La Liste is a mobile app that guides you to 43200 restaurants, hotels, and patisseries in 200 countries around the world.

When you open the app, a map will appear wherever you are in the world, allowing you to search for nearby delicious restaurants.

La Liste is known for publishing the top 1000 restaurants in the world every year. The rankings are determined using a unique algorithm in an unsubjective way.

The app was founded in 2015 by Philippe Faure, former French ambassador to Japan and permanent French ambassador, and this year marks its 10th anniversary.

A ranking of restaurants from around the world

By the way, the seven Japanese restaurants ranked in the top five in the world in the 2025 edition are as follows:

★ "Matsukawa" (tied for first place, 99.50 points)
★ "Chazenka" and "Sushi Saito" (tied for 3rd place, 98.50 points)
★"Shinbashi Hoshino" and "L'Osier" (tied for 4th place, 98.00 points)
★ "Iida" "Nihonbashi Kakigaracho" (tied for 5th place, 97.50 points)

It's fascinating to see how La Liste features a mix of restaurants from around the world, ranked in descending order by their scores. For example, in the 2025 edition, there are nine restaurants tied for first place, including Guy Savoy (Paris), Lung King Heen (Hong Kong), Le Bernardin (New York), and Matsukawa (Tokyo).

The 2026 edition will be announced on November 24th at the Quai d'Orsay (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs) in Paris. 125 hotels were nominated from Japan, making it the country with the most nominations. A banquet to announce the results was held at the French ambassador's residence the other day.

We spoke with founder Philippe Faure and Kei Kobayashi of Restaurant KEI in Paris, who won the Best Chef of the Year award.

Kei Kobayashi of "Restaurant KEI" talks

How do you feel about winning the award?

"First of all, this is a basic thing, but I am who I am today because of French cuisine. It is because of French cuisine and because I work as a chef that I am invited to the French ambassador's residence.

If he were just Kobayashi Kei, he wouldn't be able to come here.

We are very happy that we have been given the opportunity to work in the culinary profession and that our food and drink has been recognized by La Liste."

Has winning the award changed anything for you?

"What I do every day is the same, whether before or after receiving the award. I use all the energy I have, together with my team, to give the best performance and captivate the audience - that's all I can think about.

To achieve this, we first need to gather good ingredients. Then, by taking responsibility for the life of those ingredients and adding our own touches, we can provide our customers with the best possible food. I always cook with the hope that our customers will feel happy and glad to be here, in that space and time."

"I'm not a genius, so I'll keep creating."

Recently, on the NHK program "Professional," at the beginning there was a comment made that "two seconds after serving the food, I already regret it."

"I wasn't able to express it clearly on the show, but the moment I serve a dish, I think about how I can do better next time. So, I'm constantly negotiating whether to serve this dish or not. That feeling became the word 'regret'.

That's why I often told the people in charge of the show, 'I'm not a genius, so I'd like to become one. But since I can't become one, I have no choice but to keep creating.'"

It was also impressive to hear him say that among the three-star Michelin restaurants in Paris, "we're probably at the bottom."

"One reason is that our store is still young. Also, our customers have memories with them, so that's something we can't do anything about. Because history can't be bought with money.

In that case, the only thing we can create is the future.

That being said, even if I were to recreate Alain Ducasse's dishes and make the same dishes, there's no way I could compete with him because he has the history, the space, and everything else.

After all, we have to win here while pursuing what our strengths are.

There are 10 three-star restaurants in Paris, including Alain Ducasse and Guy Savoy.

In that situation, you're going to be competing for customers, and you have to do whatever it takes to get them and get good reviews.

To do this, first of all, you need to stay consistent and keep doing the same thing all the time.

Something is always happening in life, isn't it? I think the only thing I can do is to keep surpassing myself. So, what will I be able to see in the future? What kind of scenery will I see? I want to know that."

Three Michelin stars and "Grand Maison Paris"

Have you ever been on an NHK program?

"The one thing I definitely wanted to include was our team. Because it's because of our team that I am who I am today.

For example, Alain Ducasse and his team are in the big leagues. They're all full of stars no matter where you look. If you compare us individually, we're really weak. But when you look at it as a team, we might be able to compete with Ducasse. I think that's our strength."

It's amazing that they've maintained three Michelin stars since 2020. Is there ever a moment when they can let their guard down?

"I haven't felt that way since I got my first star in 2014. But since I got three stars, the pressure has gotten even stronger.

If you ask me what makes me strong, it's not just jealousy, but also the high expectations. It makes me really happy when customers from Japan come and tell me, 'We are the pride of Japan.' That gives me the energy to move forward. At the same time, when it all piles up, the responsibility is heavy."

How was filming the movie "Grand Maison Paris"?

"I was chatting with an actor who is well known in Japan, and he asked me, 'How do you motivate yourself?' And he replied, 'You don't want to lose. You're competitive. That's all.'

I can really relate to that.

He lives his life unwaveringly. But it is precisely because he is unwavering that he is criticized and praised. He keeps repeating this cycle.

I can't lose to him either, and even though we have different professions, I want to be a good rival to him."

Changes in gastronomy over the past decade

Next, we spoke to Philippe Faure. It has been 10 years since you founded La Liste. How do you feel gastronomy has changed in that time?

"La Liste currently draws information from 1200 sources, giving us the advantage of being able to grasp the big picture.

Instagram has had the biggest impact in the last decade. It has established that we eat with our eyes. We are visually driven and drawn to food above all else.

This trend has always existed, but it has intensified, and it seems that chefs are increasingly competing on appearance rather than taste.

So what happens is that cuisine becomes homogenized all over the world.

Using bright yellow, red, or blue, or scattering flowers, the dishes are visually appealing, and so plain ingredients like potatoes and celery lose their place.

The Michelin Guide itself has been influenced by this trend. It seems that young people, chefs from the younger generation, are increasingly being given these positions. That is my first point.

What is the second point?

"This is a contradictory move to the first point. I think we need to go back to the roots of our cuisine. For example, we need to modernize dishes that reflect the characteristics of each region, or the traditional dishes that our grandparents ate 50 or 100 years ago.

Therefore, there seems to be a trend emerging, especially among young chefs, to offer dishes with as authentic flavors as possible and traditional cuisine.

Specifically, they use local produce, fish, and various other ingredients. I also think that there is a trend now, especially among young people, for chefs from a particular region to stay in that area and showcase the unique cuisine of that region.

If we were to compare the first and second trends and see which one wins, the second one would clearly win. When it comes to taste over appearance, it's bound to win.

"15 to 20% of Michelin-starred restaurants go out of business every year. In fact, I think that restaurants that tend to serve dishes that look great on Instagram are among those 15 to 20%."

The true purpose of a restaurant

What are the other pros and cons of Instagram?

"Once you become known on Instagram, you tend to serve dishes that are a must-have.

A course meal usually consists of six to seven dishes: amuse-bouche, appetizer, fish, meat, and dessert.

However, even if I can't eat the mackerel that is on offer today, they might say, "Sorry, we don't have anything else." There is also a tendency to prioritize the convenience of the restaurant over the customer when creating dishes.

In reality, isn't the true purpose of a restaurant to serve a variety of dishes for customers to enjoy?

What you want to eat changes depending on your physical condition and mood at the time, such as wanting veal risotto, filet de poisson, or langoustine. One of the downsides of Instagram is that it lacks that kind of flexibility.

What I fear is that chefs tend to serve a dish for their own satisfaction. They force the customer to eat it. Ideally, they should ask the customer what they like and serve it to them.

How can La Liste contribute to the future of gastronomy?

"The features of our app are, 1) transparency, 2) a unique algorithm, 3) solid rankings, and 4) convenient tools.

Transparency has been a core priority for us since the beginning, and we use 1200 sources to ensure our list is as unbiased as possible.

The algorithm used to create this ranking is completely independent, with no money moving around behind the scenes. They don't actually go to restaurants and request anything, so it's completely independent. Of course, they also use AI technology, and they're proud of the database they've built up over the past 10 years. All of this combined makes for a reliable ranking.

This app is not yet widely known among the general public, but it has become extremely popular among professionals.

As a tool, it allows you to search for good restaurants in your area, no matter where you are in the world, even in a war zone. It's a very useful tool."

Special award recipients

Finally, I would like to introduce the other chefs who received special awards besides Kobayashi.

The winners were Amano Koichi of Tenzushi Kyomachi branch (Kitakyushu City) for the Traditional Craftsmanship Award, Sushi Meino's Kogo Watari (Minato Ward, Tokyo) for the Innovation Award, Yamaji Yuya and Tsuno Ippei of Dining 33 (Azabudai, Minato Ward) for the Game Changer Award, Suzuki Natsuki of Restaurant Naz (Karuizawa Town) for the Up-and-Coming Young Chef Award, Kanno Shinji of Avic (Aoyama, Minato Ward) for the Up-and-Community Promotion Award, Yuzaki Motohiro of Le Triskele (Hiroshima City) for the Up-and-Community Pastry Chef Award, Tanaka Shundai of Vert (Kagurazaka, Shinjuku Ward) for the Up-and-Community Promotion Award.

This is an award that makes you think that every detail has been taken care of.

(Honorific title omitted in the text)