The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: The winners and losers
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| Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in the UK, No 5 last year and No 13 this year |
It will certainly make for some column inches in the papers, which may be part of the point with the awards getting bigger and bigger in recent years. It seems as if the World’s 50 Best Resturants has overtaken Michelin stars in terms of the amount of publicity generated. Unfortunately the shortcomings of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list seem even more pronounced than the Michelin review system.
Voting in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants is now carried out by a specially selected academy of 800 chefs, restaurateurs, food writers based in 28 separate regions around the world. To nominate a restaurant the academy member must have eaten at it in the previous 18 months.
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| Le Chateaubriand in France, No 9 last year, |
“It’s still not a perfect system – why are most of the restaurants in Asia ‘French/European’ restaurants and not Asian ones? Where is the recognition for those great places in Saigon, Beijing, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Kyoto? - but it’s the only one we have.”
There have already been rumbles by Jay Rayner about the “poor British showing” in the awards with only three restaurants in the top 50, but what about the poor Australian showing (1 restaurant – congratulations to Quay), poor China (1 restaurant) or poor India (0 restaurants)? Entire continents (Africa) have been ignored by the mainly English speaking academy.
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| The Fat Duck, UK, No 5 last year and No 13 this year |
2) El Celler de Can Roca, Spain
3) Mugartiz, Spain
4) D.O.M, Brazil
5) Osteria Francescana, Italy
6) Per Se, USA
7) Alinea, USA
8) Arzak, Spain
9) Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, UK
10) Eleven Madison Park, USA
11) Steirereck, Austria
12) L’Atelier Saint-Germain de Joël Robuchon, France
13) The Fat Duck, UK
14) The Ledbury, UK
15) Le Chateaubriand, France
16) L’Arpège, France
17) Pierre Gagnaire, France
18) L’Astrance, France
19) Le Bernardin, USA
20) Frantzen/Lindeberg, Sweden
21) Oud Sluis, The Netherlands
22) Aqua, Germany
23) Vendome, Germany
24) Mirazur, France
25) Daniel, USA
26) Iggy’s, Singapore
27) Les Creation De Narisawa, Japan
28) Nihonryori Ryugin, Japan
29) Quay, Australia
30) Schloss Schauenstein, Switzerland
31) Asador Etxebarri, Spain
32) Le Calandre, Italy
33) De Librije, The Netherlands
34) Fäviken Magasinet, Sweden
35) Astrid y Gaston, Peru
36) Pujol, Mexico
37) Momofuku Ssam Bar, USA
38) Biko, Mexico
39) Waku Ghin, Singapore
40) Quique Dacosta, Spain
41) Mathias Dahlgren, Sweden
42) Hof Van Cleve, Belgium
43) The French Laundry, USA
44) Amber, China
45) Vila Joya, Portugal
46) Il Canto, Italy
47) Bras, France
48) Manresa, USA
49) Geranium, Denmark
50) Nahm, Thailand
Category: Recipe - Breakfast
World’s 50 best is a popularity contest. It’s a completely different system from Michelin, so you need to use it for different purposes.
Obviously Michelin has their own slant, but you know that going in. If a Japanese company put out a review of French restaurants, how seriously do you think it would be taken?
If you’re looking for somewhere to splurge for a special occasion, Michelin is a much better bet. Generally with Michelin, if a restaurant is unchanged in standard from year to year, so is its rating. Some of the restaurants have had 3 michelin stars doing the same thing for 30 years (The Waterside Inn for example – which was fantastic). I doubt you’ll ever see them in the Top 50.
If you’re looking for somewhere new and/or unusual, the Top 50 is a better bet. If you’ve been to all the great restaurants in your town and want to find out what’s different, check the Top 50. If you want a name that will impress your friends, check the Top 50.
My opinion is that if you want to brag about the restaurant on Facebook, go Top 50. If you want a good meal (and possibly a better chance of getting a booking), go Michelin.
Great article Cara. I dined at Le chateaubriand on your reccomendation and loved it. I agree re previous comment and this being a popularity contest. I dined at an amazing restaurant called l’ami jean in Paris which almost deliberately goes against the top 50 grain and Michelin requirements (no crisp white tablecloths there) yet still remains one of my most amazing dining experiences – I can still taste the sweetbreads. It will never make one of these lists but is world class. Many young french (and other countries) chefs seem to be shunning the established evaluation criteria for a ‘great’ restauranta and I love this approach. Just need to make sure the twitterverse keeps me posted on where to find them!
thanks for the article.
I had a good old whinge about World’s Best 50 last year and (unsurprisingly) little has changed this year. The geographical spread and style of cuisines remain very limited. If the Japanese could actually give a toss about this award then they would be angry that the highest ranked restaurant in their country was at No.27. Laughable.
Great post. I’ve got mixed feelings about the results on this year’s list- and completely agree about Dinner vs Fat Duck. But… it does provide a new incentive to get to South America….
OMG I haven’t even eaten at 1, the horror!
Great article! I enjoy top restaurant lists (as I enjoy every kind of lists) but I wouldn’t say that I believe in it and I think one has to take it with a pinch of salt/not serious. I had very good meal at Mugaritz, but 3rd best restaurant? I probably had better food at e.g.roganic. and – does “best” automatically mean many courses and very expensive? (not for me, I can tell you that!)
Very thoughtful review and I do hope someone is listening too. Especially with the lack of Asian and Australian contributors present. The Marque’s and Tetsuya’s are at least 5-10 years outdated, which means I do agree too that it’s time for someone to show their receipts. The Miele Guide voting system has been evolving and becoming more fairer to fill in this missing gap lately, but then again not many people care about them.
Best restaurant in France = L’Atelier Robuchon.
Haha.
I also blogged this subject yesterday.
The more & more you look at this subject the bigger problem appears.
The real lack of transparency & the fact that William Drew seems to think that it’s OK for people not to have actually eaten in the restaurants they may vote for.
I think the title of my post sums it up perfectly: Worlds 50 Best, The culinary version of Eurovision.
Niall – Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. Interesting that you say a Michelin star gives you a better guarantee of a better meal. It’s certainly true that Michelin is more highly regarded by chefs (although apparently getting on World’s 50 Best is a great guarantee of business).
Poka – Now you have made me desperate to go to L’Ami Jean – sounds like just the sort of restaurant that I love. I agree Twitter and blogs are a great source for finding restaurant recommendations as well.
Love 2 Dine – Thanks
Mr Noodles – Yes Japan and Asia in general is sorely under-represented. Will have to go back and find your post from last year.
Tori – Well I’ve been to Brazil and still missed the restaurant listed there – I think a return trip is called for!
Andi – Oh no – immediate rectification required!
Ute – I love a list as well I must admit, who doesn’t? I agree as well, best is certainly not most expensive.
HK Epicurus – Shamefully I have not even heard of the Miele Guide – I think they need to work on their publicity!
Chef Hermes – I love the title. Interesting point you made in your post as well about Dinner being the post awards venue last year, then featuring heavily in the voting this year.
[...] help but want to know which restaurants had made the cut and which hadn’t. Of course as I’ve said before, this list, of all lists, is more ridiculous than most. [...]