El Celler De Can Roca Unseats Noma As The World's Best Restaurant
Since 2002, Restaurant Magazine has annually assembled a list of the world's 50 best restaurants, based upon the opinions of "over 900 international restaurant industry experts." This afternoon, the 2013 rankings, sponsored by S. Pellegrino, were officially announced in London, with the number-one slot going to El Celler de Can Roca in the Spanish Catalan city of Girona. Copenhagen's celebrated Noma has held the prime position for the past three years, supplanting the now-closed elBulli, also in the Catalan region. Click here to watch Noma's chef Rene Redzepi discuss his thoughts on the rating system.
According to the voting academy's manifesto, "There is no pre-determined check-list of criteria; for example an interesting experience in a simple establishment, where exceptional innovation was discovered, could be judged better than a more opulent meal from a widely feted restaurant team. The results are a simple computation of votes." Our Editorial Director Colman Andrews took issue with this rather haphazard and subjective approach to assembling the list a couple years ago, but it's still widely regarded to be, alongside the Michelin guides (which don't cover many of the countries whose establishments are included here), a definitive list of the world's best (here's last year's list).
The list of restaurants was leaked about an hour early, by a few foreign newpapers. Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana in Modena occupies third place (check out our four part interview with the chef here), followed by another Spanish restaurant, Mugaritz in San Sebastián. New York City's Eleven Madison Park is the only American restaurant in the top 10 (Per Se came in at #11). Other American restaurants include Alinea (#15; chef Grant Achatz, our American Chef of the Year for 2011, also received the Chef Choice Award), Le Bernardin (#19), Daniel (#29), and The French Laundry (#47). It's also worth noting that chef David Chang's Momofuku Ssam Bar is no longer represented in the top 50 list (last year it ranked 37th), although his Momofuku Ko came in at #93 and Momofuku Seiōbo in Australia ranked 86th.
Here's the full list:
1. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain
2. Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy
4. Mugaritz, San Sebastián, Spain
5. Eleven Madison Park, New York City
6. D.O.M., São Paulo, Brazil
7. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London, Great Britain
8. Arzak, San Sebastián, Spain
9. Steirereck, Vienna, Austria
10. Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
11. Per Se, New York City
12. Frantzén/Lindeberg, Stockholm, Sweden
13. The Ledbury, London, Great Britain
14. Astrid y Gastón, Lima, Perú
15. Alinea, Chicago
16. L'Arpège, París, France
17. Pujol, Mexico City, Mexico
18. Le Chateaubriand, París, France
19. Le Bernardin, New York City
20. Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan
21. Attica, Melbourne, Australia
22. Nihonryori RyuGin, Tokyo, Japan
23. L'Astrance, París, France
24. L'Atelier Saint-Germain de Joël Robuchon, París, France
25. Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium
26. Quique Dacosta, Dénia, Spain
27. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy
28. Mirazur, Menton, France
29. Daniel, New York City
30. Aqua, Wolfsburg, Germany
31. Biko, Mexico City, Mexico
32. Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand
33. The Fat Duck, Bray, Great Britain
34. Fäviken, Järpen, Sweden
35. Oud Sluis, Sluis, Belgium
36. Amber, Hong Kong, China
37. Vila Joya, Albufeira, Portugal
38. Restaurant Andre, Singapore
39. 8 1/2 Otto E Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong, China
40. Combal.Zero, Rivoli, Italy
41. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy
42. Schloss Schauenstein, Fürstenau, Switzerland
43. Mr. & Mrs. Bund, Shanghai, China
44. Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain
45. Geranium, Copenhagen, Denmark
46. Mani, São Paulo, Brazil
47. The French Laundry, Yountville, Calif.
48. Quay, Sydney, Australia
49. Septime, París, France
50. Central, Lima, Peru