Massimo Bottura, chef of acclaimed Modena restaurant Osteria Francescana reclaimed the no 1 spot in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list 2018 when it was announced in Bilbao. El Celler de Can Roca, the restaurant of the Roca brothers placed second while Mauro Colagreco of Mirazur in Menton clinched third place.
Eleven Madison Park, the restaurant which clinched top spot in 2017 placed fourth.
After winning the award, Massimo Bottura said his first thoughts were with his teams in Modena and Florence but also Refettorio, the soup kitchen in Paris who sent him a photo saying they were all routing for him. “We built this together,” he told the audience. “I am not going to disappoint you. I will use this spotlight to show that chefs in 2018 are much more than the sum of their recipes. We can have a loud voice for change,” said the Italian chef.
His wife Lara Gilmore said that it was an honour to win the award adding that all those present were winners because this was one of the most amazing industries to work in.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is sponsored by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. The event took place in Bilbao in Spain’s Basque Country, one of Europe’s finest gastronomical regions.
Europe was in the spotlight clinching the top 3 places but the list is becoming more global with the additions of countries like Slovenia and Turkey in the top 50 though the Netherlands and Belgium lost their spot on the list.
The female chef of the year Clare Smyth said it was an honour to receive the award. “I’ve often been asked why we lack female chefs and why there is a lack of diversity in the industry and I don’t have the answers. For the last 10 years, I’ve been asked what it is like to be a female chef. I am not sure what you mean because I never was a male chef,” she said. “The role of a chef is not gender specific. We must encourage people from all backgrounds as we do not have enough people and skills. We need to make it a more pleasant working environment to remove barriers and to have gender balance,” she said.
Other awards went to Dan Barber who won the Chef’s Choice Award, Cedric Grolet who won the World’s Best Pastry Chef award and Gaston Acurio who won the Lifetime Achievement award.
The best restaurant in Asia went to Gaggan (in fifth place in the overall list) and Central in Lima Peru won best restaurant in South America.
The highest climber was Tokyo restaurant Den of chef Zaiyu Hasegawa. There were a number of new entries including the highest new entry from Barcelona Disfrutar as well as Lyle’s from the United Kingdom, Odette in Singapore, Mikla in Turkey and Hisa Franko from Slovenia.
Belgian restaurant Hertog Jan which will close at the end of the year does not figure in the list (having also been dropped from the 51-100 list which was announced the previous week).
- 1. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy
- 2. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain
- 3. Mirazur, Menton, France
- 4. Eleven Madison Park, Best restaurant in North America
- 5. Gaggan, Bangkok, Thailand, Best restaurant in Asia
- 6. Central, Lima, Peru (Best restaurant in South America)
- 7. Maido, Lima, Peru
- 8. Arpege, Paris, France
- 9. Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain
- 10. Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain
- 11. Quintonil, Mexico City (Mexico)
- 12. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, New York, United States
- 13.Puyol, Mexico City, Mexico
- 14. Steirereck, Vienna, Austria
- 15. White Rabbit, Moscow, Russia
- 16. Piazzo Duomo, Alba, Italy
- 17. Den, Tokyo, Japan, Highest climber award
- 18. Disfrutar, Barcelona, Spain Highest new entry
- 19. Geranium, Copenhagen, Denmark, Hospitality Award
- 20. Attica, Melbourne, Australia (Best restaurant Australasia)
- 21. Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, Paris, France
- 22.Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan
- 23. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy
- 24. Ultraviolet, Shangai, China
- 25. Cosme, New York, United States
- 26. Le Bernardin, New York, United States
- 27. Borago, Santiago, Chile
- 28. Odette, Singapore
- 29. Alléno at Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris France
- 30. DOM, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- 31. Arzak, San Sebastian, Spain
- 32. Tickets, Barcelona, Spain
- 33. The Clove Club, London, United Kingdom
- 34. Alinea, Chicago, United States
- 35. Maemo, Oslo, Norway
- 36. Reale, Castel di Sangro, Italy
- 37. Tim Raue, Berlin, Germany
- 38. Lyle’s, London, United Kingdom new entry
- 39. Astrid y Gaston, Lima, Peru
- 40. Septime, Paris, France
- 41. Nihonryori RyuGin,Tokyo, Japan
- 42. The Ledbury, London, United Kingdom
- 43. Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Spain, Sustainable restaurant award
- 44. Mikla, Istanbul, Turkey new entry
- 45. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London, United Kingdom
- 46. Saison, San Francisco, United States
- 47. Schauenstein Schloss Restaurant, Switzerland
- 48. Hisa Franko, Slovenia new entry
- 49. Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand
- 50. The Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa (Best restaurant in Africa)
The list from 51 to 100 which was announced last week is the following.
- 51. De Librije, Zwolle, Netherlands
- 52. L’Astrance, Paris, France
- 53. Benu, San Francisco, USA
- 54. Suhring, Bangkok, Thailand
- 55. Don Julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 56. Amber, Hong Kong, China
- 57. Nerua, Bilbao, Spain
- 58. Brae, Birregurra, Australia
- 59. Florilege, Tokyo, Japan
- 60. Tegui, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 61. Burnt Ends, Singapore
- 62. Momofuku Ko, New York, USA
- 63. Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium
- 64. Sud777, Mexico City, Mexico
- 65. Frantzen, Stockholm, Sweden
- 66. Vendome, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
- 67. Faviken, Jarpen, Sweden
- 68. Quique Dacosta, Denia, Spain
- 69. Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, New York, USA
- 70. Selfie, Moscow, Russia
- 71. Relae, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 72. Twin Garden, Moscow, Russia
- 73. Aqua, Wolfsburg, Germany
- 74. The Fat Duck, Bray, UK
- 75. Belcanto, Lisbon, Portugal
- 76. Martin Berasategui, Lasarte-Ona, Spain
- 77. Elkano, Getaria, Spain
- 78. Mingles, Seoul, Korea
- 79. A Casa do Porco, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- 80. Lung King Heen, Hong Kong, China
- 81. Per Se. New York, USA
- 82. Hedone, London, UK
- 83. Estela, New York, USA
- 84. St John, London, UK
- 85. Le Coucou, New York, USA
- 86. The French Laundry, Yountville, USA
- 87. Mani, Sao Paolo, Brazil
- 88. Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Berlin, Germany
- 89. The Jane, Antwerp, Belgium
- 90. Indian Accent, New Delhi, India
- 91. SingleThread, Healdsburg, USA
- 92. L’Effervescence, Tokyo, Japan
- 93. 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong, China
- 94. Alo, Toronto, Canada
- 95. Enigma, Barcelona, Spain
- 96. Diverxo, Madrid, Spain
- 97. Atelier, Munich, Germany
- 98. 108, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 99. Leo, Bogota, Colombia
100. Lasai, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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