World's 50 Best Restaurants. Understanding Tastebuds, Critics & More
Bowles gushes about ABC Kitchen. Grace hates — really hates — July. Jay Rayner hates Gaia. And Andy Hayler leans into Kioku.
Good morning! You might have spotted on Instagram that I’m in California at the moment, so just a short update this week.
Don’t miss this week’s review on Wednesday. After swearing I wouldn’t, I decided to try the Arlington, and had a surprising reaction.
London Scores 2 of 50 Best in the World
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2024 were released on Wednesday. Two London restaurants made the cut:
Kol, one-star Mexican in Mayfair, at #17
Ikoyi, two-star West African in Aldwych, at #42
The list of restaurants ranking 51-100 was released the week before and included five more London places:
Brat, one-star Spanish in Shoreditch, at #65
The Clove Club, two-star “innovative British” in Shoreditch, at #80
Lyle’s, one-star British in Shoreditch, at #87
Mountain, one-star modern European in Soho, at #94
Core by Clare Smyth, three-star fine dining in Notting Hill, at #97
I think it’s odd that there are no UK restaurants outside of London in the top 100. And as much as I love Kol, there’s no way it’s better than Core. Sorry.
Disfrutar, powered by El Buli alums, in Barcelona was named the world’s best restaurant.
This is a slightly controversial list. Noma dominated it for a while, and the rules were changed to prevent repeat winners. It’s a project of the publisher behind UK-trade magazine Restaurant, and emphasises its “panel of 1,080 culinary experts, as well as its structured and audited voting procedure.”
Still, it’s a fun scorecard. I’ve been to 5 of the top 50, and 9 of the top 100.
Understanding Tastebuds Better
For all of the ingredients consumed to make great food and the words spilled here and elsewhere to describe it, taste comes down to nerve endings, mostly on your tongue. (Smell is essential taste, as well.) And those nerve endings — taste buds, as we have come to call them — come in five forms: sweet, salt, sour, bitter, and umami.
That bit we understand pretty well. but a lot of other stuff relating to tastebuds? Not so much.
Here’s an amazing story from The New York Times about how we misunderstand our own tastebuds, thanks to a chart that was created in 1901. “The scientist was not suggesting that various tastes are segregated on the tongue. He was actually measuring the sensitivity of different areas.”
A big hat tip to
for featuring this in his excellent daily newsletter.Set Lunches Galore
The trend of great restaurants creating interesting, affordable, and often quick set-lunch options continues to gather pace, and Hot Dinners has done a listicle of some of the best around. I mentioned Brooklands when I reviewed it, but from this list, Fallow, Hide, and Pollen Street Social also stand out as interesting options.
Critics Wrap Up
Tom Parker Bowles (Mail on Sunday) gushes about ABC Kitchens, the new high-end spot from Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten in the Emory Hotel in Knightsbridge. I’m skeptical of chefs who seem to license their names to hotels in every far-flung corner of the world, but Bowles reports that “as ever with Vongerichten, he makes the best of local and seasonal ingredients, wherever he is.” I wonder who the “he” really is behind the food, but whoever it is, they seem to be doing a good job. “Comfort food deluxe, and part of a menu that sates every whim and desire.”
Giles Coren (Times) reviews the London Shell Co. in Hampstead and declares it “the best restaurant in the world,” but is mostly joking about his recent predilection of declaring things the best.
William Sitwell (Telegraph) visits new Japanese spot Evernight in Battersea / Nine Elms. “Evernight is an intriguing, complex and thought-provoking place which, after considerable pondering … I’m unable to offer up anything but great respect for it.”
Grace Dent (Guardian) goes to July, a place that has been in everyone’s “Hottest New Restaurants Opening in May” lists, and hates it. “Joyful memories and great connections were definitely created that night, just not in Dumas and Oschmann’s restaurant, where I sat wondering where our other half a chicken had gone and why my crepe was cold.”
David Ellis (Standard) tries the Counter in Soho, a new branch of the Notting Hill original, and hates it. “Sharing the name seems an insult to the first-born.” Ouch.
Jay Rayner (Observer) checks out Gaia in Mayfair and hates it. “Why did I go? Partly, because it’s intriguing to see whether there is a significantly elevated version of traditional dishes (spoiler: there isn’t) and partly because to point and laugh at stupid things, you must first pay for the stupid things.”
Andy Hayler (independent critic) is the first critic to report on Endo Kazutoshi’s new place in the Old War Office building (which I’m supposed to call OWO). The restaurant is called Kioku, and Andy gave it one his highest scores lately. “Kioku was already packed out just days after opening, and doubtless, it will continue to prosper.”
Gavin Hanly (Hot Dinners) checks out The Cocochine in Mayfair. “The Cocochine is a beautifully-designed restaurant, top to bottom and chef Larry Jayasekara and his team are serving up some of London's best fine dining food.”
Christina (LOTI) revisits Alex Dilling at the Hotel Cafe Royal. “If you’ve got the budget for a special meal that’s going to leave you impressed, rather than scratching your head and trying to work out whether you actually like what you’ve eaten, Alex Dilling is the restaurant for you.”
Nick Lander (jancisrobinson.com) has a guide to eating out in Corfu. Charlotte Ivers (Sunday Times) was in Dorset. Tim Hayward (FT) reviews two spots, having “resolved, after a lifetime of carefully nurtured prejudice, to bury my innate enmity for Devon.”
Thanks for reading. Hope you’ve got plans for lots of interesting lunches over the next few weeks. Please subscribe if you haven’t already. Thanks!