Renowned chef weighs in on World's 50 Best Restaurants

The S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list will be announced on April 26 in London and renowned chef Thomas Keller of Per Se and The French Laundry weighs in on the "daunting task" of compiling the World's 50 Best Restaurants right now.

Keller, a perennial winner of the World's 50 Best Restaurants and the only American chef to have been awarded three Michelin stars for two restaurants at the same time offers up his thoughts on who should be honored this year via a video clip.

Here are his top five:

The Fat Duck, Berkshire, UK; Heston Blumenthal
elBulli, Roses, Spain; Ferran Adrià
St. John, London, UK; Fergus Henderson
Per Se, New York City, USA; Thomas Keller
The French Laundry, Napa Valley, USA; Thomas Keller

Plus others that Keller believes should be recognized:

Jean George, New York City, USA; Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Daniel, New York City, USA; Daniel Boulud
Eleven Madison Park, New York City, USA; Daniel Humm
Coi, San Francisco, USA; Daniel Patterson
Rockpool, Sydney, Australia; Neil Perry
Tetsuya's, Sydney, Australia; Tetsuya Wakuda
Quay, Sydney, Australia; Peter Gilmore

Keller also mentions that three to five years down the line there could possibly be another Bouchon in the States but he won't be replicating The French Laundry or Per Se anytime soon. For those that are waiting for a Keller establishment outside of the United States, it will be a much longer wait because keller has stated that talent and product sourcing is a challenge out of his comfort zone - but not out of the realm of possibilities.

The S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list is announced annually and based on its academy's votes. The academy is comprised of international food critics, restaurateurs, writers and chefs. Nathan Garnett, director of S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants 2010, explained to Relaxnews that each member of the academy votes for their top five restaurants with the criteria that voters are to have dined at the restaurants within a period of 18 months and two votes are to be given to restaurants outside the voters' geographic locale.

To see if Keller's selection make the top 50, look for updates on April 26-27 at: http://www.theworlds50best.com

Hear what Keller had to say about each of the restaurants, his team, friends and peers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgqF3jb5p7U&