Opinionated About Dining (OAD) has reveald its inaugural “Top 100 Classical & Heritage Restaurants” list with Michel Bras in Toya, Japan, claiming the #1 spot. The highly acclaimed list celebrates exemplary restaurants across the globe that are operated by chefs who have consistently served the same style of cuisine for the past twenty-five years.
Twelve countries are represented, but France dominates as the world’s top culinary powerhouse with 33 heritage restaurants occupying the list, followed by Italy boasting 15, and Germany with 10.
Located on the northernmost of Japan’s four major islands, Michel Bras looks over Lake Toya, one of the most scenic locations Japan has to offer. With Executive Chef Simone Cantafio at the helm, OAD reviewers hail the restaurant as, “a must-visit for those who want an exceptional dining experience in an equally exceptional location.” At number two, Troisgros, is as much of a culinary shrine as a fine-dining destination, and has impressively maintained its incredible reputation since the Troigros family opened the restaurant in 1957.
Hailing from Monte Carlo, Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV lands at the number three spot, followed by Régis et Jacques Marcon in St. Bonnet-les-Froids, France, and Michel Guérard’s Les Prés d’Eugénie in Eugénie les Bains, France at numbers four and five. Other countries that are represented in the Top 10 include dal Pescatore Canneto in Sull’Oglio, Italy at six, Baiersbronn Germany’s Schwarzwälder at seven, Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York City restaurant at number nine and Joël Robuchon Au Dôme in Macau, China rounds out the top ten.
OAD creator, Steve Plotnicki said, “OAD was founded in part because I felt that other dining guides did their clientele a disservice by not differentiating between traditional heritage restaurants and those trying to innovate. The OAD Top 100 Classic & Heritage list is a way to honor the chefs and restaurants whose cuisine has remained stylistically consistent for the past two and a half decades, while maintaining a long term commitment to excellence.”
To view the full list of CLASSICAL & HERITAGE RESTAURANTS, please click HERE.
Here are the first 20 of the TOP 100:
- Michel Bras – Toya, Japan
- Troisgros – Roanne, France
- Alain Ducasse – Louis XV – Monte Carlo, Monaco
- Régis et Jacques Marcon – St Bonnet-Le-Froid, France
- Michel Guérard – Eugénie les Bains, France
- Dal Pescatore – Canneto Sull’Oglio, Italy
- Schwarzwaldstube – Baiersbronn, Germany
- Per Se – New York, NY
- L’Ambroisie – Paris, France
- Robuchon Au Dôme – Macau, China
- French Laundry – Yountville, California
- Waldhotel Sonora – Dreis, Germany
- Château Restaurant Joël Robuchon – Tokyo, Japan
- L’Osier – Tokyo, Japan
- Relais Bernard Loiseau – Saulieu, France
- Cuisnine(s) Michel Troisgros – Tokyo, France
- Søllerød Kro – Holte, Denmark
- Le Duc – Paris, France
- Le Bernardin – New York, NY
- Pierre Gagnaire – Tokyo, Japan
About Opinionated About Dining
The OAD algorithm generates a ranking system that classifies restaurants based on the reviews of the membership community. Each member influences the results based on the number of restaurants he/she has visited and the current ranking of those restaurants. At the end of each rating year, restaurants are ranked using a combination of data including: the type of reviews they attract (from positive to negative); the level of reviewer who visited (the percentage of experienced and inexperienced reviewers), and whether the number of reviewers who visited that year is trending upward, downward, or holding steady. By using this method, OAD eliminates a dilution of results experienced in other voting systems that are based on surveys, while at the same time offering everyone an opportunity to participate. The resulting list reflects the combined expertise of a community that is dedicated to the dining experience, versus the collective view of the average diner, or the subjective rating by a restaurant critic.
About Steve Plotnicki
Plotnicki’s passion for food has long been an intrinsic part of his life, if not always his career. A native New Yorker, he was a successful guitarist and songwriter before co-founding Profile Records in 1981. In 2003, he launched a discussion forum, which morphed into his “Opinionated About Dining” blog, a project that established him as one of the most prolific early food bloggers. Initially conceived as a way to share information about his dining experiences with other enthusiasts, “Opinionated About Dining” continued to evolve and attract readers. In 2007, Plotnicki developed a formal survey for readers and fellow diners and published a 56-page booklet in 2008 featuring the 100 best restaurants in North America and Europe. Since then, Plotnicki has further refined the survey process authored and published Opinionated About U.S. Restaurants in 2011, and continually publishes the rankings of the top heritage restaurants around the world.
