Gourmet's Top 50

Gourmet magazine recently published a list of America's Top 50 Restaurants in its annual restaurant issue. Some of the choices are positively inspired--Alinea nabbed the top spot, lots of small market-driven spots were included and more than half the list is appearing for the first time.

That makes it all the more frustrating that the list of New York restaurants reads like an exceedingly pretentious fossil map: per se (which shares its spot with The French Laundry), Masa, Daniel, Le Bernadin, Babbo, Jean Georges and Grammercy Tavern. Where are the interesting risk-takers that are driving food forward? Where are Blue Hill, wd-50, Falai, Sripraphai or any of the other audacious and vivacious eateries that represent the way we eat now. Gourmet's list is clearly catering in large part to tourists looking to name drop once they get home and not to someone in search of truly great food. It is very sad that in a city full of fabulous stand-alone restaurants every one of Gourmet's "best" is the flagship of an ever-expanding chain.