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The French Cafe voted 4th best restaurant in the world.

The French Cafe have been placed fourth in the Trip Advisor 2014 Travellers' Choice Restaurant Awards, based on 421 reviews of the Auckland restaurant by the travel website's users.

The Auckland restaurant has been owned by the husband-and-wife team - chef Simon Wright and restaurant manager Creghan Molloy Wright - since 1999.

Mr Wright said although the award added to a string of accolades, this was one of the most important.

"It might turn out to be the biggest we've ever won," he said.

Because it was based on customer reviews, it made them feel they were on the right track.

"We've always prided ourselves on being a very customer-focused restaurant and never really worried about fashions."

Mr Wright said his staff, numbering about 27 including a beekeeper and a gardener, were amazing.

"Everyone who works here deserves this as much as me and Cregh, we certainly couldn't do this without them, it's very much a team effort."

In March, Herald writer Carroll du Chateau gave the restaurant a 10/10 review, saying it "occupies a category of its own for ambience, cuisine, wine and a brilliant team of French waiters who make you feel a million dollars".

The French Cafe's fourth place TripAdvisor rating meant its contemporary European cuisine was rated ahead of many Michelin-starred heavyweights.

"When I go down that list and I see all the people who are below us or with us they're all the people I truly admire," Mr Wright said. "I feel very privileged to be on it."

Born in England, Mr Wright trained in London working in some "very fashionable restaurants" and doing time at hotels, Michelin-star restaurants and with world-class chefs such as Marco Pierre White, before moving to New Zealand in his early 20s.

The French Cafe has won countless domestic awards, including the supreme award in the 2013 Restaurant of the Year Awards.