The 2018 winners of the World’s 50 Best restaurants awards have been announced. Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy took the top spot, followed by El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain and Mirazur in Menton, France. Attendance at the show was at an all-time high: 49 out of 50 of the restaurants featured on the 50 Best list were represented by chefs and owners in the audience.
This year also marks the highest amount of representation in the audience from restaurants in the 51 – 100 slots on the list.
Earlier this spring Gastón Acurio, of Astrid y Gastón in Lima, Peru, was awarded the a Lifetime Achievement Award, SingleThread in Healdsburg, CA received a One To Watch Award, and an additional 50 restaurants were named to the runners-up list.
The awards went about as expected. The favored restaurants shuffled around at the top of the list as they usually do. Eleven Madison Park dropped three spots while Osteria Francescana took its place at the top of the list. El Celler de Can Roca went from the third to the second spot in the ranking.
As for surprising shifts, there were a couple. Alinea dropped thirteen positions down to number 34. Thomas Keller didn’t crack the top 50 at all; Per Se and The French Laundry remained way down the list, barely breaking the top 100. Everyone’s favorite new restaurant, Cosme, overtook Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin by one spot.
Notably, Dominque Crenn’s Atelier Crenn was nowhere to be found. When Crenn wasn’t named in the bottom half of the list that was released last week (she was listed at number 83 last year) there was speculation that she had made a big jump up — not tossed completely off.
It’s not a great look for a list that remains heavily male, which was especially disappointing given the speech that Clare Smyth, this year’s Best Female Chef, delivered as she accepted her trophy. “We won’t change things by doing nothing,” Smyth said at the podium. “We must draw a line and make sure that we clear the path for the next generation.”
Doing nothing, however, is often the most comfortable route, and it’s what we’ve come to expect from the 50 Best list.
World’s 50 Best
- Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy [also Best Restaurant in Europe winner]
- El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain
- Mirazur, Menton, France
- Eleven Madison, New York, US [also Best Restaurant in North America]
- Gaggan, Bangkok, Thailand [also Best Restaurant in Asia winner]
- Central, Lima, Peru [also Best Restaurant in South America winner]
- Maido, Lima, Peru
- Arpege, Paris, France
- Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain
- Asador Etxebarri Axpe, Spain
- Quintonil, Mexico City, Mexico
- Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, US
- Pujol, Mexico City, Mexico
- Steirereck, Vienna, Austria
- White Rabbit, Moscow, Russia
- Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy
- Den, Tokyo, Japan [also Highest Climber Award]
- Disfrutar, Barcelona, Spain [also Highest New Entry award]
- Geranium, Copenhagen, Denmark [also Art of Hospitality award]
- Attica, Melbourne, Australia [also Best Restaurant in Australasia winner]
- Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, Paris, France
- Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan
- Le Calandre in Rubano, Italy
- Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet in Shanghai, China
- Cosme, New York, US
- Le Bernardin, New York, US
- Boragó, Santiago, Chile
- Odette, Singapore
- Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris, France
- D.O.M., São Paulo, Brazil
- Arzak, San Sebastián, Spain
- Tickets, Barcelona, Spain
- Clove Club, London, England
- Alinea, Chicago, IL
- Maaemo, Oslo, Norway
- Reale, Castel Di Sangro, Italy
- Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin, Germany
- Lyle’s, London, England
- Astrid y Gaston, Lima, Peru
- Septime, Paris, France
- Nihonryori RyuGin, Tokyo, Japan
- The Ledbury, London, England
- Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Spain [Also Sustainable Restaurant Award winner]
- Mikla, Istanbul, Turkey
- Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, England
- Saison, San Francisco
- Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau, Switzerland
- Hiša Franko in Kobarid, Slovenia
- Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand
- The Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa