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Auberge du Soleil, the iconic Michelin-starred restaurant (and winner of the Luxist Readers' Choice Award for Most Romantic Restaurant) and premier luxury resort is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a resort (30 years for the restaurant). Auberge du Soleil, which is Napa Valley's first fine-dining venue, helped transform the area into the must-see destination it is today for food, wine, and the beauty of wine country. In honor of this milestone, Auberge du Soleil will celebrate with a year of culinary offerings and experiences in addition to a fresh new look unveiled this month.

The first culinary offering features a "30-Year Journey Through Wine" list featuring 30 consecutive vintages from around the world as well as from the Napa Valley that was compiled by Wine Director Kris Margerum. This special list will be available through 2011 in addition to the more than 1,300 selections that are featured on Auberge du Soleil's standard comprehensive wine list.

Benoit New York, the highly acclaimed French bistro that is part of the Alain Ducasse restaurant empire, is offering fresh black Périgord truffles throughout the month of February. The truffles can be shaved over any dish offered on the menu that features classic French bistro cuisine for a supplemental cost of $9 for 5 grams, which is the actual cost to the restaurant. The truffle pairing will be available through the end of February.

Benoit Executive Chef Philippe Bertineau suggests enjoying the truffle garnish atop a selection of dishes. In addition to the Maine Lobster Salad and Tarte Flambée, the truffle shavings work well with the Filet Mignon and Hand-chopped Beef Tartare.

"One of the dishes I recommended serving with truffles is our Seasonal Local Vegetable Cookpot," says Chef Philippe Bertineau told Luxist. "The Cookpot is an oven-to-table porcelain dish that Alain Ducasse created with designer Pierre Tachon specifically for cooking and serving vegetables. It's a modern adaptation of the traditional cooking pot used in France's rural regions, and all of Chef Ducasse's restaurants around the world offer a seasonal vegetable Cookpot dish that's composed of local vegetables."

"For the Cookpot at Benoit, we wanted to create a vegetarian dish using root vegetables---our version includes parsnips, carrots, potatoes, sunchokes, rutabaga, celery root, butternut squash and chestnuts layered over a mushroom duxelles and finished with fresh black truffle," adds Chef Bertineau, the former Executive Chef of Balthazar who joined Benoit in October. "All of the vegetables are cooked together and served in the Cookpot, and it's a wonderful dish for the wintertime."

Hélène Darroze (above), who runs the chic eatery in her name at London's posh Connaught hotel, has just been awarded a second Michelin star making her the only female chef in the UK with two of the coveted étoiles under her toque. Gwyneth Paltrow, who lived at the Connaught for a month and was a regular visitor to the restaurant while renovating her house in London, is one of Darroze's biggest fans. Reinforcing the legendary Mayfair hotel's 114 year old legacy of fine dining, Darroze, a protegé of Alain Ducasse, has established a loyal following among other notables and gourmets as well with traditional dishes from her native Southwest France combined with the best seasonal ingredients from the British Isles.

Planning an escape to Switzerland and in need of a luxury hotel? Look no further than Swiss Deluxe Hotels , which is synonymous with exclusive quality and superlative standards.

Swiss Deluxe Hotels, more formally known as the Association of Swiss Deluxe Hotels, comprises 39 of the most prestigious five-star hotels in all of Switzerland, of which 17 are city hotels and 22 are resort hotels. Each property must be independently run, or as a member of a hotel chain, be mainly autonomous.

Member hotels include The Dolder Grand and the Savoy Baur en Ville in Zurich, the Gstaad Palace, the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues and the Le Richemond in Geneva (recently renovated and a member of the prestigious Rocco Forte Collection). In St. Moritz, members include the Suvretta House, the Carlton Hotel and Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St. Moritz (a Luxist Awards nominee for best international ski hotel).

Few fine restaurants boast a past as sordid as The French Laundry. Even so, the Yountville, Calif. eatery is consistently rated among the world's best, and is the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice winner in the best fine domestic dining category.

In the late 1880s, the building that currently contains the three Michelin star French Laundry was a humble saloon. When a town ordinance mandated that no alcohol be served within two miles of Yountville, the building was converted first into a brothel, then to a French steam laundry by the 1920s. In 1974, the town's mayor bought the laundry and converted it into a restaurant; twenty years later it was purchased by current owner and chef Thomas Keller.

Fewer than 100 restaurants in the entire world have received Michelin's coveted three-star rating, and even fewer enjoy the renown of Restaurant Guy Savoy. The Paris eatery is also the winner of a Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award in the best international fine dining category.

Guy Savoy opened his first Paris restaurant in 1980 at the age of 27. Within five years, Savoy had earned two Michelin stars and Savoy was well on his way to becoming one of the world's most celebrated chefs. In 1987, he moved into the current Restaurant Guy Savoy location on Rue Troyon-all the while helping to establish Nouvelle Cuisine, a lighter approach to French cooking. Savoy earned a third Michelin star in 2002 and soon expanded internationally, opening a Las Vegas location in 2006 (a Luxist Awards nominee in the Best Domestic category).

Fewer than 100 restaurants in the entire world have received Michelin's coveted three-star rating, and even fewer enjoy the renown of Restaurant Guy Savoy. As such, the Paris eatery is an easy choice as a nominee for a Luxist award in the best international fine dining category.

Guy Savoy opened his first Paris restaurant in 1980 at the age of 27. Within five years, Savoy had earned two Michelin stars and Savoy was well on his way to becoming one of the world's most celebrated chefs. In 1987, he moved into the current Restaurant Guy Savoy location on Rue Troyon-all the while helping to establish Nouvelle Cuisine, a lighter approach to French cooking. Savoy earned a third Michelin star in 2002 and soon expanded internationally, opening a Las Vegas location in 2006 (a Luxist Awards nominee in the Best Domestic category).

Of all the restaurants in Paris, none have matched Taillevent's 34 years of three-star Michelin glory. Though the restaurant only carries two stars these days, it's still among the best in the City of Lights-and an easy choice as a Luxist nominee in the best international fine dining category.

Taillevent was founded in 1946 by restaurateur André Vrinat, who decided to name his restaurant after a fourteenth century cook credited with writing the first French recipe book. Within two years of opening, Taillevent received its first Michelin star; its second came eight years after that. In 1962 Vrinat passed off the business to his son, who soon earned a third star for maintaining his father's vision of a grand traditional restaurant where owners greeted patrons and chefs stayed in the kitchen.

Although I'd never before been to the Schwarzwald, or the Black Forest, in Southwestern Germany, it felt immediately, and somewhat eerily familiar. It turns out that these woods were the setting for many of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, and as I drove from Baden Baden to my destination, Traube Tonbach hotel in Baiersbronn, I half expected to see Hansel and Gretel threading their way through the tall pine trees, or Little Red Riding Hood making her way to grandmother's house.

I didn't see any of those characters, but I did find a fantasy of food at Traube Tonbach. It does look a little like Ye Olde Hotel when you pull up to it, and that's because it is. The first lumberjacks were offered sustenance in 1789, and it's been a destination since the 1920s.

While you might not expect to find world-class cuisine in the middle of a fairy tale forest, and in a property that is an antique, albeit elegant and well-maintained, one of the hotel's restaurants Schwarzwaldstube is three star Michelin, and among the best in Germany. Young chefs come to train at the property, so even at the hotel's everyday dining room, you'll find a fresh touch is applied to traditional Swabian dishes, which can be somewhat heavy.

And no matter how sophisticated your palate, it's still something of a thrill to eat Black Forest ham and Black Forest cake in the Black Forest -- without fear of either wicked witches or wolves.

Today, Michelin released The Michelin Guide 2010 New York City Restaurants, with five establishments receiving three stars, its highest rating. The top rated restaurants include Daniel, Jean Georges (above), Le Bernardin, Masa and Per Se.

There were six restaurants earning two stars and 44 restaurants that earned one star. Three stars represents "exception cuisine, worth a special journey" while two stars is for "excellent cuisine, worth a detour". One star, which is still an excellent rating, is defined as "a very good restaurant in its category".

To rate restaurants and hotels around the world, Michelin employs a rigorous selection process that is applied independently and consistently. Indeed, in each of the 23 countries where it inspects restaurants and hotels, the selections are made by anonymous, professional inspectors who are Michelin employees. The inspectors pay all their bills in full.

While the Michelin Guide is known around the world for its famous stars, these restaurant account for just 10% of the selection in the New York City guide. The guide also includes a wide diversity of establishments, and includes small restaurants that offer a high-quality dining experience at an affordable price.

One useful section features "Inspectors' Favorites for Good Value", including a total of 85 affordable restaurants that offer two dishes, and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less. There is also a list of 109 restaurants selected by its experts that offer a meal under $25.

"The Michelin Guide has long been respected and the stars are what people love to talk about in the culinary world," says Jean-Luc Naret, director of the Michelin Guides. "But the Guide is so much more. It's filled with a year's worth of notes from the team of inspectors who set out to ensure the Michelin Guide provides an excellent mix of what readers truly want--a wonderful dining recommendation from trusted experts."

The Michelin Guide New York City 2010 is the fifth edition since Michelin began reviewing restaurants in New York. Its cover price is $17.95.

One great thing about the internet is that you can share your great neighborhood finds with others through sites like Spire, Yelp and others. The venerable Michelin guide is now seeking the wisdom of the crowds. Their new contest called "Michelin Discovery" lets anyone who goes to MichelinGuide.com to submit an entry on a discovery they've made using the new 2009 Michelin Guide. The entries should Be 150 words or less and each week Mchelin will choose one winner to receive a $150 gift certificate to use toward future dining experiences at restaurants in the Michelin guide. The content runs until December 31, 2008 and after that one grand prize winner will be chosen from the weekly winners and will win a trip for two to New York City, valued at $3500, which includes two nights at a NY hotel listed in the guide, two days of meals at restaurants listed in the Michelin guide plus $250 in transportation costs and $200 in spending money.

For the first time since it started in 1900, the Michelin Travel Guide has gone outside of Continental Europe to review. The legendary stars crossed the Atlantic and landed in New York City. The 2006 Michelin Guide is available now and most people, after getting a copy, go straight to the restaurant section to see who received how many stars. For those unfamiliar, it's a 3 star system and even 1 star means that you're not dealing with an Applebee's. For example, Aureole and Nobu each received 1 star. Of those receiving 2 stars, was restaurant Daniel, owned by uber-chef Daniel Boulud. Many thought that he was a shoe-in for 3 stars. However, the cosmic trifecta went to a sacred 4: Alain Ducasse, Jean-Georges, Le Bernardin, and Per Se. Now comes the hard part, keeping the stars!