Iconic dishes, legendary restaurants

June 24, 2023 by
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As a few readers noted in our post about the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, the rankings reflect the views of the sponsor company as much as they do the judgment of experts. Well, I have another curated list for you, but this one is different. It’s a list of the 150 most legendary restaurants and each one’s iconic dish. You might not agree with these rankings either, but I found them entertaining.

According to Taste Atlas, which compiled the list, these are not just luxury establishments with high price tags, but are rather “destinations in their own right, comparable to the world’s most famous museums, galleries and monuments.” Sometimes, of course, famous monuments or tourist attractions turn out to be much less exciting or spectacular than their hype, and this could be true for some of the restaurants on this list. I wouldn’t know, because I have not been to any of the 150 establishments. The closest I’ve been is that a friend once went to Ye Old Cheshire Cheese in London.

There were a few familiar (to me) names on the list like Katz’s Delicatessen in New York and Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, but the majority of restaurants were not ones I’ve read about before. They are from all corners of the world, with listings from countries both well known for their cuisine and others that do not generally come up in culinary conversations. Many of the restaurants are over 100 years old, fitting the description of these rankings as celebrating establishments that “have remained relevant and highly regarded in an ever-changing culinary landscape.”

Category: Antipasto

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4 Comments

  • Fyretigger  on  June 25, 2023

    These are all just discovery tools. I hope that those who are skeptical of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants are equally skeptical of the Michelin Guide, the James Beard Foundation awards, Yelp and for that matter, Consumer Reports. All are subjective.

  • FuzzyChef  on  June 26, 2023

    Some awards have a documented jury process with voting done by recognized experts, whearas others are based on far less trustworthy criteria. All awards are subjective, yes, but they are not equally subjective.

  • FuzzyChef  on  June 26, 2023

    Anyway, this list is a lot more fun, no matter how they selected it. I’ve been to 10 of the restaurants on the list, but in only 2 cases had the named dish.

  • Greygram  on  May 12, 2025

    I see it’s been a while since you’ve posted, but I just wanted to jump in and ask: has anyone recently visited any of the restaurants mentioned and tried to recreate one of their iconic dishes at home? I’m curious if any newer cookbooks have done a great job capturing these flavors—would love some recommendations or updated takes on these classics.

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