Important changes are afoot in the fish industry. Recently we reported on the backlash against the unethical and unsustainable farming of bluefin tuna, which has brought the voices of celebrities, artists, ministers and chefs to the forefront in the fight against the current devastating...

The winners of the prestigious Catey restaurant awards have been announced for the year 2009. Bestowed by the UK's Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine, the Cateys have given an indication of what's hot and what's not in the UK hospitality industry since their inception in 1984. Awards include Hotel of the Year, Best Marketing Campaign...

It's that time of year again when the famous S.Pellegrino World's 100 Best Restaurants are announced...

The end of March saw the fourth annual Bernard Loiseau Culinary Festival kick off on the beautiful Indian ocean island of Mauritius...

An alarming series of events caused one of the world's leading restaurants to close its doors this week...

The intangible factor that makes a restaurant popular is surely what every chef aims to discover hidden in the griddle pan. Spring in Paris, the tiny 16-seater gastro-bistro, has found the perfect combination of simple and exquisite to excite just about all Parisian restaurant reviewers from Le Figaro to Michelin...

On 3^rd December this year, the first Michelin Guide to Hong Kong and Macau was released showering the region that had been previously ignored with a total of 40 stars. For the first time ever, a Chinese chef was awarded three stars for his excellent fusion of Asian and Western cuisines...

Ever since he started out in the restaurant industry, Gordon Ramsay has been driven to succeed at home and abroad. Having trained under the likes of Marco Pierre White in London and Joël Robuchon in Paris, Ramsay has been dominant figure in the fine dining arena ever since creating a name for himself at Aubergine Restaurant and later, at his eponymous restaurant Gordon Ramsay in..

After 40 years of male domination in the kitchens of Le Gavroche in London, former sous-chef Rachel Humphrey has finally broken through to be crowned the restaurant's first female Head Chef. The chef patron at Le Gavroche, Michel Roux Jnr praised his protegée's excellent..

Paul Haeberlin, the owner and former head chef of the Auberge de l'Ill in Alsace, France, died earlier this month at the age of 84. Many within the restaurant industry flocked to give its condolences and heart-felt sentiments to the family of this culinary heavyweight, who inspired and tutored many of the world's greatest chefs. Throughout his later years, Haeberlin showed a dedication to his restaurant by continuing to..

It appears that the restaurants scooping up all the best prizes and getting an awful lot of recognition are the ones associated with molecular gastronomy, and they certainly seem to be succeeding in all areas of the business. This latest development isn't necessarily to do with the eccentric style of cooking, it's giving congratulations to Europe's best sommelier who happens to work at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in the UK.

Best Sommelier in Europe
Turkish-born Head Sommelier Isa Bal was named as Best Sommelier in Europe by the Association de la sommellerie international in Sofia, Bulgaria on 19th May, beating off competition from..

Hélène Darroze is one of France's, and indeed the world's, most celebrated chefs. Darroze has scored what only a handful of female chefs have managed to achieve. She has 2 Michelin Stars and a highly successful restaurant on Paris's Left Bank named Helene Darroze, and now the talented chef is traversing La Manche to take up the Head Chef position at the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair, London.

Traditional French cuisine
Darroze was brought up in Landes, rural south-west France among passionate foodies in an area where food is steeped in tradition and history. Her family ran the Le Relais restaurant in..

Although he has been tipped possibly the world's greatest chef, or at least the owner of the world's greatest restaurant, Ferran Adria of El Bulli in Spain has had to defend his cooking after a rival Spanish chef has accused him of "poisoning" his diners.

Too many chemicals, not enough real food
Santi Santamaria who has earned himself three Michelin stars as owner and head chef at the Can Fabes Restaurant in Barcelona, laid into Adria over his prolific use of the gelling agent methylcellulose, as well as other gelling agents and emulsifiers. Santamaria admits that it is his roots as the son of a farmer which give him a deep respect for traditional..

A whiff of injustice was in the air and the rumour mill began when the S.Pellegrino's Worlds 50 Best Restaurants were announced at a lavish ceremony at the beginning of this week. For three years now, the El Bulli restaurant in Spain has won first prize and many judges are wondering if others on the 600-strong judging panel are really taking the voting seriously.

Judging criteria
As a judge, one of the criteria for..

Herewith the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants 2008 by www.theworlds50best.com, reckoned to be the 50 best places on earth to eat.. enjoy !

1. El Bulli, Spain
This is the third consecutive year that Farron Adria, chef at El Bulli on the Costa Brava in Spain, has topped the list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants. Offering diners a unique taste experience, Adria was one of the first to delve into the world of molecular gastronomy. His most famous protegée was..

Having been at the pinnacle of modern European cuisine for over a decade, The Fat Duck restaurant in England, is still a pioneering force in the culinary world thanks to its owner and head chef, Heston Blumenthal. So what puts this restaurant at the top of the pile?

Science and Cooking
After failing to gain employment in the kitchens of London, Blumenthal set himself the task of learning to cook and he began accumulating his knowledge and expertise on his travels to France. In 1995 he opened The Fat Duck in Bray, situated near Maidenhead..

Would you believe that in the world of European Michelin stars, Germany is now second on the list to France? Amazing but true. The world of fine dining in Germany has grown, such that 9 of its restaurants now hold the sought-after 3 Michelin stars.

Unadventurous cooking
Catching up with the French, who currently have 28 3-starred restaurants, has been a long time coming for the Germans, who have always held the stereotype among other Europeans as being a little un-adventurous when it comes to their kitchens. According to Juan Amador, owner of the Amador restaurant which has recently been awarded its third star, this about-turn in German cuisine has been quite a recent event..

Imagine a restaurant so huge that it spans six floors and needs 35 chefs to hold the fort. Welcome to the famous Tour d'Argent, Paris' oldest restaurant which has just been re-opened to grand fanfare after 3 months of re-furbishment and upgrade.

The new owner André Terrail, 27, set about re-establishing the reputation of this gastronomic legend, as it had fallen in Parisian estimation in recent years. Frequent changes of the "master" chef in meant that the Tour d'Argent suffered inconsistency in its..

In the world of haute-cuisine, it is a grand achievement for a chef to receive one or two Michelin Stars, and the absolute epitome of culinary excellence to achieve three. This week, however top chef Marco Pierre White launched an attack on the Guide claiming that it is "outdated" and has "varying standards" from country to country. He said, "I've dined in Michelin-starred places in New York and I'm confused. There are at least fifty restaurants in England as good as the two-star restaurants over there, rather than the paltry ten that currently hold..

Michelin has sensationally broken with tradition and showered Tokyo City with stars in its first guide to Japan. Tokyo now holds a total of 191 stars compared to only 42 for New York and 64 for Paris. According to Jean Luc Naret the Guide Director, the secret is in the number of true restaurants in each city. Tokyo has a staggering 8 times more restaurants than Paris..

Amador of Frankfurt famous for its Molecular Cuisine wins a 3 star endorsement in the latest Michelin guide. The Spanish restaurateur Juan Amador is particularly commended for developing his own style of MC, including Müritz lamb with coconut and curry says Jean-Luc Naret of Michelin. "Everything we make is basic on classical cuisine," says Chef Juan. "Even when we cook with modern..

The furore surrounding the new 2008 Michelin Guide for Los Angeles reached fever pitch last week when some over anxious chefs decided to raid the Michelin website in advance of the official announcements. Whether they hacked into the site, or obtained the information legitimately is unclear, but the whole of the Las Vegas and Los Angeles results were..

After opening only 11 months ago the New York Michelin Guide announces it has awarded Gordon Ramsay of 'The London' two stars in its first year making Ramsay one of only 6 establishments in the city to have two stars. Gordon Ramsay now claims that between all his various restaurant ventures he now has the largest total of Michelin Stars in the world; currently 12 stars..

Restaurant Magazine has just announced the S. Pellegrino 2007 Best Restaurants list. Europe always does well in this report and this year is no exception with 74% of the listed restaurants located in the EU..

Described as soft, shy and determined, Anne-Sophie Pic, 37, celebrates her award today of three Michelin Stars, the first of its kind to a woman in more than 50 years. Behind the award a touching story covering four generations of the Pic family. Just imagine, 4 generations! How many people do you know are still working in a business started by their great grandmother ?

Of great interest to many of our readers is knowing which truly are the Top Restaurants to visit, and where can they find the best dining out experience.
Many have not seen this list and so we publish it here with links to Restaurant Magazine; well worth a look if you want to read up on how the voting is handled, and exactly what constitutes a 'Best' rating