The ultimate list
Tonight, in Paris, the glamorous reception halls of the French Foreign Ministry at 37 Quai d'Orsay will sparkle with elegance. The special occasion is the annual award ceremony and gala dinner of La Liste, a leading world restaurant rating system, which describes itself as the ultimate list of lists. This is where the world’s most famous chefs gather, restaurant critics and gastronomy writers mingle, public relations cards are exchanged, and the chatter of the gastronomy world accompanies the clinking of glasses, with champagne flowing freely. It is all about fine gusto and excellence in gastronomy. This glorious night has two major hosts, both from diplomatic circles. One host is Jean-Noël Barrot, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs; the other is Philippe Faure, a senior diplomat, Ambassador of France, and the founder and president of La Liste, the organization hosting the award. They will both be hosting this great gathering of gastronomy world for the announcement of the 2025 list of La Liste which grades the best of the best 1,000 restaurants from around the world. The award ceremony also announces a series of special awards dedicated to certain merits such as hidden gems, new exciting openings, innovation and game-changer categories, local & international selections in various themes, and of course last but not least, the annual award of honor, which last year went to Bernard Pacaud of L’Ambrosie for the recognition of his lifetime achievement. When excitement climaxes in the ceremony, everybody is ready to move to the gala dinner honoring the awarded chefs. Another spectacular classy Parisian night is engraved in memories.
Complex algorithm
La Liste was founded in 2015 and describes itself as a final list created by an algorithm that monitors all restaurant rating systems. The method is quite complex. The system is built on an extensive database that needs to be supported by constant research and updating. Some 1070 reference sources are scrutinized, ranging from food columns in leading magazines and newspapers to review and rating systems such as Tripadvisor, Zomato, Foursquare, Google Reviews and, most importantly, other serious restaurant guides such as the Michelin Guide. Meanwhile, the system also watches regional country-based awards, such as the James Beard Awards in the U.S. The creators and team of La Liste have a strong background in such guides and rating systems, just a peek at the team proves that. La Liste founder Philippe Faure once used to be the director of the Gault & Millau guide, and his managing director, Hélène Pietrini, happens to be the former director of the rival 50 Best list. In a sense, the La Liste team has created the algorithm with its very own executive staff. It seems to be unreal, but somehow, they managed to get on their radar about 40,000 restaurants in 200 countries, eventually listing the best 1,000 restaurants by scoring them over 100 points. It is a known fact that no one ever gets the full points, and it should be noted that only restaurants with over 75 points can be included in the list.
Global approach
There have been certain criticisms that La Liste is very French-oriented that came up in the past. The source of this perception might be because of the venue of the award ceremony under the auspices of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but a quick look at the lists will reveal the facts. Contrary to this prejudice, in the 2024 list, Guy Savoy from France ranked third, behind Le Bernardin from New York and L’Enclume-Simon Rogan from Britain. Only two of the seven restaurants with the highest score of 99.50 were French. Additionally, La Liste also compiles country-based or geography-based regional lists. Actually, we see that all global restaurant rating systems or award lists are now preparing region or country-specific lists. This is also true for La Liste, which comes naturally with its very foundation. Faure has previously served as an ambassador in countries like Japan, Mexico and Morocco. La Liste has already created special lists for Japan and Morocco, and it's not limited to just these countries — China and Korea are also emerging strongly. Hopefully, they may even have Türkiye in their future agenda. Previously, a special list was created for the Mediterranean, and the awards were presented in Monaco, where Turkish chefs who assisted during the disastrous 2023 earthquake in Türkiye were honored for their humanitarian efforts in providing food to those in need. The regional lists keep expanding with Africa in focus for the time being, surely the ultimate list will eventually cover the whole globe.
Theme-specific award goes to Antalya
Geography is not the only criterion for such lists. We see that subject differentiations are now on the agenda of all lists. As a matter of fact, La Liste already has a global “Pastry” category every year, and announces these awards at a separate al-fresco summer party, of course again in Paris. The special awards categories keep expanding from year to year, ranging from new outstanding places and secret discoveries to oldies and goodies, authentic and traditional places. Rumor has it that, Türkiye might be making a surprise this year in this very latter category. It is expected that 7 Mehmet restaurant from Antalya will receive the "Artisan & Authenticity Award" in the traditional restaurant category, sponsored by Banque Transatlantique. This award highlights craftsmanship that preserves authentic values, and owner/chef Mehmet Akdağ is anticipated to shine at the award ceremony. This category is dedicated to restaurants and chefs promoting the culinary heritage of a region or country through technique, creativity, and sourcing the local produce. Proud to have translated the 7 Mehmet Restaurant cookbook into English, I am familiar with every detail of their three-generation history, and I must say that this award is truly well-deserved. I can't help but feel I may have added a pinch of salt to this when I attended the Monaco ceremony for the Mediterranean awards in 2023. At that event, I presented the freshly printed English edition of the 7 Mehmet cookbook to dear Hélène Pietrini, which might have put 7 Mehmet on La Liste's radar. If that's the case, I couldn’t be prouder of my small contribution to the recipe for success!
