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In a glassed-in dining room in Spain's Basque country, the superascetic Andoni Luis Aduriz sends out reverential odes to produce harvested from surrounding fields and nearby woods, such as his famous potatoes encased in a brittle shell made with edible white clay and lactose, and sun-ripened red fruit with beet bubbles (pictured).

Recipes from the Basque region of Spain:
Avocado and Frisée Salad with Cheese-Filled Eggplant Rolls
Crab Salad Montadito (open-faced sandwich)

Sadly, El Bulli served its last meal on July 30, 2011. But while it was open, the restaurant had a cultlike following, and its chef, Ferran Adrià, was known as "the Salvador Dalí of the kitchen." His inventive cooking techniques challenged conventional notions of how food should look, taste, and feel. Each year, some two million diners angled for a reservation at El Bulli, which was only open half the year; for the other half, Adrià retreated to a workshop to perfect dishes like the "red mullet mummy." Perhaps he's there even now.

Recipes from the Catalan region of Spain:
Leeks Romesco with Crumbled Garrotxa Cheese
Pan con Tomate y Manchego

At the Michelin three-starred Fat Duck in the English village of Bray, Heston Blumenthal subverts traditional notions of taste and texture with ingenious dishes like smoked bacon-and-egg ice cream and cauliflower risotto accented with chocolate jelly.

Traditional British Recipes:
Fish and Chips
Quick Steak and Kidney Pie
Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake

René Redzepi is out to define New Nordic cuisine at Copenhagen's Noma. His inspired, personalized vision is fiercely regional: He cooks with North Atlantic seafood and game, like deep-sea crabs from the Faeroe Islands and musk ox from Greenland (The pictured dish is Glazed Beetroot with Smoked Ox-Bone Marrow). One of his more sensational dishes involves edible "soil" made from malted grains.

Traditional Nordic Recipes:
Smorgastarta
Berry Pudding with Cream (Rødgrød med Fløde)

Thomas Keller (an F&W Best New Chef 1988), probably the most esteemed chef in America, is worshipped for his supremely refined, whimsical dishes at Napa Valley's French Laundry. Among his most heralded dishes is the luxurious Oysters and Pearls: oysters and white sturgeon caviar laid on a bed of tapioca pearls and sabayon.

Other Recipes from Thomas Keller:
Gruyère Cheese Gougères
Bouchon Bakery's Hot Chocolate

Seiji Yamamoto's blend of traditional kaiseki with the avant-garde is so innovative that even superstar chef Ferran Adrià traveled to eat in this tiny Tokyo restaurant. Yamamoto's favorite new dish: wild Magamo duck from the Kagoshima prefecture seared over charcoal, smoked over straw, and served with freshly grated wasabi and soy sauce.

Traditional Japanese Recipes:
Broiled Salmon with Miso Glaze
Tofu Hot Pot

The only indication of what's behind an unassuming door in Tokyo's Akasaka business district is the word Takazawa etched on its handle. There, young Yoshiaki Takazawa mans his pristine two-table restaurant, concocting elaborate, precise dishes like the steaming "fish and chips" — seasonal fish and potatoes coated with homemade breadcrumbs and served with a black mayonnaise mousse.

Modern Japanese Recipes:
Mustard-Glazed Chicken with Arugula and Bok Choy
Salmon and Whole-Wheat Noodles in Ginger Broth

It's only fitting that Davide Scabin's restaurant is located in Piedmont, Italy's Castello di Rivoli contemporary art museum: The chef's provocative dishes often resemble performance art. For instance, his Piolakit includes Piedmontese classics like bagna cauda served in mini-jars with vials of Barolo housed in a cardboard box.

Recipes from the Piedmont region of Italy:
Bagna Cauda
Red-Wine Risotto

Top chefs make the pilgrimage to Pierre Gagnaire's eponymous restaurant in the Hôtel Balzac, in Paris's Right Bank, to experience his daring and technically dazzling takes on French classics, like braised veal with raspberry and sorrel.

Classic French Recipes:
Easy Cassoulet
Veal Chops au Poivre
Crème Fraîche Ice Cream

Many chefs may espouse the farm-to-table mantra, but few take it as seriously as Dan Barber (an F&W Best New Chef 2002). At Blue Hill at Stone Barns, 30 miles north of New York City, Barber cooks primarily with meat, poultry, and produce raised and grown from the 80 acres around the restaurant and from his family's farm in Massachusetts.

Recipes from Dan Barber:
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Pistachios
Pancetta and Sesame-Coated Turnips

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