One of the coolest things yours truly gets to do every year is vote for the BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD, for RESTAURANT magazine (a British publication). Only 32 voters come from North America, and they must have eaten at every restaurant voted for within the past eighteen months. And you must vote for at least two restaurants that are NOT in your geographical comfort zone. Which is why The Food Gal and I are always hopping planes to Europe and Asia.

The winner this year (for the third year in a row) is El Bulli (The Bulldog), in Roses, Spain. I haven’t made it there (yet), but have eaten at 15 of the top 50, and 29 out of the top 100. Not bad for a sharecropper’s son, eh? ;-}

Click here for full list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

FYI: This year I voted for Pierre Gagnaire (Hong Kong), Dal Pescatore (Cannetto sul’ Oglio, Italy) and Troisgros (Roanne, France), worldwide, and Daniel, Joel Robuchon, and Guy Savoy (in North America).