It’s entirely possible that The Iron Horse is a great restaurant. It’s also very possible it’s the best restaurant you’ve ever eaten at. Having perused their menu, it looks very interesting. And for all we know they are number 51 on the list.
But this is an arbitrary list of the best restaurants in the WORLD. Even if a restaurant is really, REALLY good, as I’m sure the Iron Horse is, doesn’t mean it makes this list. Maybe if they had asked different people, they would have put it on the list. Especially since when you get into this rareified air, there are some pretty big subjective calls to be made. Is number 34 better than 35?
I can tell you, from my own experience, that #4 is better than #25. I don’t think “Al’s Italian Beef” (sorry, Uke) is better than TFL, though.
If it isn’t exquisitely fresh and just the best possible whatever it is, Alice won’t buy it and she won’t serve it.
That’s Chez Panisse in a nutshell. And, that’s probably the most important part of being a world-class restaurant - finding the best possible ingredients and treating them well.
Oh, I wouldn’t say it’s the best in the world, but it’s certainly an undiscovered gem. And the point remains, if you care to notice all the places on the list that say NYC? I’ve eaten at them all. Le Bernardin, when good, is very good (it’s the ‘two french brothers’ I mentioned earlier). The trick is to go on… is it tuesday or friday the fish is freshest? One is the best, one is the worst, and I can never recall which.
Iron Horse Grill ( http://www.ironhorsegrill.com ), not to be mistaken for the one in Portland, has a Zagat rating of 26. Gotham Bar and Grill has a Zagat of 27.
Personally, I find reviewer’s bias tends to drive the ‘foreign’ styles up, while the more traditional types are docked a point or so.
