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FOOD AND DRINK

French restaurants fail to make world’s top ten list

France may be renowned for its haute-cuisine but once again not a single eatery in the country made the top 10 of the world’s best restaurants as designated in a much-vaunted annual global survey. But a handful did make it into the top 50. Find out which ones.

French restaurants fail to make world's top ten list
French diners again failed to make it into the top 10 of the 'world's best restaurant' rankings. Photo: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

France may be synonymous with food in the world's consciousness, but it just can’t seem to crack the top 10 in Britain's Restaurant magazine’s The World's 50 Best Restaurants global ranking.

The first French name you’ll see in this year’s ranking pops in at number 11 with Mirazur in the French Riviera town of Menton. The good news is that Mirazur has shot up the rankings after the restaurant came in at 28 on 2013’s list.

“Mirazur leaps 17 places to rest tantalizingly close to the top 10 on the 2014 list, a reflection of the considerable evolution of Mauro Colagreco’s cuisine over the past few years,” according to Restaurant’s write up. “A near-obsessive approach to ingredients saw the Argentine-born Colagreco become the first ever non-French chef to be named “revelation of the year” in the influential Gault Millau guide.”

France also notched four other spots in the top 50, (one less than last year) which include Alain Passard’s L'Arpège in Paris (25th place), Le Chateaubriand (27th), Joel Robuchon’s L'Atelier Saint-Germain (31st) and Pascal Barbot’s L'Astrance (38th) all situated in the French capital. These names all featured in last year's World's 50 Best Restaurant rankings (see gallery below).

The global crown this year, as it has in four of the past five years, went to Noma which is in the Danish capital city Copenhagen.

“In the past year or so, the restaurant has been transformed once again with a fresh approach and energy. Its renewed confidence is based on greater knowledge and considered experimentation, rather than the intuition and raw discovery of its earlier period," the reviewers wrote.   

Here are the others that made the world's top 10:

2. El Celler de Can Roca: Gerona, Spain

3. Osteria Francescana: Modena, Italy

4. Eleven Madison Park: New York City, US

5. Dinner Heston Blumenthal: London, UK

6. Mugaritz: Saint Sebastian, Spain

7. D.O.M.: Sao Paulo, Brazil

8. Arzak: Saint Sebastian, Spain

9. Alinea: Chicago, US

10. The Ledbury: London, UK

Restaurant magazine's rankings are regularly criticized in France, which is home to the world renowned Michelin guide that ranks the country’s best eateries, French daily Le Monde reported.

The list, which is done in conjunction with water brand San Pellegrino, is seen as being being carried out with a dubious methodology and influenced by the whims of the corporate food industry.

However, even the critics recognize the hefty impact the rankings have on sales and prestige.

In terms of process, the restaurants are chosen by some 900 chefs and food critics around the globe. Each one can vote for seven restaurants, at which they must have eaten within the past 18 months. The voters simply rank their favorites in descending order. 

Here's France's best restos on the 2013 Restaurant rankings

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FOOD AND DRINK

Cheese in numbers: France’s obsession with fromage

From cheese types to the amount eaten per year, via cheese favourites - here's a look at how France really feels about fromage.

Cheese in numbers: France’s obsession with fromage

March 27th is the Journée nationale du fromage in France – so here are a few facts about the delicious dairy delicacy.

246

Charles de Gaulle famously once asked of governing France: “How can anyone govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?”.

His numbers were wrong. Producers in France make closer to 1,000 varieties of cheese – and some have estimated that figure could be pushed up as high as 1,600.

8

The number of cheese ‘families’ in France. A good cheeseboard in France is generally considered to consist of at least three ‘families’ – a soft cheese, a hard cheese and either a blue or a goat’s cheese. Remember, too, an odd number of fromages on a platter is better than an even number, according from cheese etiquettists

READ ALSO France Facts: There are eight cheese families in France

2.5

About how long – in years – it would take you to try every cheese made in France, if you tried a new variety every day. Life goals. 

95

The percentage of people in France who say they eat cheese at least once a week, spending seven percent of their weekly food bill on it.

READ ALSO Best Briehaviour: Your guide to French cheese etiquette

40

Two-fifths of French people say they eat cheese every day

57

The amount of cheese produced, in kilogrammes, in France every second, according to this website, which has a counter to show you how fast that really is. It’s estimated that 1.8 million tonnes of cheese are produced in France every year.

27

The French consume, on average, a whopping 27 kilogrammes of cheese per person per year.

READ ALSO Fonduegate: Why customer service is different in France

3

The three most popular cheeses in France, based on sales, are Emmental, Camembert, and Raclette – followed by mozzarella, goat’s cheese, Comté and Coulommiers.

63

Some 63 cheeses have been awarded the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée status, which means they can only be produced in a certain region.

1

France has – or at least soon will have – one dedicated cheese museum. 

READ ALSO Three things to know about the new Paris cheese museum

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