Chef René Redzepi’s Noma, in Copenhagen, was judged best restaurant in the world for the past three years, but has now been deposed by El Celler de Can Roca of Girona, Spain.christian charisius/Reuters
El Celler de Can Roca has unseated Copenhagen's Noma as the best restaurant in the world. Edging up from No. 2 last year, the restaurant in Girona, Spain, replaced the three-time reigning champ for the top spot on the prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants list, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, on Monday.
The annual list is one of the most esteemed rankings in the culinary world, and is chosen by an academy of more than 900 restaurant-industry members based on their dining experiences over the previous 18 months.
El Celler de Can Roca, a modern Spanish restaurant headed by three brothers, head chef Joan Roca, head sommelier Josep and pastry chef Jordi, was chosen for what the academy describes as its "evolutionary approach and modern outlook."
"This family triumvirate and their teams create magic without undue theatrics," The World's 50 Best Restaurants said on its website. "Eating at El Celler is truly uplifting, with the warmth of the family dynamic all-pervasive."
Attending the awards at London's Guildhall was a who's who list of international culinary dynamos, including René Redzepi of Noma; New York chef Daniel Boulud, whose restaurant Daniel was named No. 29; Chicago chef Grant Achatz, whose restaurant Alinea (No. 15) was chosen for the Chefs' Choice award; and Magnus Nilsson of Swedish restaurant Faviken (No. 34). Although no Canadian restaurants made it onto the top 50, nor onto the extended best 100 restaurants list, a nod was given to Canadian head chef Jonny Lake of Heston Blumenthal's renowned restaurant The Fat Duck in Bray, England (No. 33).
The highest climber this year was Astrid y Gaston of Lima, which jumped a whopping 21 places to No. 14 from a year ago. And among the regional bests, D.O.M. of Sao Paulo, Brazil, fell two spots to No. 6, but still held onto its title of the Best Restaurant in South America, while Eleven Madison Park in New York claimed the Best Restaurant in North America, up five spots to No. 5.
Narisawa of Tokyo, which won the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants award, launched in February, was also selected on Monday as the recipient of the first ever Sustainable Restaurant Award for its use of largely organic products and its management of energy, water and waste. That award was granted to the most environmentally friendly and socially responsible restaurant, based on an audit by the Sustainable Restaurant Association. Narisawa also clinched the 20th place on the list.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Michelin-starred French chef Alain Ducasse, who has spent more than 30 years in the industry and whose restaurant empire spans three continents.
The Best Female Chef was awarded to Nadia Santini of Dal Pescatore in Mantova, Italy, and the One to Watch award, given to a restaurant not included on the list but which the academy deemed has enormous potential, was Cape Town, South Africa's The Test Kitchen.
THE WORLD'S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS
1. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain cellercanroca.com
2. Noma, Copenhagen noma.dk
3. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy osteriafrancescana.it
4. Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain mugaritz.com
5. Eleven Madison Park, New York elevenmadisonpark.com
6. D.O.M., Sao Paulo, Brazil domrestaurante.com.br
7. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London dinnerbyheston.com
8. Arzak, San Sebastian, Spain www.arzak.es
9. Steirereck, Vienna steirereck.at/restaurant
10. Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany schlossbensberg.com
11. Per Se, New York www.perseny.com
12. Frantzen/Lindeberg, Stockholm frantzen-lindeberg.com
13. The Ledbury, London theledbury.com
14. Astrid y Gaston, Lima astridygaston.com
15. Alinea, Chicago alinearestaurant.com
16. L'Arpège, Paris alain-passard.com
17. Pujol, Mexico City pujol.com.mx
18. Le Châteaubriand, Paris lechateaubriand.net
19. Le Bernardin, New York le-bernardin.com
20. Narisawa, Tokyo narisawa-yoshihiro.com
21. Attica, Melbourne, Australia attica.com.au
22. Nihonryori RyuGin, Tokyo nihonryori-ryugin.com
23. L'Astrance, Paris
24. L'Atelier Saint-Germain de Joël Robuchon, Paris joel-robuchon.net
25. Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium hofvancleve.com
26. Quique Dacosta, Denia, Spain quiquedacosta.es
27. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy calandre.com
28. Mirazur, Menton, France mirazur.fr
29. Daniel, New York danielnyc.com
30. Aqua, Wolfsburg, Germany restaurant-aqua.com
31. Biko, Mexico City biko.com.mx
32. Nahm, Bangkok comohotels.com/metropolitanbangkok
33. The Fat Duck, Bray, England thefatduck.co.uk
34. Faviken, Jarpen, Sweden favikenmagasinet.se
35. Oud Sluis, Sluis, Netherlands oudsluis.nl
36. Amber, Hong Kong amberhongkong.com
37. Vila Joya, Albufeira, Portugal vilajoya.com
38. Restaurant André, Singapore restaurantandre.com
39. 8 1/2 Otto E Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong ottoemezzobombana.com
40. Combal.Zero, Rivoli, Italy combal.org
41. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy piazzaduomoalba.it
42. Schloss Schauenstein, Furstenau, Switzerland schauenstein.ch
43. Mr & Mrs Bund, Shanghai, China mmbund.com
44. Asadore Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain asadoretxebarri.com
45. Geranium, Copenhagen geranium.dk
46. Mani, Sao Paulo, Brazil manimanioca.com.br
47. The French Laundry, Yountville , Calif. frenchlaundry.com
48. Quay, Sydney, Australia quay.com.au
49. Septime, Paris septime-charonne.fr
50. Central, Lima centralrestaurante.com.pe
Wency Leung