Why spend $350 to $1000 per person for a meal at the very best restaurants? Will it change your life? How can it enrich your life? Will you discern and enjoy the differences to lesser restaurants to justify the high expense? It enriches life with an unforgettable experience for most. It could be a bucket list item for some or self-actualizing for professionals, fine dining connoisseurs, and others who are truly passionate about this. Everyone should go to the fascinating world of top fine dining restaurants at least once. One can find out what it is like and perhaps find an experience they might want to repeat. At a minimum, they have a story to tell for life and can relate with others if fine dining comes up in a conversation. Fine dining is about the very small details, scores of them. Many of these details will go unnoticed, like the intellectual argument the food is making (see Food- Understanding and Defining Quality Levels) . For novices, this website should raise your comfort level and knowledge when dining at one of these magical restaurants. For the professionals, it should offer insight into less familiar areas, including the rating guide reviews. This website and my book 'A Guide to the World's Top Fine Dining Restaurants' includes the areas below. The book goes into more detail in every chapter including an additional chapter with overviews of a top dozen restaurants in France and the United States that including prix fixe menu descriptions, where chefs apprenticed and a closer look at the interior design.
It has been said that French cuisine has been declining around the world. This book will empirically show that this is not the case. French cuisine is served at the majority of the top 162 fine-dining restaurants worldwide. This domination by French cuisine is further reflected in chapters on ranking the world's best chef training grounds, the world's 'best of the best' restaurant designs, and 33 of the top-rated fine cuisine cookbooks. Chapters in the book include:
- Ranking the world's best fine cuisines by country, including a list of the top 170 restaurants with ratings.
- Rating the best chefs in the world - includes the most important French chefs of the late 20th century. The profiles include their signature dishes which can be used to quickly rank which chefs are creating the dishes you most likely want to eat to aid in your selection process of where to dine next. Also, many profiles have an insightful and illuminating section, 'in their own words' comments.
- Ranking the world's best chef training grounds, including who trained who and who are the most prolific training chefs.
- Rating the best fine cuisine books - only the best make it to this list, focusing mainly on a restaurant's recipes from their menus. These ratings should be very helpful with your next restaurant cookbook purchase.
- Ranking the world's best fine dining restaurant design to help narrow down more quickly where to dine in a country.
- Tasting menus - an in-depth look at whether they are good or bad for the future of fine cuisine.
For novices, this book is meant primarily to be a reference guide for ratings of cuisines, chefs, and their cookbooks and best restaurant decor with chef profiles to improve your knowledge in these areas. For professionals, the book numerically shows how French cuisine dominates fine dining worldwide, and it is a reference guide for chef's profiles all in one place. Finally, it has a breakdown of which chefs trained the most top chefs over the last 50 years.
How The French Dominate
The World's Best Fine Cuisines;
Rating The Top 30 Restaurant
Designs & Chef's Cookbooks
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ENRICH YOUR LIFE WITH THE BEST FINE DINING
It has been said that "the epitome of human civilization is the fine dining tablecloth restaurant". Statements you might overhear after a 3-star dining experience - "it was orgasmic, a natural high…ephemeral… it was a magical experience that will not be forgotten….a bucket list item". The informative insight of this book is designed to reflect these aphorisms and thoughts, which include:
- The elements of fine dining explained, including behind the scenes, breaking down menus, decor, service, the intellectual argument for fine cuisine at this level and more
- The pros and cons of each restaurant review guide like Michelin and others, including food bloggers, with the preferred usages
- How did fine dining get here? The origins and chronology of the events and people (the nobles of fine cuisine) that made fine dining better and more meaningful
- Overviews of a top dozen restaurants in France and the United States that including prix fixe menu descriptions, where chefs apprenticed and a closer look at the interior design.
- Charts for the top-rated restaurants in France and the United States with rating comparisons of the different guides
- Points of interest including recommended books and hotels and etiquette
For novices, this book is meant to raise your comfort level and depth of knowledge when dining at one of these magical restaurants. For the professionals, it should offer insight into less familiar areas, including the rating guide reviews. When spending up to $1000 per couple at many of these restaurants, having a better understanding of the components of fine dining, while hopefully raising your comfort level, should make the experience of this fascinating world more meaningful, understandable, and life-enriching.
My Guidebook to the World's Top Fine Dining Restaurants
Les Crayères 'Restaurant Le Parc' in Reims, France
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Why Be Interested in The
'Crème de la Crème' of Fine Dining?
HOW DO THE FRENCH DOMINATE FINE CUISINE?
Also Consider This Reference Guide:
RATINGS & PROFILES OF THE WORLD'S 130 BEST CHEFS
The Elements of Top Fine Dining Restaurants - breaking fine dining down into its components. Determine your priorities for each element when choosing the restaurants you want to dine at next.
Where to Dine / Top Rating Guides Compared - an analysis and critique of the top restaurant rating guides with helpful charts of restaurant rankings by guide.
History / How Did Fine Dining Get Here? - including the historical chronology and why France has the finest cuisine and dining in the world?
More / Points Of Interest - highlights include my favorite hotels when traveling for fine dining and recommended fine dining books.
Some statements you might overhear from others in the rarefied air of a memorable top fine dining experience: "The experience borders on a religious event"… "I was so flabbergasted that I was left speechless"…"It was orgasmic, a natural high…ephemeral"… "It can be a magical experience you will not forgot. Some favorite aphorisms on dining include "The epitome of human civilization is the fine dining tablecloth restaurant."(Anonymous) and "Eating well is 50% of living well."(Anonymous). Some additional 'food for thought' from three fine dining giants I admire the most in culinary history:
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 1755-1826 was a French lawyer and politician, author of 'The Physiology of Taste', an epicure and gastronome. His personal aphorisms include:
"The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity than the discovery of a new star."
"Tell me what you eat: I will tell you what you are." ("You are what you eat")
Auguste Escoffier-1846-1935, the King of Chefs and Chef of Kings. One of his aphorisms includes:
"Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness."
Fernand Pointe, 1897-1955, the father of nouvelle cuisine (see chapter 4 - How Did Fine Dining Get Here? - Origins). His aphorisms include:
"There are many people who claim to be good cooks; just as there are many people who, after having repainted the garden gate take themselves to be painters."
"Perfection is lots of little things done well."
"I'm not hard to please, I'm content with the very best."
Finally, putting aside the pursuits of connoisseurs, the best fine dining has influenced lower-quality restaurants and home cooking. It has led to generally healthier and more exciting meals, contributing to better eating experiences for humanity.