In 2010, Alinea was #7 on the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants List. Last year, it surged to #6. This year, it drops back down, dramatically, to #7. What exactly does this mean? Nothing, really; Per Se jumped from 10 to 6, replacing Alinea as the top restaurant in north America, which just happened to happen the same year as Thomas Keller won the life achievement award and The French Laundry, which fell off the list entirely last year, got back on at #47. Achatz, who gave Keller a warm embrace as he went up for his life achievement award, is surely being philosophical right now about a tiny bounce around the top 10. As far as Chicago is concerned, that’s the only news from the top 50; we’ll have to wait for the second 50 to see if Next or anywhere else is starting to nudge its way onto the list.
