Le Bernardin is the big winner in the just-out 2014 Zagat Survey of New York City restaurants. Eric Ripert’s and Maguy Le Coze’s mighty, modern-French Midtown seafood palace earned the guide’s “top food” ranking for a record 12th time, edging runners-up Bouley, Per Se, Daniel, Eleven Madison Park and Jean-Georges.
Le Bernardin also polled no. 1 in popularity, slightly ahead of Gramercy Tavern, Peter Luger, Bouley and Eleven Madison Park.
The new Zagat Survey, now Google-owned, reflects a number of well-known trends and phenomena. It’s now released at the start of October rather than in November as it once was, to blunt the impact of the Michelin Guide which came out last week. Despite new competition on all sides, Zagat remains the most useful single reference source for anyone ready to go out and eat (although not for planning long-range), both in its print and online forms.
Yet, some things never change for Zagat voters. Asiate in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel inexplicably comes out No. 1 in décor year after year – voters apparently mistake views through a window for a part of the house.
Peter Luger was top steakhouse for the 30th year in a row. On the Brooklyn front, the guide now includes 265 places in the borough – more than twice as many as 127 just 10 years ago, although still a small percentage of the 2,084 covered in all.
No other guide better captures the city’s vibrant dining scene overall. Italian restaurants covered still outnumber all other kinds, which makes sense in a town where Italian in its numerous forms might as well be the national cuisine. Yet, the survey now boasts a 22 percent growth in the number of Asian, Mexican and Middle Eastern places it includes over 10 years ago, and a 2 percent drop in Italian, French and American.
Japanese places earned the highest average food score overall (23.87 on a 30-point scale). French eateries hold down 7 of the top 10 food rankings.
On the negative side, Zagat continues to understate the true cost of meals in many instances – the last time anyone got out of the Russian Tea Room for $69 a head was in the Khrushchev era.
It lazily lumps related but very different restaurants under a single heading – such as Tamarind and Tamarind Tribeca, the two Il Mulinos, the four sushi places operated by Gari Sugio, and Cesare Casella’s two Rosi spots.
The book’s given to some truly bizarre claims. Swifty’s does not “exile” new customers to the front of the house. And although Zagat’s owners might hate to hear it, you don’t “need Google maps” to find Nom Wah Tea Parlor, Chinatown’s most famous old restaurant that even the folks in Santa Clara have heard of.