Restaurants Recommended

Restaurant ratings by national and international organizations are usually annual announcements and cover restaurants throughout the world.  The restaurants chosen tend to be at the high end of the culinary arts and restaurant design.  We took a look at four organizations that produce these ratings: Michelin (1 and 2 Stars), Pellegrino/Restaurant Magazine, AAA Five Diamonds, Elite Traveler. Interestingly there is a unanimity of agreement on which restaurant qualify. 

We only cover the U.S. restaurants recommended.  So If you want to eat “high on the hog” as we say in the Midwest, here is an overview.

New York has the most restaurants mentioned (21), followed by San Francisco (10) and Chicago (8). 

Only three restaurants were named by all four ratings:  Alinea in Chicago, Daniel in New York., The French Laundry in Yountville California.  Each of the following were mentioned by three of the four:  Charlie Trotter’s (Chicago), Eleven Madison Park, Jean George, Le Bernardin, Masa, and Per Se (all in New York).

Three restaurants were chosen by two of the four ratings:  Marea and Momofuku Ko in New York and Coi in San Francisco.

Cuisines and Backgrounds of the Restaurants Chosen

Alinea – the cuisine can only be described as “Grant Achatz” (the owner).  He is constantly experimenting  with locally sourced foods.  The restaurant has probably received more discussion in the last few years than any restaurant in America

Charlie Trotter’s  - American Charlie Trotter has been the leader in locally sourced, organic foods in Chicago for 17 years.  He has trained many of the chefs in Chicago and elsewhere who have succeeded in following his philosophy.  Sadly, it was announced that the restaurant will close at the end of August.

Coi  - Contemporary California  Daniel Patterson is owner/chef.  He grows just about everything he uses. 

Daniel  - Daniel Boulud is an internationally renowned restaurateur.  The cuisine is French, Provençal reflecting his origins.

Eleven Madison Park  - Danny Meyer, New York-ubiquitous restaurateur developed the restaurant and recently turned it over to its Head Chef (Daniel Humm)  and General Manager (Will Guidara).  The cuisine is American, with French influences, reflecting Humm’s training.

Jean George   - French, American, Asian  Jean-Georges Vongerichten has 14 restaurants currently.  The flagship is Jean George in the Trump Hotel at Central Park West.

Le Bernardin  - Modern French, Seafood Eric Ripert has owned Le Bernardin since 1972.  It has been very highly regard, particularly for seafood since then.

Masa  - Japanese   Masa, the eponymously-named restaurant at Time Warner center was a hit from the moment it opened, because of the reputation of its owner.

Marea  - Italian Seafood – Another restaurant was a hit from the get-go, because of the reputation of its owner – Michel White, who owns two other New York restaurants

Momofuku Ko   - Asian, American – Talk about celebrity chefs!  David Chang has it all – three restaurant, television, books, media coverage

Per Se and The French Laundry –  American, French  Two of the leading restaurants in America are owned by the same person – Thomas Keller.  The French Laundry was founded in 1974.  In addition to superior cuisine, many chefs who trained there went on to head major restaurants. 

Rating Sources

The sources for the ratings for AAA and Michelin come from “professional inspectors” who continually cross the world rating hotels and restaurants. S. Pellegrino Awards, organized by

Restaurant Magazine reflects the opinions and experiences of over 800 international restaurant industry experts. 

Elite Traveler has “gathered the views of high net worth individuals” to produce their report.

Restaurants Ratings

Restaurant ratings are important sources of information for diners and important sources of business for restaurants.. Local media in most cities have professional restaurant critics who regularly report on their experiences.   

And of course there are the bloggers whose input usually comes from a one-off experience.  Woe betides the restaurant that suffers at their hands from a real or imagined negative experience.

For the first two months of 2012, 30 restaurants were added to the Restaurants Recommended market reports. Chicago was the leader with 10 added: 2 Sparrows, Acadia, Barrelhouse Flat, Butcher & the Burger, Goosefoot, Haymarket Pub & Brewery all with American cuisine.  Also added were Ruxbin (American, French, Asian) , Slurping Turtle and Yusho (Japanese) and Vera (Spanish).  The Chicago Market Reports now reports on 83 restaurants.

New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles each added four restaurants in January/February. In New York,  David Burke Kitchen and Kutsher's Tribeca (American);  Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria and Parm  (Italian) were added to make a total of 113 restaurants reported in Restaurants Recommended.  

The four places added in Washington DC feature four different cuisines:  Et Voila! (Belgian),  Ethiopic (Ethiopian), , R&R Taqueria (Mexican), The Inn at Little Washington (American).  Washington now reports on 42 restaurants.

Los Angeles added 3 American restaurants: A-Frame, Animal, ink and one Mexican - Antojitos Carmen to bring Los Angeles Restaurant Recommended total to 43.

Boston added three restaurants, all American cuisine: Island Creek Oyster Bar, Sweet Cheeks, The Salty Pig.  Boston’s Restaurants Recommended now reports on 42 restaurants

Dallas/Ft Worth has added two restaurants in 2012 - Company Cafe (American) and  Teppo Yakitori & Sushi Bar (Japanese). Restaurants Recommended now reports 46 Dallas/Ft Worth restaurants

Seattle has added Terra Plata (American) – total is now 50.  Atlanta added Toma (Japanese) – total is now 26.   Portland added  Olympic Provisions (American) – total is now 32. 

See the full market reports for all 10 markets by subscribing to the markets that are important to you.  Remember to check back often as s go on continually.

Restaurants Recommended is publishing reports for individual markets. Subscribers can access the file for their markets at any time.  Annual cost is $25 per market.

The files are d weekly, so information for new restaurants/new reviews is immediately available.

The markets currently available are: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Miami/So. Florida, New York, Portland OR, San Francisco/Bay Area, Seattle, Washington DC

Click on “Member Reports” for more information, a sample of the report and and the “Register” button.

The annual selection of The Ten Best New Restaurants in America by Alan Richman, the dining editor of Gentleman’s Quarterly has just been released.  Two restaurants were selected in Chicago and in Los Angeles.  New York, San Francisco, Portland O, Philadelphia, Nashville and Austin, each had one restaurant selection.

This selection is included in the citations of restaurants reviewed/rated in Restaurants Recommended.  The restaurants that were selected by GQ are noted in the RR Market Reports if they have a minimum of three mentions across all reviews/ratings used.

January 21, 2012

AAA restaurant ratings for 2012 have just been released.  Restaurants Recommended includes restaurants that achieve a 4 or 5 Diamond Rating, so long as the restaurants achieve the criterion of three positive ratings/reviews.  Information on the web site has been d to reflect any changes