Swiss restaurant still in world's top 10 despite chef's suicide

PARIS: The Swiss restaurant named the best in the world last year remained in the top 10 of the La Liste ranking Monday despite the tragic loss of its star chef who killed himself weeks after lifting the honour.

The Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville at Crissier near Lausanne came joint fourth in the latest French-based guides aggregator, which claims to be more “more scientific and reliable” than its British-based rival, the 50 Best Restaurants.

Benoit Violier, 44, shot himself in January seven weeks after receiving the award, but his widow Brigitte vowed that the restaurant would remain open.

It has also since retained its maximum three-star Michelin Guide rating.

While French chef Guy Savoy topped this year’s rankings for his Paris restaurant in la Monnaie, the old French national mint, Japanese restaurants came out on top overall.

Two Tokyo institutions made the top 10: the minuscule Kyo Aji, and Kyubey, whose sushi is renowned for being both “extraordinary and reasonably priced”, La Liste said.

Two New York restaurants were up there alongside them, double Emmy-award-winning US television chef Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin fish restaurant — which came joint second — and Jean-Georges in Trump Tower.

Italy’s Osteria Francescana in Modena — which topped the 50 Best rankings — came joint third in La Liste, which praised not only its inventive use of the local Parmigiano Reggiano cheese but also “its deep commitment to fighting food waste”.

Restaurants in Italy also came out best overall for value for money, it said.

La Liste bills itself as a “guide of the guides”, pulling together reviews from almost 400 guidebooks, newspapers and online sites from TripAdvisor to the New York Times and the prestigious Michelin rankings.

An aggregator, its list of the 1,000 top-rated restaurants in the world is modelled on the world tennis rankings, the Shanghai Ranking for universities — and film reviews website Rotten Tomatoes.

This year it has added a smartphone application for the 10,000 eateries which its analysis found to be the best value for money.