DininginFrance.com, the top online presence for the best French restaurants, has just released their "2007 List of the 10 Best French Restaurants in the World Located Outside of France." These places are so good that they are considered to be among the worlds best no matter what style of cuisine they serve. In looking over the list a few things jump out at me. The first is that there is one restaurant noticeably missing this year,Thomas Keller's The French Laundry in CA which has been on the list since it was started four years ago in 2004. Although The French Laundry didn't make the cut this year, Per Se Keller's New York restaurant did.

The second is that some people claim that the list is geographically balanced, but when I looked at my 3'x5' world map (which is mounted on the ceiling above my desk) I came to a different conclusion. Half of the restaurants on the list are in countries that border France. There are three of the restaurants located in the very small French speaking area of Switzerland, one in Southern Germany, and one Monaco (which is surrounded by France.) That leaves two each in the US and Japan, with the last one located in Hong Kong in China. That's not really what I would call geographically balanced, but maybe I see things differently than others do.Anyway, if you go to the Dining in France website you can get detailed information on and links to each of the restaurants which made the list and see for yourself if you agree.

Here's the list of Dining in France's 10 Best French Restaurants in the World located outside of France 2007, in alphabetical order:

Caprice - Hong Kong, China
Domaine de Chateauvieux - Satigny, Switzerland
Joel Robuchon - Las Vegas NV, USA
Joel Robuchon Restaurant - Tokyo, Japan
Le Louis XV - Monte Carlo, Monaco
Michel Bras Toya Japon - Toya (Hokkaido), Japan
per se - New York NY, USA
Le Pont de Brent - Brent, Switzerland
Rochat - Crissier, Switzerland
Schwarzwaldstube - Baiersbronn, Germany