This year, I made it a point to fly to San Sebastian for the release of the new OAD Europe list. On the one hand, because the announcement always goes hand in hand with an event that is very exciting from a culinary point of view (report to follow), and on the other hand, because the list of the restaurant rating portal Opinionated About Dining (OAD) has meanwhile developed into a real size, also in the European market.
The ranking is based on the votes of more than 6,00 registered restaurant guests and food bloggers worldwide. I have also been rating the restaurants I visit for OAD for a few years now. The algorithm rates votes from very experienced voters significantly higher than from participants with fewer reviews.
Last year’s winner Andreas Caminada from Schauenstein, Switzerland, falls to second place and Frantzén from Stockholm climbs to pole position. This is indeed unsurprising, Björn Frantzén really succeeds in an outstanding way to combine the Nordic kitchen philosophy with luxurious fine dining.
The current year brings some exciting surprises, especially from the German-speaking perspective. From Germany, a total of 17 restaurants are placed in the extended list. Christian Bau marks the highest German ranking with 14th place. However, a small sensation can be found almost directly behind it: Ernst from Berlin lands in 18th place in 2019. I am very happy for the young team around Dylan Watson. This puts them not only ahead of international restaurants with the highest reputations, but also ahead of 15 other German restaurants. So among other things the guest house Klaus Erfort (place 20), Vendôme (place 24), Aqua (place 28), Geisels Werneckenhof (place 37), Tim Raue (place 38), the studio in Munich (place 39), Christian Jürgens Überfahrt (61), Essigbrätlein (87), Sosein (103), Kevin Fehling (109), Horvath (179) or also the Nobelhart & Schmutzig (235). New in the listing is the Hamburg Bianc of Matteo Ferrantino (157) as well as Daniel Schimkowitsch (156) with the LA Jordan from Dedesheim.
What does this new listing tell us? I’ll be analyzing this a bit more in the coming days, and I’ll have some conversations with the voters here in San Sebastian during the evening. It is certainly an interesting reflection and a new look at the German or, of course, the entire European culinary…
Best Contemporary Restaurants in Europe 2019
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Opinionated About Dining
OAD was started in 2004 by New York native Steve Plotnicki. Initially launched as a blog, the project evolved into a forum for sharing culinary experiences and resulted in a worldwide restaurant review survey that reflects the opinions of more than 5,000 registered restaurant guests and food bloggers.
