Opinionated About Dining Unveils The Top 100 Restaurants In Europe

NEW YORK, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the Top 100 U.S. Restaurants, and Top Cheap Eats (artisanal and traditional) lists, comes the Top 100 European Restaurants from Opinionated About Dining.  Steve Plotnicki and Opinionated About Dining have refined the more than 70,000 reviews, compiled by over 3,000 people, to reveal Europe's best dining.

The Opinionated About Dining approach to rating restaurants relies on tapping into the experience and opinions from diners who are passionate about where they eat and who describe how strongly they would recommend a restaurant and why. The methodology further gives weight to different kinds of restaurants and survey participants based on factors such as price point and number of restaurants reviewed.  The surveys that form the basis of the ratings are open to the general public and can be accessed via Opinionated About Dining.

"Opinionated About Dining is a consumer-based survey, says Plotnicki. "Our contributors share in detail their likes, dislikes and experiences. The compilation of first person feedback is what created our list of Top 100 Restaurants in Europe. Within the rankings are some interesting findings – close to 50% of the restaurants serve modern/progressive cuisine, which shows a shift in the preference and demographic of the diners." Plotnicki continues, describing the survey's participants as "trending toward younger, more adventurous eaters that value the traditions of classic cooking, but are looking for new, thought-provoking experiences in dining."

The Top 10 Restaurants in Europe are: 1. Restaurant Quique Dacosta Denia, Spain; 2. Fat Duck Bray-on-Thames, United Kingdom; 3. Noma Copenhagen, Denmark; 4. Troisgros Roanne, France; 5. Bras Laguiole, France; 6. Oud Sluis Sluis, Netherlands; 7. Arpege (L') Paris, France; 8. Pierre Gagnaire Paris, France; 9. Alain Ducasse- Louis XV Monte Carlo, Monaco, and 10. Mugaritz Errenteria, Spain

The reviews span the continent with the majority of restaurants representing France with 37; followed by Italy and Spain both with 15; Germany with United Kingdom nine; Benelux with eight; Denmark with three; and Switzerland, Austria, Greece and Sweden each with one restaurant making the top 100 list.

This also marks the first year that the results are available in multiple languages including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Japanese versions of the slideshow can be accessed at http://www.opinionatedaboutdining.com/2012/eu_slideshow_index.html.

Steve Plotnicki, is the author of Opinionated About dining blog, and the author of Opinionated About U.S. Restaurants 2011. He is also the organizer of a number of theme-based dinners that he hosted with Chef Tom Colicchio at Craft, New York and Michael Cimarusti at Providence, Los Angeles.