Great piece in the NYT (gift link) about how the ‘best restaurants in the world’ lists came to be dominated by ridiculously indulgent, unattainable experiences. Some of these places sound just ridiculous:

…the list is dominated by places that normal people can’t get into, where the few diners who will go to almost any length for reservations will go home feeling bloated and drunk. They are not restaurants, or not just restaurants. They are endurance tests, theatrical spectacles, monuments to ego and — the two most frightening words in dining — “immersive experiences.”

I’ve had more than my fair share of fancy meals (thanks to my job. I grew up in a house where salt and pepper was the full extent of seasoning). My food philosophy is that there’s no ingredient I don’t like, it’s the preparation of it that doesn’t appeal, and you should always try something if it comes from a trustworthy source. I’m not sure that would hold at places like this:

Brains are big in other restaurants on the list. Rasmus Munk, chef of the eighth-best restaurant in the world, Alchemist, in Copenhagen, pipes a mousse of lamb brains and foie gras into a bleached lamb skull, then garnishes it with ants and roasted mealworms. Another of the 50 or so courses — the restaurant calls them “impressions”— lurks inside the cavity of a realistic, life-size model of a man’s head with the top of the cranium removed.

Does any of that sound appealing? How does this list get made?

On the subject of what it takes to win the attention of the 1,080 “independent experts” who make up the organization’s voting body, the website has this to say: “What constitutes ‘best’ is up to each voter to decide — as everyone’s tastes are different, so is everyone’s idea of what constitutes a great restaurant experience. Of course, the quality of food is going to be central, as is the service — but the style of both, the surroundings, atmosphere and indeed the price level are each more or less important for each different individual.”

Sure. I know meaningless jargon when I see it. The article is a fun read, check it out.

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