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Sydney voted the top place to eat

ONE of the biggest-selling newspapers in the US has declared Sydney the best place on earth to eat.

In a long review, The Los Angeles Times raved to its 3.5 million readers about Sydney's restaurants and chefs.

"Oz at the head of the table," was the headline on the front page of the Los Angeles Times' well-read travel section.

The review was the latest in a series by the newspaper's critics and columnists, who were asked to "review the best places on earth to pursue their particular passions".

Fashion writer Booth Moore picked Milan as the greatest place to shop and music critic Robert Hilburn anointed Lon-don the best rock scene.

LA Times food critic Irene Virbila selected Sydney as the No 1 place to eat.

"When the Times asked me where I'd most like to go to eat in the world, I zeroed in on Sydney," Virbila wrote.

The critic's three page story praised many of Sydney's top restaurants, including Sailor's Thai, bill's, Icebergs on Bondi Beach, Sean's Panorama, Long-rain, The Book Kitchen, Marque Restaurant, Billy Kwong, Spice I Am, Pier, Fish Face, Tetsuya's and The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay.

Virbila also noted how Sydney restaurants with great harbour or ocean views, such as Icebergs, avoided being "tourist traps" where the quality of the food failed to match the setting.

"Not only are those restaurants-with-a-view astonishing - by rights, they needn't be very good at all - but Sydney also has enticing candidates of nearly every ilk, including high-concept French, serious seafood houses, contemporary Asian, and cafes that serve breakfast with such sunny optimism you feel nothing can go wrong again. Ever," she wrote.

She pondered why Australian chefs were so good.

"In the States, Australian food is construed as fusion. Far from it.

"Young American chefs love to take a taste from here, another from there and mix it up into one big Asian stew, often without knowing much about the cuisines they're fusing. Australian chefs tend to keep it pure and cook Thai or Chinese or Vietnamese with a logic and integrity that are impressive."