France's Alain Passard tops list of top 100 chefs for 2017
France's gastronomic wizard of vegetables, chef Alain Passard, has been voted the top chef of 2017 in a list that ranks the best 100 chefs around the world.
Organized by France's Le Chef magazine, the list is based, not on the opinion of food critics or galloping gourmets, but on the views of fellow chefs.
For the third edition of the awards, 534 chefs who belong to either the two or three Michelin-starred club were asked to name the five chefs who best represent the values of their profession; who create exceptional, must-try cuisine; and whose restaurants are must-visit destinations.
The winners were announced at the Chefs World Summit in Monaco over the weekend.
The chef who received the most votes and by extension the highest respect of his peers -- perhaps the toughest and most judgmental critics of all -- was Alain Passard, whose Paris restaurant Arpège has held onto its triple Michelin-starred status over the last two decades.
Passard is best known among gastronomes for having upended the world of haute cuisine when he took red meat off his menu in 2001, at the height of the mad cow disease crisis in Europe.
Over the last 15 years, humble vegetables like beets, turnips, carrots and fennel have stolen the spotlight on the Arpège dinner plate.
Over the last few years, a roster of top chefs like René Redzepi and Alain Ducasse have likewise followed suit, giving vegetables the Michelin-starred treatment.
For Passard, topping the 100 Chefs 2017 list is a nice way to round off a banner year.
Earlier this spring, he was named the recipient of the World's 50 Best Restaurants Lifetime Achievement Award.
Arpège was named the best dining destination in Europe by influential food blogger Steve Plotnicki this year. The restaurant also fetes its 30th anniversary this year.
Meanwhile, a scan of the top 10 and top 100 list reveals a ranking conspicuously heavy with French names.
The magazine is published in France.
France dominates the top 100 list with 36 spots, followed by Japan (13) and USA (9).
Here are the top 10 chefs according to some of the world's top chefs:
1. Alain PASSARD - L'Arpège (Paris, France)
2. Martin BERASATEGUI - Restaurant Martin Berasategui (Lasarte Oria, Spain)
3. Pierre GAGNAIRE - Restaurant Pierre Gagnaire (Paris, France)
4. Michel BRAS - Le Suquet (Laguiole, France)
5. Seiji YAMAMOTO - Nihonryori Ryugin (Tokyo, Japan)
6. Éric FRECHON - Épicure (Paris, France)
7. Jonnie BOER - De Librije (Zwolle, Netherlands)
8. Rene REDZEPI - Noma (Copenhagen, Denmark)
9. Emmanuel RENAUT - Flocons de Sel (Megève, France)
10. Joan ROCA - El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain)
