Every April, Restaurant magazine produces a list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, judged by an international panel of 560 chefs, restaurateurs and restaurant critics. Now in its fifth year, it's grown into the ultimate guide for the kind jet-setting restaurant-goer who thinks nothing of planning their whole holiday around a reservation.
Gambero Rosso, Italy
In the sleepy Tuscan harbour town of San Vincenzo, in an unassuming dining room overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, Fulvio Pierangelini serves what many feel is the best food in Italy. His menus, understandably considering the setting, tend to focus on fish and shellfish, with meat - usually in the form of pigeon or pork - making only an occasional appearance on one of his impromptu tasting menus.
Always on the menu: Chickpea purée with prawns.
Reservations: 0039 0 565 701 021.
Nearest airport: Pisa.
Le Quartier Français, S Africa
Set in the heart of the Cape winelands surrounded on three sides by the amphitheatre that is the Francschoek mountains, Dutch-born chef Margot Janse prepares individually tailored tasting menus that make the most of Cape's larder.
Always on the menu: Local game, impala, warthog or springbok.
Reservations: 0027 21 876 2151, lequartier.co.za.
Nearest airport: Cape Town.
El Bulli, Spain
Voted the best in the world again this year, El Bulli's reputation as a legendary gastronomic destination was secured a long time ago through chef Ferran Adrià's envelope-pushing culinary bent. There's something understated about the coastal setting, tucked away on Spain's Costa Brava near Roses, that means when you approach it along the rugged mountain road, it feels like an undiscovered gem.
Always on the menu: Constantly evolving 30-plus course tasting menus.
Reservations: 0034 97215 04 57, Elbulli.com.
Nearest airport: Barcelona/Girona.
Charlie Trotter's, US
One of the first restaurants in the world to adopt a tasting menu-only policy, when it opened in 1987, it put Chicago on the gastronomic map; 19 years later, the cooking remains cutting edge.
Always on the menu: A choice of three tasting menus.
Reservations: 001 773 248 6228, Charlietrotters.com.
Nearest airport: Chicago.
Tetsuya's, Australia
The restaurant in central Sydney is a palatial space complete with an ornamental Japanese garden. The multi-course tasting menus are made with exclusively Australasian produce and combine the knowledge chef Tetsuya Wakuda brought with him from Japan with French technique.
Always on the menu: Confit of Petuna Tasmanian ocean trout with konbu, daikon and fennel.
Reservations: 0061 2 9267 2900, Tetsuyas.com.
Nearest airport : Sydney.
· For a full list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2006, go to Theworlds50best.com.
