by Richard Vines

Pierre Gagnaire, in Paris, placed third. The Fat Duck, where Heston Blumenthal serves snail porridge and sardine-on-toast sorbet, dropped to second place in the annual list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, chosen by 560 chefs, critics and restaurateurs. El Bulli was second last year. The French Laundry, in California's Napa Valley, finished top in the Americas, while Tetsuya's, in Sydney, was the leader in Australasia. France dominates the Top 50 list, with 10 restaurants included and a total of 24 serving French food. Taking the list as a whole, it's the French who have conquered the globe,'' Restaurant said in a statement to coincide with an awards ceremony at the Science Museum in London. Restaurants in Asia and those serving Asian cuisine barely figure in the list. The sole Asian venue is Bukhara, in New Delhi. I ate there this month and wasn't that impressed. Not a single restaurant in Japan or China makes the list. There's nowhere in Japan or China and the other places serving Asian dishes are in London (Nobu and Hakkasan). London Losers To allay concerns that the London-based magazine's list was too centered on the U.K., Restaurant this year appointed panels in 20 regions, each chaired by a food writer, to pick the restaurants. The 20 regional heads together form an international panel, chaired by Joe Warwick, editor of the magazine. U.K. restaurants that made the list include Le Gavroche and St. John's. Tom Aikens, Sketch, the Waterside Inn, the Connaught, Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons and the Wolseley all dropped out this year. Gagnaire is a partner in Sketch as well as owning his eponymous restaurant in Paris. El Bulli and the Fat Duck are known for molecular gastronomy, the experimental cuisine also practiced by Andoni Aduriz at Mugaritz, which is in the Basque country of northeast Spain. El Bulli is in Catalonia. The biggest climber was Italy's Gambero Rosso, located in San Vincenzo. 1. El Bulli (Spain) 2. The Fat Duck (U.K.) 3. Pierre Gagnaire (France) 4. French Laundry (U.S.) 5. Tetsuya's (Australia) 6. Bras (France) 7. Restaurant le Louis XV (Monaco) 8. Per Se (U.S.) 9. Restaurant Arzak (Spain) 10. Mugaritz (Spain) 11. Can Fabes (Spain) 12. Nobu (U.K.) 13. Gambero Rosso (Italy) 14. Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road (U.K.) 15. Restaurant Alain Ducasse (France) 16. Jean Georges (U.S., New York) 17. Le Cinq (France) 18. Daniel (U.S., New York) 19. Oud Sluis (Netherlands) 20. Chez Panisse (U.S.) Publicado originalmente en www.bloomberg.com