the fire -- cooked on a redwood plank over an open fire. I ate two of them. They were perfection.
ReplyDeleteI have never ever understood the appeal of Le Bernardin.
ReplyDeleteDitto. I've eaten there twice and both meals were decidedly mediocre.
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