Zagat

So the America's Top Restaurants guide from Zagat came out today. It's the only one that includes Cincinnati. Not surprisingly, Jean-Robert at Pigall's is highly-rated in it; 29 out of 30 points, making it one of the 11 top-rated in the book.

Which does not really mean that it's considered one of the 11 best restaurants in the country. Zagat is rated by the general public; people who have eaten at the restaurant, (at least that's the idea). Presumably most of the people who rated Pigall's were Cincinnatians. It's not like all the restaurants are rated by people who've directly compared restaurants around the country.

So what the rating really means is that Cincinatians love Pigall's more than people in other cities love their best restaurants.

Conversely, the same problem is true of other awards, like the James Beard Award, which is voted on by food writers and professionals who state that they've eaten at the restaurants they're voting for. That's why chefs and restaurants in Chicago win those awards. More of the voters have eaten in Chicago, so there's no direct comparison.

The Mobil awards may be flawed, but at least they're made by a national organization that thinks nationally and comparatively.

Pigall's membership in Relais and Chateaux is probably a bigger deal--though of course that organization inclueds only certain kinds of restaurants.