There are definitely restaurants that change a countries fine dining food culture (and trickle down to mass markets). But are there really that many even in a country as large as the US? Surely the restaurant needs to drive a real change in chefs styles and the type of food discerning diners expect…?
Chez Panisse is definitely a strong candidate for the US, maybe The French Laundry as well, and a David Chang place. I would say that somewhere like El Bulli would be a place that defined the rise of high end Spanish food. Maybe Alain Chapel’s restaurant in France with Nouvelle Cuisine. The River Cafe in the UK for produce driven food. And in Australia Rockpool (in conjunction with Tetsuya’s and The Grange Cheong Liuew)) as they championed East/West fusion.
As to BBQ (and Burgers, Steak restaurants, red sauce Italians etc) I think that is a style of food that evolve and grow in complexity rather than a pioneering chef changing a food culture. BBQ for example is a bedrock food that ebbs and flows with fashion but is always there.
A cuisine changing restaurant is the one (or two) you can point to that started a food movement e.g. Nouvelle Cuisine in France; Farm to Table in the US; East/West (Mod Oz) fusion in Australia; and ingredient driven food rather than technique driven in the UK.
