Saison Blasts Onto the World's 50 Best

Saison has jumped to #27 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants, up from #56 in last year's ranking. It's quite a leap for chef Joshua Skenes and his team at the three Michelin-starred restaurant, whose tasting menu now costs $398 per person (plus tax and service).

The only other Bay Area chef to take home a prize was Dominique Crenn, who won Best Female Chef in the World; her two Michelin-starred restaurant Atelier Crenn, however, did not win a place in the top 100 this year. In fact, no restaurants solely led by female chefs made the top 50, though two co-led by women Elena Arzak (Arzak, Spain) and Pia Leone (Central, Peru) were honored.

The World's 50 Best Restaurants is an oft-criticized (but still very powerful) restaurant ranking organization, with a network of judges across the globe. Once known as "San Pellegrino's World's 50 Best Restaurants," the list is a who's-who of mostly high-end restaurants. Until this year, the Bay Area's only top 50 dweller was The French Laundry, which was demoted to #83 when the list of restaurants 51-100 were released earlier this month. Saison, notably, was not on that list at all, fueling (rightful) speculation that top 50 was in its future. Check out the full list of winners here.