Anti-World’s 50 Best Restaurants event being mobilised for next year

NEW YORK, Nov 30 — A new anti-World’s 50 Best Restaurants is being organised to counter what’s described as the “arbitrary pop chart approach” of one of the most influential rankings in the world of high gastronomy.

Set to launch next spring — around the same time that the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards are normally held — another event with a conspicuously similar name, The World Restaurant Awards, will make its debut, this time in Paris.

In a clear dig at the event created by the UK-based industry publication Restaurant magazine, organisers of The World Restaurant Awards describe their version as a return to the traditional idea of categories judged with “robust integrity”.

“With the highest production values The World Restaurant Awards will be so much more than an invitation-only, glossy event for industry insiders,” reads the website.

“It will be packaged for general consumption as a must-watch broadcast for a restaurant-hungry public, one that’s increasingly obsessed with eating, drinking and travel.”

The event has the backing of global event management company IMG, which organises everything from the Miss Universe pageant, Ultimate Fighting Championship and the EuroCup.

It’s worth noting that organisers of The World Restaurant Awards have a long history with their declared rival: Andrea Petrini is the former regional France chairman for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and an influential food figure who runs in the highest circles of world gastronomy. Briton Joe Warwick is likewise the co-founder of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.

For perspective, it’s not the first anti-World’s 50 Best to be organised as a backlash response to the ranking, which has been criticised for being overly Euro-centric, questionably opaque, heavily sponsored, and predictable.

Yesterday, France-based La Liste, which pitched itself as the more authoritative ranking when it launched in 2015, named Guy Savoy restaurant in Paris the No. 1 restaurant on their top 1,000 restaurants ranking.

La Liste uses a mathematical algorithm that aggregates scores and reviews from 400 international guidebooks and online review sites to rank the world’s fine dining destinations.

Overall, Japan and China dominate the 2017 list with 138 and 123 addresses respectively.

The World Restaurant Awards is set to be held in May in Paris. — AFP-Relaxnews

from Malay Mail Online | Eat/Drink http://ift.tt/2j1EefE
Source: The Malay Mail