The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2013 ceremony happened last night at Guildhall in London. There was a lot of drama and hype surrounding the list this year and I think the list is quite interesting. There are some new entries and some from last year have disappeared. In my view, more importantly, there are more entries from developing nations.
The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2013 were sponsored by Diners Club International; which proclaims, “If you believe culture can be tasted, you belong.” The top 50 list is a reflection of the finest dining establishments in the World and is selected by The Diners Club Worlds 50 Best Restaurants Academy, comprised of more than 900 leading chefs, food journalists and gourmands around the world.
The night went off without a hitch. I was following the events here in Southern Africa and only wish I could have been at such a unique event.
I was really happy to see El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain reach lofty heights as the best restaurant in the world. I ate there last fall and the food was obviously delicious. Noma in Copenhagen didn’t fall much from last year, only down to #2 on the list and most surprisingly to me was Eleven Madison Park in New York City ranked in at #5 on the list and as the top American restaurant.
This year 37 of the 50 restaurants were from Europe, America and Japan; which is down from 42 last year. It is nice to see some more recognition going to developing nations like Peru, Mexico and Brazil. I was also pleased to see Hong Kong and Australia both had two restaurants that made the list.
Then of course there was Alain Ducasse, who received a lifetime achievement award for innovation in French cuisine and indisputable influence over today’s generation of chefs and restaurateurs around the globe.
Alain accepted the award with humility, graciously stating, “My first thought goes to Paul Bocuse, this award’s very first recipient. Through him, I also think of the generations of chefs who have preceded me and to whom I feel the heir and successor. At the same time, I still feel like a young man and remain much more interested by the work to be done than by that already accomplished.”
If you also want to be on the top list, upgrade your whole restaurant system, you may even use restaurant pos systems-built to simplify operations and delight your customers.
So now that there is a new worlds 50 best restaurants 2013 list, I am going to start planning my trips around where I want to eat. This list gives me something to shoot for as well. A few of the restaurants from the 2012 list that I had been to have dropped off this year so I have some new work to do!
What are your thoughts on the list? How many have you been to? What’s your favorite restaurant?
Disclaimer: I did receive financial compensation for writing this article. All words and opinions are mine and written by me.
Yay Girona is #1!
Well deserved…great restaurant…I don’t love the town though
Mugaritz in San Sebastian is amazing, it’s definitely my favorite
Thanks Antonio…will definitely give it a shot when I go back to San Sebastian. I haven’t been there since July 2000!
Its a great list to debate and better than the normal books of ratings but I do wonder sometimes about Chef notoriety winning out over actual quality. You apparently need to try a place to nominate it but have each of these people tried each place? If so, in London there is no way Heston Blumenthals’ Dinner comes out in front of the Ledbury and in while I thought Dinner was good I wouldn’t even put it in my top 10-20 restaurants ever and I’ve only had a handful from the overall list.
Would love to see this same lists for restaurants where you didn’t want to blow the bank maybe under $200 spend with drinks for a couple, would be a very different list. Will be in Catalonia though in May and will try to get to El Celler De Can Roca.
Good comment Mike and yes lists are always flawed based on who is judging, how they are judged. Especially something like this because nobody could have tried them all and what about the thousands of places that weren’t named. Again, the list is cool and fun to stir up conversation which is exactly what it’s doing!
Are you shocked about Eleven Madison Park being so high or not as high as you thought?
Bella, I am shocked it’s so high. I have eaten there 2-3 times and it wouldn’t even be in my top 10 in New York let alone the world.
That sounds like it was a fun event. Is this official in any way shape or form about it being the #1 restaurant in the world?
Gene, I believe this is official as it gets…again all lists are flawed but this seems to be pretty much universally accepted and adhered to.
All about Spain, France and Italy
Ya Erin, they are definitely well represented…to be expected though
Now I have some travel plans to make! Which of these is your favorite Lee?
French Laundry should be higher I think. Not that I’ve been to the other 49 but…
Any places on this list that you’re going to try to dine at next?