This Finance Exec Has Eaten At 99 Of The 100 'World's Best' Restaurants
This Bay Area finance executive only has one restaurant left to go before he completes his quest to dine in all the world's best restaurants in one year. Paul Grinberg travels frequently for business and puts that time to good use by seeking out meals at restaurants from the 2017 World's 50 Best Restaurants list and its extension list of restaurants ranked 51 to 100.
The lengthy list spans 30 countries and five continents. In just one year, Grinberg has made it to 99 of those restaurants and has documented his feat on his Instagram, @restaurantstodinefor.
Grinberg began his quest in 2017 while on vacation in Spain. While he sometimes eats alone while traveling on business, he told The World's 50 Best Restaurants that his family has joined him for 35 of the experiences, and that he also sometimes dines with his partner or with work colleagues.
"I've had so many great experiences in my journey through the Best 100 and have so many great stories," Grinberg told The Daily Meal. "Some of the things I've done to get a reservation would blow your mind. The overall highlight has been meeting so many amazing people, from chefs to managers to servers to other diners. Sharing stories and experiences with them has been wonderful."
"Working my way through the Best 100 has allowed me to travel to more than 25 countries all over the world. The variety of food, the diversity of cultures and the differing backgrounds of every one I've met has been remarkable. People connect over food and I've made some amazing connections."
Although Grinberg has made it to Eleven Madison Park, Le Bernardin, Mugaritz, and Odette plus 95 others, he has yet to make it to Tokyo's Sushi Saito. Unable to get a reservation, Grinberg has put out a request via his Instagram bio: "Can anyone help me get into Sushi Saito?"
Grinberg has about two months before the 2018 World's 50 Best list is released, so here's hoping he scores a reservation. For his next feat, Grinberg will attempt to dine at all three-star Michelin restaurants within a year. So far he claims to have been to 85! Can't continent-hop like Paul? Perhaps you can drive to the 101 best restaurants in America for 2018. Good luck getting to Hawaii!