LONDON, March 13 — Influential restaurant dining blog Opinionated About Dining will release its picks of the top 100 restaurants in Europe 2018 at a gala event in London on April 23.

Helmed by former music executive turned food blogger Steve Plotnicki, the OAD Fine Dining Survey claims to differentiate itself from other restaurant rankings — namely The World’s 50 Best Restaurants — by being the only system that weighs the amount of experience associated with contributing reviewers in the results.

In the lead-up to the gala event, which takes place at the Great Hall, Royal Hospital Chelsea, a series of pop-up dinners prepared by a long list of fine dining chefs from around the world is also being planned for London.

Kicking off the series is what promises to be an interesting mash-up dubbed "Japan meets Iceland,” in which Japanese chefs cook alongside some of Iceland’s rising star chefs.

They include Atsushi Tanaka of Restaurant A.T. in Paris and Kari Thorsteinsson of Dill restaurant in Reykjavik, the first restaurant in Iceland to be awarded a Michelin star.

Following the event, guests will dine on "The Great Roast” described as a gourmet version of a classic British roast dinner.

Participating chefs include Simon Rogan of Roganic and L’Enclume, Isaac McHale of the Clove Club, Bjorn Frantzen of Restaurant Frantzen in Stockholm (which just received Sweden’s first and only three Michelin stars last month) and Angel Leon of Aponiente.

Pricing for the dinners range from £200 to £350 (RM1,085.45 to RM1,897.59).

Last year, the list gave the top spot to French chef Alain Passard for his vegetable-centric restaurant L’Arpège in Paris. — AFP