NEW YORK, Oct 3 ― Hot on the heels of the Michelin awards, Zagat has released the results of its restaurant rankings for New York City, giving the top spot to French seafood eatery Le Bernardin for the fifth straight year in a row.
While the Michelin guide awards stars based on the reviews of individual inspectors, the crowd-sourced burgundy guide is based on the reviews of its readers. And according to diners in New York, French chef Eric Ripert’s “fine dining temple” is the gold standard in the city as it’s been able to maintain a stronghold on the top spot for the fifth year in a row with a score of 29 out of 30.
In addition to being named the best restaurant in New York, this year’s win marks Le Bernardin’s 12th overall victory in the category of Top Food, the most of any restaurant in the history of Zagat’s annual survey. It was also voted the most popular dining destination in the city.
Le Bernardin retained its three-star status in the latest Michelin guide for 2014.
In response to the double victory, Ripert took to Facebook to thank his team, posting an Instagram video of the restaurant staff celebrating.
“We are feeling overwhelmed at LB today... we are so thankful to the Michelin Guide (3 stars) and Zagat (top in food and popularity) for including us again this year. Maguy and I are so grateful to our entire LB family who work so hard each and every day and also to everyone who has shown us their support,” he wrote.
The Zagat ranking was compiled from the reviews of more than 48,100 diners who wrote about 2,000 restaurants.
Rounding out the top five restaurants in the food category are Bouley Restaurant, Per Se, Daniel and Eleven Madison Park.
The Zagat survey also includes the best restaurants for chicken, burgers, pizza, noodles, Mexican and Korean fare. On the latter, both Michelin inspectors and Zagat readers agreed that Jungsik offers the best Korean cuisine. The restaurant earned two stars in the Michelin guide, a first for the New York edition.
For the full Zagat results, visit http://bit.ly/1bqw2Oj. Readers can also download the guide on Android and iPhone.
Zagat’s 2014 New York City Restaurants Survey and the Michelin Guide New York City 2014 are available in bookstores. ― AFP-Relaxnews
