New York has once again been crowned the world’s best dining destination by readers of private jet lifestyle magazine Elite Traveler.
The annual poll, now in its eighth year, saw 12 of New York’s restaurants named in the list and three in the top 10. It is the second year running that the Big Apple has had the highest number of entries, beating the fine-dining capital of the world, Paris, which has 10.
This year’s list sees a brand-new, and somewhat surprising champion, in Restaurant de L’Hôtel de Ville. Franck Giovannini’s Swiss establishment climbed all the way from its ninth position in 2018 to steal top spot from six-time winner Alinea.
Leading the charge for New York is Daniel Humm’s Eleven Madison Park, which once again finishes in third position. The two other New York restaurants in the top 10 are Thomas Keller’s Per Se in sixth place and Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin in ninth.
New York’s dominance over the list has slightly decreased from 2018, and this has in turn dropped the percentage of US establishments to 26 percent (down from 28 percent last year).
Other than the US’s slight drop, the top performing countries remain consistent. France (18), Spain (eight), Italy (seven) and the UK (seven) all follow in number of restaurants featured, with Germany climbing to join their ranks with six.
There are four new entries this year including British fine-dining restaurant Core by Clare Smyth, which storms in at number 50. It is joined by Vladimir Mukhin’s White Rabbit (84), Jan Hartwig’s Atelier (94) and Virgilio Martínez’s Central (99).
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award was received by Guy Savoy (pictured). The legendary French chef was joined by his compatriot Anne Sophie-Pic, who was awarded the coveted Chef of the Year title. Finally, the aforementioned Muhkin was named the Rising Star of the Year for his excellent work at White Rabbit in Moscow, Russia.
The top 10 in the Elite Traveler Top 100 Restaurants
- Restaurant de L’Hôtel de Ville, Crissier, Switzerland
- Alinea, Chicago
- Eleven Madison Park, New York
- Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy
- Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Spain
- Per Se, New York
- The Restaurant at Meadowood, St Helena, California
- Restaurant Guy Savoy, Paris
- Le Bernardin, New York
- El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain
