Plan B Forum

The list: The World's Top 50 Restaurants 2013

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, USA
6 D.O.M. São Paulo, Brazil
7 Dinner by Heston Blumenthal London, UK
8 Arzak San Sebastián, Spain
9 Steirereck Vienna, Austria
10 Vendôme Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
11 Per Se New York, USA
12 Frantzén/Lindeberg Stockholm, Sweden
13 The Ledbury London, UK
14 Astrid y Gastón Lima, Peru
15 Alinea Chicago, USA
16 L’Arpège Paris, France
17 Pujol Mexico City, Mexico
18 Le Chateaubriand Paris, France
19 Le Bernardin New York, USA
20 Narisawa Tokyo, Japan
21 Attica Melbourne, Australia
22 Nihonryori RyuGin Tokyo, Japan
23 L’Astrance Paris, France
24 L’Atelier Saint-Germain de Joël Robuchon Paris, 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, USA
30 Aqua Wolfsburg, Germany
31 Biko Mexico City, Mexico
32 Nahm Bangkok, Thailand
33 The Fat Duck Bray, UK
34 Fäviken Järpen, Sweden
35 Oud Sluis Sluis, Netherlands
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, USA
48 Quay Sydney, Australia
49 Septime Paris, France
50 Central Lima, Peru

51 Pierre Gagnaire Paris, France
52 Manresa Los Gatos, USA
53 The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français Franschhoek, S.Africa
54 La Grenouillère La Madelaine sous Montreuil, France
55 Mathias Dahlgren Stockholm, Sweden
56 Restaurant Relae Copenhagen, Denmark
57 De Librije Zwolle, Netherlands
58 Coi San Francisco, USA
59 Viajante London, England
60 Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet Shanghai, China
61 The Test Kitchen Cape Town, South Africa
62 La Vie Osnabrück, Germany
63 Blue Hill At Stone Barns Westchester, USA
64 Martin Berasategui Lasarte-Oria, Spain
65 Iggy’s Singapore
66 Gaggan Bangkok, Thailand
67 Chez Dominique Helsinki, Finland
68 Waku Ghin Singapore
69 Bras Laguiole, France
70 Hedone London, UK
71 St John London, UK
72 In De Wulf Dranouter, Belgium
73 Caprice Hong Kong, China
74 Dal Pescatore Canneto sull’Oglio, Italy
75 Lung King Heen Hong Kong, China
76 Malabar Lima, Peru
77 Tickets Barcelona, Spain
78 Hertog Jan Bruges, Belgium
79 Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée Paris, France
80 Roberta Sudbrack Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
81 Les Amis Singapore
82 Ristorante Cracco Milan, Italy
83 Die Schwarzwaldstube Baiersbronn, Germany
84 Pollen Street Social London, UK
85 Tantris Munich, Germany
86 Momofuku Ssäm Bar New York, USA
87 Zuma Dubai, UAE
88 Hotel de Ville Crissier, Switzerland
89 Momofuku Seiobo Sydney, Australia
90 Bo Innovation Hong Kong, China
91 Masa New York, USA
92 La Petite Maison Dubai, UAE
93 Momofuku Ko New York, USA
94 La Maison Troisgros Roanne, France
95 Quintessence Tokyo, Japan
96 Le Louis Xv Monte Carlo, France
97 Spondi Athens, Greece
98 Jean Georges New York, USA
99 Le Meurice Paris, France
100 Varvary Moscow, Russia



The World's 50 Best, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, is organised and published by Restaurant Magazine.

When Jordi Roca visited Australia last year as part of Crave Sydney International Food Festival, the youthful dessert chef proved a huge hit with World Chef Showcase audiences, despite his limited command of English.



His presentation included detailed videos showing the preparation of the elaborate and highly technical dishes he creates for the final courses at el Celler de Can Roca, the 26-year-old restaurant he shares with his older brothers Joan and Josep. These include his intricately beautiful "flower bomb" – a transparent sugar bubble containing rose custard, camomile sorbet, crystallised violets, jelly, honey, lychees and a cloud of purple fairy floss.

The El Celler de Can Roca team accepting their award at the World's 50 Best, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. Photo: suppliedLater that weekend last October, after a collaborative dinner with three-hat chef Martin Benn of Sepia, Roca was found at midnight in the Sepia kitchen, once again screening his videos (from his laptop, open on the kitchen bench) to a rapt group of young sous-chefs and apprentices.



This private master class was testament not only to the generosity of the youngest Roca brother, but also to his supreme skill with all things sweet. He has also made desserts inspired by perfumes (and vice versa) and a famously interactive dish that replicated a goal scoring moment by his soccer hero, Lionel Messi of Barcelona – complete with a series of football players, and a goal net, made out of meringue.

It may all sound a bit wacky, but to eat at el Celler is far from challenging. It's essentially a delicious, ever-surprising experience. The restaurant itself is in an unpretentious part of Girona, in Catalonia, not far from the Costa Brava beloved of British and German tourists.

Alongside the simple eatery run by the Rocas' mother, brothers Joan and Josep opened el Celler in 1986. In 2007 a new venue – featuring lots of natural wood-glass walls looking out onto a pretty courtyard, and an extraordinary wine cellar – set them firmly on their path.

The three brothers are widely admired and respected. After the award was announced, elder statesman Basque chef Juan Mari Arzak (also consistently on the top 10 list and this year at number eight) expressed his pleasure and admiration for the trio.

"They have worked so hard and they truly deserve it," said his daughter and chef, Elena Arzak.



I ate at el Celler some years ago now but it stands out – along with Copenhagen's Noma, by the way, as well as Ferran Adria's el Bulli – as one of the most memorable dining experiences of my life. I still recall an almond and cherry gazpacho, with eel, a sandwich of lamb skin and fresh tomato and Jordi's amazing apricot-replica dessert – a crisp, "furry" ball of toffee filled with the most apricot-y ice-cream ever, that looked just like a real apricot fresh from the tree. I also remember visiting the cellar with Josep, who has created a number of experiential rooms, decorated to replicate the flavours of his favourite wine styles.

Joan Roca has assisted in pioneering a number of modern culinary techniques, including the use of sous-vide (vacuum sealing before poaching) as well as distillation – extracting the essence of an ingredient to use it in an altered form. And yes, famously, that includes a distillation of earth (aroma only), served with an oyster in a witty take on "surf and turf".

The Rocas entered the World's 50 Best list eight years ago and have held the number two spot several times – behind Noma for the past two years, and previously, behind their Catalan neighbour Ferran Adria. On the morning of yesterday's announcements, they held a news conference at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental hotel in London to explain their latest project.

It's an opera/performance/installation and multi-media experience set around a special dinner table, reserved for just 12 people. The menu and the wines are designed to replicate, provoke and enhance human emotion.

They launch the first of these dinner "happenings", known in Catalan as el Somni (the Dream), in early May in Barcelona. It's an ambitious idea that will cost . . . well, they weren't quite sure of that detail. It probably doesn't matter. Bookings at el Celler – already at a premium – won't be getting easier to secure any time soon.

Joanna Savill was a guest of S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, sponsors of the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards.

dales wrote:Congrats there, Gob (ask for a doggie bag).

btw: my daughter and son-in-law have been to number 52 and raved about the food and service.

When I was a 10 year old little kid (too young to appreciate fine cuisine) my parents took my sister and I to number 47. Why the hell would anyone name a place to eat "The French Laundry"? I was dissapointed that I couldn't get a hamburger.

rubato wrote:Strong geographic bias.

Thomas Kellar's main restaurant is #47 (which he has owned since dales was 11 in 1994) and his secondary restaurant is #11 in NY.

The list is bullshit. A handful of people mostly in a couple of cities made up a list. WGAF? it's a bigger world than that.


yrs,
rubato

What's the use of getting sober, when you're going to get drunk again.

You said you were at the French Laundry when you were 11.

It was only bought by Thomas Kellar and became a noteworthy restaurant in 1994. it was not even a restaurant (of no distinction) until 1978

rubato wrote: The list is bullshit. A handful of people mostly in a couple of cities made up a list. WGAF? it's a bigger world than that.

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is compiled from the votes of the "World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy", a group of 27 panels established to make the ranking. The world is divided into regions, with a chairperson in each region appointed for their knowledge of their part of the restaurant world. These chairs each selected a voting panel of 30 members, who cast a total of 5,859 votes.

There is no list of nominees; each member of the international voting panel votes for their own personal choice of 5 restaurants. To ensure that there are winners from many regions, they may vote for up to two restaurants in their own region, the remaining votes must be cast outside their home region. Nobody is allowed to vote for their own restaurant, and voters must have eaten in the restaurants they nominate within the past 18 months – although it is not possible to ensure that they have.

The criteria are different from those of the Michelin Guide or other guides, which has allowed restaurants like Momofuku Ssam Bar, Asador Etxebarri and St. John to hold their own among the molecular or traditional cuisine of restaurants like The Fat Duck to Les Ambassadeurs to The French Laundry.

dales wrote:He's upset that his imaginary wife has never taken him to any of them.

Gob wrote:

rubato wrote: The list is bullshit. A handful of people mostly in a couple of cities made up a list. WGAF? it's a bigger world than that.

As ever, rubato gets it wrong;

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is compiled from the votes of the "World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy", a group of 27 panels established to make the ranking. The world is divided into regions, with a chairperson in each region appointed for their knowledge of their part of the restaurant world. These chairs each selected a voting panel of 30 members, who cast a total of 5,859 votes.

There is no list of nominees; each member of the international voting panel votes for their own personal choice of 5 restaurants. To ensure that there are winners from many regions, they may vote for up to two restaurants in their own region, the remaining votes must be cast outside their home region. Nobody is allowed to vote for their own restaurant, and voters must have eaten in the restaurants they nominate within the past 18 months – although it is not possible to ensure that they have.

The criteria are different from those of the Michelin Guide or other guides, which has allowed restaurants like Momofuku Ssam Bar, Asador Etxebarri and St. John to hold their own among the molecular or traditional cuisine of restaurants like The Fat Duck to Les Ambassadeurs to The French Laundry.

rubato wrote:
Nothing indicates that it is more than a highly parochial group like the Michelin guides which only cover SF, NY and Chicago in the US.

The Academy is comprised of over 900 members, each selected for their expert opinion of the international restaurant scene.

To create the Academy, and give it a fair representation of the global restaurant scene, we divide the world up into 26 geographical regions.

Each region has a chairperson appointed for their knowledge of their part of the restaurant world. These chairs each selected a voting panel of 36 (including themselves) – ensuring a balanced selection of chefs, restaurateurs, food/restaurant journalists and gourmands.

The list: The World's Top 50 Restaurants 2013

100 Varvary Moscow, Russia