The World's Most Beautiful Restaurant Dishes in 2015

Feast your eyes on some of the most beautiful dishes from restaurants around the globe in 2015 —from California to Tokyo and everywhere in between. These eye-pleasing creations prove that the kitchen leaders in these restaurants were amazing artists.

San Francisco: Coi

Coi

© Maren Caruso

Dish: Inverted Cherry Tomato Tart

At Coi, visionary chef Daniel Patterson (a 1997 F&W Best New Chef) idolized produce in dishes like this upside-down tomatoes tart, in which quickly charred, peeled cherry tomatoes sat on a bed of pesto and were topped with a tomato puree (made in a whipped-cream dispenser) and a crispy olive tart shell.

Errenteria, Spain: Mugaritz

Mugaritz
Photo courtesy of Mugaritz.

Dish: Red Fruits From the Garden

A year's worth of experimentation went into Andoni Luis Aduriz's voluminous edible bubbles, made with sun-ripened berries and beetroot. The two-Michelin-starred Mugaritz was destroyed by a kitchen fire in February 2010, but Aduriz reopened it.

Paris: Pierre Gagnaire

Pierre Gagnaire

© Jacques Gavard

Dish: Les Cristaux de Vent ("Wind Crystals")

Legendary French chef Pierre Gagnaire gave the meringue a divine twist. He added water to the classic egg white and sugar mixture to make them ethereally light — a discovery by molecular gastronomist Hervé This — and shapes them into gorgeous-looking sticks.

Laguiole, France: Bras

Bras
Photo courtesy of Bras.

Dish: Gargouillou

This beautifully composed salad by the super-cerebral Michel Bras would feature up to 60 individually prepared vegetables, leaves, flowers, and seeds, which vary depending on the day.

New York City: Le Bernardin

Photo © Michael Turek

© Michael Turek

Dish: White Tuna Poached in Olive Oil

Seafood genius Eric Ripert juxtaposes the high and low in this playful dish of white tuna poached in olive oil, topped with delicate sea beans, crispy potato chips and a light red-wine béarnaise sauce.

Chicago: Alinea

Photography by Lara Kastner, Courtesy of Alineabook.com

Photography by Lara Kastner, Courtesy of Alineabook.com

Dish: Heart of Palm

At Alinea in Chicago, the always-forward-thinking Grant Achatz (a 2002 F&W Best New Chef) served hearts of palm stuffed with five fillings — from vanilla pudding to truffle-pumpernickel puree — on five separate pedestals.

Recipes by Grant Achatz

Yountville, California: French Laundry

French Laundry

© Deborah Jones

Dish: Confit of Moulard Duck "Foie Gras"

This dish by chef de cuisine Timonthy Hollingsworth at the renowned French Laundry combined carefully shaved frozen foie gras with pickled huckleberries and blossoms from the restaurant's garden.

New York City: Jean-Georges

Photo courtesy of Jean Georges Management

Dish: Eggs Caviar

Jean-Georges Vongerichten's elegant Eggs Caviar offered buttery, soft-scrambled eggs served in the shell, topped with whipped cream and a spoonful of caviar.

Paris: Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée

Alain Ducasse

© Aimery Chemin

Dish: Sea bream, citrus fruit/peppers, caramelized ventrèche

Among the haute dishes at French megachef Alain Ducasse's grand restaurant is this fish-and-citrus creation in which sea bream is prepared two ways and dotted with colorful cubes of lemon, yuzu and bergamot-flavored jelly.

New York City: Eleven Madison Park

Photo courtesy of Eleven Madison Park

Dish: Royal Sterling Caviar "Vichyssoise" of Caraquet Oysters

Daniel Humm (a 2005 F&W Best New Chef) of Eleven Madison Park juxtaposed extravagance (caviar pearls, oyster gelée) with classic French comfort food (a vichyssoise of potatoes and leeks) — all inside an oyster.

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