Daniel Drops Off the World's 50 Best List, Still Lands in the Top 100

Today the 50 restaurants that didn't quite make the cut for the annual World's 50 Best Restaurants list were announced. Among numbers 51 to 100 on San Pellegrino's prestigious ranking were five New York City restaurants: Estela, Daniel, Momofuku Ko, Masa, and the Nomad.

Momofuku Ko and the Nomad were both on the long list last year too (at number 70 and 68, respectively). Both climbed the list one spot this year, with Ko landing at 69 and the Nomad at 67. Estela is brand new to the list this year, coming in at number 90.

Meanwhile, Momofuku Ssam Bar, Marea, and Jean-Georges, which were all in the 51-100 category last year, have dropped off the list. But the biggest drop this year is Daniel Boulud's fine dining flagship, Daniel, which has made it into the top 50 in past years, along with Per Se, Le Bernardin, and Eleven Madison Park. Last year it dropped from number 29 to number 40, but that was nothing compared to this year's dive all the way down to number 80. That's the second demotion handed down to Daniel in the past year – just last September it got knocked down from three Michelin stars to two. And two years ago this summer was the infamous Pete Wells review, when the Times critic bumped the restaurant from four stars to three stars.

We'll know who made the top 50 – and see if there are any other surprises, when the 50 Best list is announced next week.