euskalkultura.eus

The quality of the products, the variety of the food offerings and the opinions of critics were some of the factors that the Caterings Company took into account when creating the list.  After Donostia, Tokyo and New York are in second and third place in the new ranking of the best food destinations in the world.  Article by Sonia Arreita in El Diario Vasco. 

Sonia Arrieta/Donostia.   Donostia-San Sebastian has won the title “Best Food Destination in the World.”  This isn’t anything new for the Gipuzkoan capital to be among preferred tourist destinations, but it is new when a multinational catering company puts it at the top of its list that was created taking into account various factors like the number of establishments per capita, the diversity of the same, and the opinions of gastronomy experts, citing some 20,000 journalists and critics.

For the ranking, the company applied ten criteria and made comparisons between the 100 cities considered by tourists as the best places to eat.  The quality of the products, variety of food offerings the opinions of critics and the availability of vegetarian options are some of the factors that were considered when placing San Sebastian at the top of the list.

Behind San Sebastian are Tokyo and New York.  To find another city in Spain you have to go down to the fourth and seventh positions, where you find Barcelona and Madrid.

Quality and Variety

According to the Caterwings experience, to find the best cities to eat you have to focus on both the quality and variety of cuisine. “Many food lovers are infinitely happier with recently prepared fish near the sea, than going to a Michelin star restaurant.  Therefore, the amount of highly qualified restaurants and chefs is as important as the amount of delicious street food options available.”

The survey took into account the accessibility and the affordability of the food.  Another important factor which was considered was the accessibility and the affordable meal, they calculated how many hours a person would have to work at minimum wage to be able to afford dinner for two at a restaurant.  In addition, the quality of street food was also considered and the percentage of fast-food chains in comparison with the restaurants.  All of these criteria were scored to determine the final index of “The Best Food Destinations in the World.”

Here are the top 10 highest-scoring cities out 100:

1- San Sebastian. Total points: 8.09
2- Tokyo. Total points: 7.98
3- New York. Total points: 7.81
4- Barcelona. Total points: 7.72
5- Singapore. Total points: 7.58
6- Paris. Total points: 7.54
7- Madrid. Total points: 7.47
8- Lima. Total points: 7.44
9- London. Total points: 7.41
10- Munich. Total points: 7.31

[Complete list and detailed ratings table]

This is how the list was developed:

1. Expert opinion. Requested from 20,000 food and journalist critics that rate the quality of the food and the service.

2. Restaurants per 10,000 inhabitants. Population: Source: Google.  Number of restaurants source: Official City Records, Yelp and Trip Advisor.

3. Percentage of fast-food establishments: divided the number of fast-food options by the number of restaurants in general to know what proportion they represented.

4. Diversity of food: percentage of restaurants offering foreign food. So they resorted to Yelp, Trip Advisor and local official data sources.

5. Vegan and vegetarian options: percentage of restaurants with vegetarian options in the city. As in the previous cases had information from local travel guides and Trip Advisor.

6. Classification of high-end restaurants: many restaurants with three Michelin stars. Source: the 50 best restaurants in the world, Michelin

7. Quality of food from street vendors: discussed what each offered in terms of 'foodtrucks' or other street food options

8. Affordability for locals: for this factor, considered the wage level of the inhabitants of each city. They analyzed the food prices. They also set the cost of a dinner for two at three specific restaurants; a dinner at an Italian restaurant or a cappuccino, cocktail and beer prices and compared it with the average net salary.

9. Affordability for the visitors: in this case did not take into account local wage, only the price of food, but also on the basis of the criteria which is set to analyze the affordability for locals.

10. Hours worked in minutes. Dinner for 2 salary: minimum wage per hour. Source: Eurostat, indicator of wage online. Note: for countries that do not have a statutory minimum wage, the available lowest wage is taken into account. Average price of dinner for 2 people. Source: data collection of at least 20 to 40 restaurants by city and Expatistan.

 (Published in El Diario Vasco)