Then read more of his reviews
. I like to find food writers who tastes are similar to mine. And I very much enjoyed reading Mr. Hayler writing about traditional Japanese restaurants in Japan. Where - especially at the beginning of his dining trips there - he admitted freely that his palate was not the most knowledgeable when it came to Japanese food. I've felt the same way during our 2 trips to Japan.
OTOH - you have to read his notes. We've been to 5 of his "20s" restaurants. Totally agreed about Troisgros and Guy Savoy. But we dined at Cinq under a new and different chef (new chef noted in his review of old chef). Although the meal was very very good - it wasn't a "20".
Also - personal dining circumstances can change one's opinion. We dined with a jerk at l'Ambroisie - a real "know it all" who thought he knew more than the obviously extremely trained staff there (and he wasn't even American - he was French!). Owed him a dinner. He ruined what otherwise might have been a remarkable meal by insisting on this/that/other things that the staff obviously felt to be not quite right. A really excellent maitre d'/server - the kind who knows what you'll like/won't like if you hum a few bars - they're few and far between these days. And I think we missed an excellent one at l'Ambroisie when our "friend" tried to be our maitre d'.
Similarly - at Vendome - even though we were staying at the hotel located there for 3 nights - it allegedly lost our reservation. Which I didn't believe for one minute when I learned that a supposedly famous German TV/movie star and his gorgeous date (saw her - she *was* drop dead gorgeous) had showed up without a reservation 10 minutes before we arrived and taken the last table in the restaurant (which I think was our table). So we wound up seated not in the beautiful dining room - but in the entry hall (with a banquet type folding table). Now I have to admit the food was spectacular - and the extremely accomplished and smooth maitre d' (who I recall was Italian) was very attentive. Also - the next day - before we departed - we complained - but not excessively - about the "lost" reservation. And the hotel comp'd us not only with a beautiful food basket (we had to give away the very excellent oil and vinegar because I couldn't carry it through security and wasn't going to pack it in my suitcase) - but it also comp'd our previous private car ride from the train station to the hotel and our car to the airport (and the "car" to the airport was some really super high end BMW). Worth well in excess of $300 (which was almost as much as our restaurant bill). That star must have been really super famous (at least in Germany) - and worth a lot of publicity for the restaurant. OTOH - I've never received such generous comps for a screw-up (whether intentional or unintentional). I was pretty upset the night we dined. But - tincture of time has mellowed out the experience in retrospect. So I'd say this was a 20 with an interesting asterisk. And perhaps this is something that can only happen in a country like Germany (where else would we get such a profuse "apology" for something like this happening?).
Note that these days I pretty much dismiss bloggers who are known to restaurants and compensated in any way shape or for their "opinions" (and there are lots of them). I became skeptical after dining at quite a few places where the dishes they were served (and photographed) bore little resemblance to the versions of the same dishes that I received.
Anyway - where are all of you going next? Where would you like to go? Like I've said - our next trip is to Singapore. My husband will be 70 early next year - and I'm trying to come up with a shorter fun dining trip in the US. We haven't been to Las Vegas for like forever ago (20 years?). We had some pretty good food there last trip - when it was just emerging as a dining destination. Reports of recent dining experiences there would be appreciated. Robyn