TheGuidetoLa Liste’sTopChinese Restaurants,
A Chinese language guidebook by Qingdao Publishing House, is helping the world discover hidden gems on the local dining scene
Foodies who are eager to sample delicious Chinese food must not miss the newly published book — The Guide to La Liste’s Top Chinese Restaurants.
“Foodies may feel lost as there are so many gastronomic lists. But French gastronomic classification La Liste (The list) is known as ‘the guide of the guides’, and offers relatively authoritative and fair guides,” says food and wine critic Xie Ling based in Beijing, one of the book’s co-authors. She is better known as her pseudonym Lingxin Xiaoxie.
“The book tells you which Chinese restaurants have won international recognition and what their best dishes are.”
La Liste was founded by Philippe Faure in 2015, who is responsible for the Tourism Development Agency of France.
The Chinese language guidebook was published by Qingdao Publishing House and is co-authored by Dong Keping, He Nong and Xie Ling, who were the only Chinese judges on La Liste’s international advisory board.
Authorized by La Liste, the book comprises 42 Chinese mainland restaurants, which made it to La Liste 2016’s 1,000 outstanding eateries in the world.
La Liste 2016 was unveiled in Paris, December 2015.
Of the restaurants in La Liste 2016, 14 are in Beijing and Tianjin, 13 in Shanghai, eight in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, three in Chengdu, Sichuan province and four in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The restaurants cover a range of cuisines, including Shanghai and Cantonese food.
When the list was first announced in 2015, many Chinese restaurants had no idea that they had been put on the list. There was also confusion due to translation issues.
The three co-authors aim to promote the restaurants among Chinese foodies through the book with detailed information.
La Liste’s international advisory board looks at the dining experience, including food quality, ambience, decor and service.
For La Liste’s restaurant guides, the organizer typically looks at reviews of the restaurants by guidebooks, online sites and trusted publications.
The La Liste listings are based on an algorithm where each review is converted into a standard grade, each guidebook is given a trustworthiness score and online customer reviews are also considered.