Four restaurants in the Basque Country among the top four in the world

The restaurants of the Basque Country continue to accumulate international recognition; while last week we heard that Elite Traveler had rated Azurmendi the second best restaurant in the world, it has now been announced that four other establishments rank among the top 100 classical restaurants in the world in the list made by Opinionated About Dining (OAD). This is a gastronomic blog created by the New York pundit Steve Plotnicki in which some 4,500 food experts vote. The list recognises the excellence of four establishments in the Basque Country: Kaia Kaipe in Getaria, Zuberoa in Oiartzun and Rekondo and Akelarre in Donostia-San Sebastián. In Plotnicki's words, the top 100 list is "a way of paying homage to the chefs and restaurants whose style of cooking has remained constant over the last 25 years, while keeping up a long-term commitment to excellence". Opinionated About Dining was created in 2003 and features expert opinions on gastronomy in 13 countries, also selecting the top 100 in North America and Europe. The latter list is in fact headed by Eneko Atxa’s Azurmendi this year. This year’s OAD international list starts with Michel Bras Toya in Japan, followed by Troisgros in Roanne (France) while Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV in Montecarlo comes in third place.