A Guide To The World's Best Fine Dining Restaurants


Education & Individuality
Peter Lyon, a contributor at Forbes' website, spoke to Japan’s foremost food critic, Masuhiro Yamamoto. "What’s most important in any restaurant is, without doubt, the chef. “More than 80% of the French chefs that get 3-stars are geniuses. In fact, if you’re not a genius, then you cannot get 3-stars,” he nods. "In French schools, students are strongly encouraged to raise their hands, ask questions, give their opinions and are told not to copy others. In Japan, individuality and uniqueness are not pushed, and conformity has a higher priority than creativity. The French have an education system that is set up to seemingly create more genius chefs than most other countries." It’s the French education system which promotes uniqueness and creativity that drives the French to pioneer such evolutionary new food culture using new ingredients. “Without this strong sense of individuality and creativity, chefs would not receive 3-stars. When you look at the cuisine prepared by a 3-star chef, you ask yourself, ‘where does this chef get the idea for such an inspired dish?’ It’s because no normal person could conceive of such dishes that I call them geniuses.” 


Source: Who Really Dominates The Michelin Guide? The French Or Japanese? (2019). Peter Lyon. Retrieved from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterlyon/2019/05/29/for-all-the-foodies-todays-michelin-guide-as-seen-from-its-highest-star-rated-country-japan/?sh=15378b1e4f8a

 The Michelin Guide
France is the birthplace of this very important impact in the world of gourmet dining. France became a leader in fine dining thanks to the guide's emphasis on praising and rating dining excellence.

Elevating the Interior Design & Tabletop
Early on, the French recognized the significance of the 'whole' dining experience, which included meticulous attention to the interior setting and tabletop. It was a natural progression from some of Western history's most famous furniture and interiors by the extravagant 'Louis' kings and their architects and designers to fine dining restaurants. Baccarat crystal, Christofle silver, and Limoges china from France helped pave the way for some of the world's most elegant table 'accoutrements'.

 French Cuisine the Most Important Cuisine in the World?
Chef Alain Ducasse: "Yes, for the techniques and codification of the rules, like 'solfège’ in music. There is the rule, and then, after, there is the creation. But the basis of French cuisine is the rule, written and ancient, that can be used in many other cuisines."

More Historical Reasons Why France

Is the Most Popular Fine Cuisine

France - The Epitome Of Aristocratic Sophistication
All European aristocrats were fluent in French and sought to emulate their culinary, fashion, literary, artistic, and architectural styles.

French Language 
Why was French a popular language and culture among European aristocrats in the 19th century? It was aided by a number of reasons: the language of diplomacy, the cultural influence of art, literature, and fashion, prestige and social distinction, and its precision and elegance.

Geographical Location
With its borders to Spain, Italy, England, and Germany, France is situated somewhat in the center of western Europe. This implies that a German and a Spaniard would probably not cross paths, but they would have a fair probability of running across someone who speaks French.

 Prestige

In England, French was the language of the nobility, because they were French since the Norman 'William the Conqueror' invaded in the 11th century. The Normans were speakers of the northern french that came to dominate. After conquering England, they kept the language. Normans were Christianized Vikings, but still Vikings. They set up principalities in Italy, Sicily, parts of the Byzantine Empire, and the Holy Land. This further spread French around. By 1200-1300 all central Europe nobles spoke French.


Why Was French Language And Culture Popular. (2014). Retrieved from:
https://www.reddit.com/r/history/comments/33jsvv/why_was_french_language_and_culture_popular/


Powerful Nation State
Powerful entities negotiate in their preferred language.

Population Size
French people made up 25% of all Europeans during the Middle Ages, and that number remained at 20% in the 17th century.

French Literature
Historically, you study French philosophy and literature if you want to be seen as intelligent. Descartes, Voltaire, Sartyr, Comte, and many other well-known figures can be found by searching for "French Philosophers"; this is a fairly impressive list for a single nation. France's long history as a liberal society contributed significantly to its status as a forward-thinking, progressive nation, which it still remains in many ways. Their revolution was also a result of this.

The Impact Of The French Revolution On Dining 
Following the French Revolution, there were significant changes in the culinary world in 1789. There were a lot of unemployed chefs and cooks looking for jobs after the nobility fell. Those who had previously only prepared meals for the wealthy and privileged were now starting their own eateries where the public could wine and eat. Everyone aspired to experience the hitherto unaffordable luxury of fine dining, rare wines, attentive service, and sophisticated settings. By 1804, the public in Paris could finally eat like kings and queens thanks to 500 restaurants that catered to their dreams.

Colonization
Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, the French expanded their culinary knowledge and cooking skills as they colonized various countries, including sections of Asia, Africa, North America, and the Caribbean. People like Antonin Carême and Brillat Savarin helped to refine and, more significantly, codify French cuisine at this time.  

How Lyon Became the French Capital of Food
Long regarded as a gateway between northern and southern Europe, Lyon is a city in southeast France that sits at the meeting point of the powerful Rhône and Saône rivers. Large volumes of products were transported along these waterways prior to the construction of highways and railroads. This was well known to the Romans as being essential to their wine trade. Centuries later, it was utilized by Italian traders to transport spices from the Orient to Lyon. A geographical center for agricultural products is Lyon. Fresh, in-season vegetables, wine, and olive oil produced in the valleys further south are combined with northern components, like Bresse chicken, Charolais cattle, and plenty of milk and butter, in its cuisine. Pig farms in the mountainous Monts du Lyonnais region to the west provide a plentiful supply of pork for Lyon's renowned charcuteries. The marshy Dombes region is home to snails, frogs, carp, crayfish, trout, and what are known as Burgundian oysters. The 'mothers of Lyon' come next. They were local women cooks who first worked for wealthy bourgeois families before opening their own eateries. The renowned Mère Brazier in Lyon is where several of the most significant chefs of the 20th century, such as Paul Bocuse and Ferdinand Point, received their training.

First Restaurants & Most Important Chefs
Francois Pierre La Varenne published the first French cookbook in 1651, titled Le Cuisinier Francois. This inspired many chefs to record their work.

The World’s First à La Carte Restaurant       
It all began in Paris in 1765 when a guy by the name of A. Boulanger set up shop and sold a variety of soups and broths. The nutritious value of the soups he sold inspired him to name his store a restaurant, which translates to "to restore" in French. The first dining establishment to offer a menu with a variety of foods was Boulanger's restaurant. This was the first à la carte restaurant in history; before Boulanger, patrons would eat whatever was served without having any other options. Following this initial establishment, menu-driven restaurants quickly expanded throughout Europe. They all, of course, adopted the name restaurant, which is today practically a given when referring to a dining business.


The Past And Future Of Fine Dining. Retrieved from:
https://chefin.com.au/blog/the-past-and-future-of-fine-dining/

The First Fine Dining Restaurant
The first fine dining restaurant in history, the opulent La Grande Taverne de Lourdes, opened its doors in Paris in 1782. The proprietor, Antoine Beauvilliers, is recognized for being the first to combine the four fundamentals of dining: excellent cooking, a sophisticated setting, a choice cellar, and astute waiters. These four fundamental ideas served as the foundation for all subsequent fine dining establishments.

Chef Felix Urbain-Dubois  
In 1869, he brought Russian table service to France. For the first time, the meal was portioned out on the plate and served to each visitor in a sequential and individual manner. Before then, several courses were presented on the table for visitors to help themselves and were served all at once. Even now, this custom is still essential to great dining. When European royal families began to lose influence in the late 1800s, the cooks who worked for them moved to restaurants and hotels. These chefs kept up the standard of quality that the royal family had previously demanded.

Escoffier
Escoffier is credited as being the father of haute cuisine. His motto of ‘keep it simple’ emphasized minimalism and focused on seasonal ingredients, less dishes served during a meal, and lighter sauces that didn’t overpower other flavours. He wrote the massively influential Le Guide Culinaire and shaped the entire profession of cooking. He introduced a new menu concept that is now used in fine dining restaurants all across the world: à la carte.


French Cooking: How and Why French Cuisine Came to Rule the World. (2021). Escoffier.edu- Blog. Retrieved from:
https://www.escoffier.edu/blog/world-food-drink/french-cooking-how-and-why-french-cuisine-came-to-rule-the-world/

 Paul Bocuse
Following World War II, Paul Bocuse worked as an apprentice for Mère Brazier. He later left a lasting impression on Lyon's food scene. In 1989, the Guide Gault Millau named him Chef of the Century. He has left his mark on ten restaurants, including seven in Lyon, his spiritual home, a hospitality school, and an international chef's competition. Bocuse is now well-known worldwide for his culinary empire, which contributed to Lyon's rise to prominence on the global scene. Like no other chef before him, he glamorized the status of chefs and drew them out from hiding in the kitchen.

 

The French People's Love Of Fine Cuisine
All civilizations are not created equal, and so too, are cuisines. The French have had many factors that led to their supremacy in fine dining. These factors include extravagant kings who were unleashed from money constraints and could indulge every whim and develop their fine cuisine and many other arts. The king's excess gave way to the people of France embracing this attitude and passion as best they could. This led to multi-course dinners using the superior ingredients that France had to offer. A high level of creativity also resulted from a significant scarcity of ingredients caused by numerous wars and civil upheavals of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Culinary Giants
Almost all significant dates for fine dining history were established by French chefs and authors (see 'Historical Milestones' section)

Invented Cooking Techniques and Styles
These include mise en place, saute, braise, confit and flambe. Haute or high cuisine began in the mid-19th century when Chef Auguste Escoffier started it. It emphasized smaller portions and more elegant presentations in multiple courses. Nouvelle, or new cuisine, started becoming popular in the 1970s in France that emphasized progressive and lighter offerings.

Superior Ingredients  
Another area of French cuisine that differentiates it from others is the use of high-quality ingredients. This is because they enjoy an ideal geographic location for some of the world's best ingredients, including wines, cheeses, butter, breads, mustards, oils, herbs, truffles, and fish.

More Complex Dishes
The menu of a French-style 3-star shows more daring and skillfulness than the many inflexible and repetitive sushi dishes of a Japanese 3-star. Danish and Scandanavian restaurants have a lot of 'easier to prepare' cold food dishes that the WorldsTop50 list and others have overly hyped. But, again, the level of skill necessary to execute these dishes is typically below their French counterparts.

Elevating the Interior Design & Tabletop
The French also understood the importance of the 'whole' dining experience early on, including going to great lengths for the interior setting and tabletop. It was a natural progression from some of the most famous furniture and interiors in western history by the extravagant 'Louis' kings and their architects and designers to fine dining restaurants. Baccarat crystal, Christofle silver, and Limoge china from France helped lead the way for some of the most elegant table 'accoutrements ' in the world. (see the King's private table at the Palace of Versailles below)