France Counters Ranking Of 'World's 50 Best' With 'La Liste,' Naming World's 1,000 Best

In response to the annual publication of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, based in London and sponsored by S. Pellegrino, the French foreign ministry has created La Liste, a new ranking system naming 1,000 of the best restaurants, or "tables of exception," in the world.

Using an algorithm called Ciacco, named after a character from Dante's Inferno, La Liste draws from a large database of other restaurant rankings and guides, the likes of which continue to grow. France's own Michelin Guide and Gault & Millau, the Zagat guide, the World's 50 Best, and sites like TripAdvisor and OpenTable — which rely on crowdsourced reviews — were all accounted for by Ciacco.

The criteria for Ciacco's ranking, established by yet another panel of food experts, included the quality of a restaurant's food, its ambience, and service. Like the World's 50 Best, La Liste has corporate sponsors, including Nestlé and Moët Hennessy.

Japan, the country with the most Michelin stars, again claimed the distinction of housing the largest number of the finest restaurants on its soil, with 126 restaurants. France followed with 118, the United States offered 101 of the best tables, and in China, 69 restaurants were named among the best in the world.

The best restaurant, according to La Liste created by Ciacco, is Switzerland's Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville Crissier, from chef Benoît Violier. New York City's own Per Se took second place, followed by KyoAji in Tokyo, and Restaurant Guy Savoy in France. Contrary to the World's 50 Best ranking, which names El Celler de Can Roca of Girona, Spain, the very best in the world, La Liste puts the Roca brothers' restaurant in sixth place, just after Schauenstein restaurant in Fürstenau, Switzerland.

The full list will be unveiled by French foreign minister Laurent Fabius during a ceremony later this week.