I was JUST going to post this list.
Per Se at #10 is also Thomas Keller's restaurant in NY, although The French Laundry is where he made his name.
The trends for the top restaurants now are all molecular gastronomy, cutting edge, "food science" restaurants such as El Bulli, Alinea in Chicago, Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck, etc. Even as a young chef myself I can't get into these techniques where almost all of the fundamentals of cooking are gone....braising, clarifying a stock or sauce, reducing, etc, only to be replaced by liquid nitrogen, chemical compounds that react with food in a certain way just for the sake of creating something new.
I guess what I admire so much about Keller is he is using techniques that chefs have used for decades or centuries, and just executing it better than anyone ever has.
Per Se at #10 is also Thomas Keller's restaurant in NY, although The French Laundry is where he made his name.
The trends for the top restaurants now are all molecular gastronomy, cutting edge, "food science" restaurants such as El Bulli, Alinea in Chicago, Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck, etc. Even as a young chef myself I can't get into these techniques where almost all of the fundamentals of cooking are gone....braising, clarifying a stock or sauce, reducing, etc, only to be replaced by liquid nitrogen, chemical compounds that react with food in a certain way just for the sake of creating something new.
I guess what I admire so much about Keller is he is using techniques that chefs have used for decades or centuries, and just executing it better than anyone ever has.
Few years old but here's what you could expect with pictures:
http://www.tangmeister.com/alinea/
They do a 12 and a 24 course tasting menu, I believe prices are around the same as the French Laundry now, $250 per person. The food is different though, much more experimental and not for everyone.
hehehe not for me...just find me the place that has the best steak or banana pudding....anyone that wants to pay any of those prices for a meal you will just crap out in 24 hours are welcome to it..those will be the ones that one day look back when they are broke and say damn why did i spend that 500 bucks for a meal when i could have crock potted a good meal for about 8 dollars and ate for 3 days...
http://www.therxforum.com/showthread.php?t=567872&highlight=crock
http://www.therxforum.com/showthread.php?t=567872&highlight=crock
