Some of the capital's best-known restaurants are off the menu for gourmands after being snubbed in an influential list of the top eateries.

The knives are out in the hospitality industry after some of our most exclusive venues failed to make the final cut in the Dubliner 100 Best Restaurants 2010 guide.

The Herald can exclusively reveal that among those left off the 2010 list are Dunne & Crescenzi, Vermilion, Still at the Dylan Hotel, Elephant & Castle and the Four Seasons restaurant Seasons.

Other notable absentees are Les Freres Jacques, La mere Zou, Leon, and Yamamori.

According to the magazine's Paul Trainer, some of the restaurants have been on the list since 2002 but have not made it this year due to the highly competitive times.

"People demand value now more than ever and many of these places are over-priced and have poor service. There's a few places that haven't reacted to the times and there's no point celebrating them any more," he said.

"A lot of the places are stuck back in 1997 and you can't run a whole restaurant based on the quality of your chicken wings. Places like Les freres Jacques have been on the list for the past seven years but it's gone now. We have also swapped cafe bar Deli's city centre restaurants in favour of its Ranelagh branch.

"One of the big trends we saw was that increasingly, people are going to their reliable neighbourhood restaurants in the suburbs instead of trekking into town for some over-rated landmark place.

"People have spent a lot of money creating these rarefied dining rooms without realising customers don't want these affectations -- it's all about the food and the ambiance."

Given the troubled times for the restaurant industry, Mr Trainer added how it was imperative to be extremely critical when it came to selecting the final 100.

"The whole idea is that we're starting from scratch this year and places have to meet certain criteria when it comes to excellent service, food and general atmosphere -- somewhere you're going to have a good time."

There was plenty of good news for some newcomers though, with Marco Pierre White's Dawson Street eatery making it on, as well as Nick Munier's Pichet; Ten Fourteen in Clontarf; Green Nineteen; Monty's of Kathmandu, The Pig's Ear; King Sitric, Le Bon Crubeen and Soup Dragon.

Tonight will see the official unveiling of the new tome with a bash in the Westin Hotel, where Mr Trainer will also present the Santa Rita's People's Choice Award for Dublin's most popular restaurant.

Voted for by the public, previous winners include Chapter One, Jo'Burger and L'Gueuleton.

The Chef's Chef Award will also be dished out, with Derry Clarke, Sebastian Masi, Ross Lewis and Kevin Thornton all on the shortlist.

mfinn@herald.ie

- Melanie Finn