April 16, 2007

World

Ready, Steady, Salivate

By Nicole Cotroneo

Michelin isn't the only inside track to the world's best tables.

According to Food & Wine magazine, the most essential travel item this year isn’t your Louis Vuitton shoulder bag. It’s The Go List 2007: the magazine’s guide to 335 of the world’s finest restaurants. Featured in the 11th annual travel issue hitting newsstands tomorrow and already available online, the compendium covers 40 major cities including Istanbul, Tokyo, Sydney and Mexico City. It reads like a foodie’s fantasy, showcasing classically swank spots like Via Veneto in Barcelona (once a favorite of Salvador Dali), and authentic holes-in-the-wall like Chun (a four-table Shanghai eatery where the chef prepares you whatever he pleases). There’s even the not-for-everybody specialists: Sergio Pollini’s tripe cart in Florence is said to serve up delectable cow stomach sandwiches. The print edition also includes a short global guide to “pilgrimage-worthy” restaurants. Yet littered with all the usual A-list suspects (like Ferran Adria’s El Bulli and Thomas Keller’s French Laundry) the list seems strictly for spacehead gourmands who’ve misplaced their Michelin guides.