The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2021, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, took place in Antwerp, Flanders. This year’s event saw restaurants from 26 countries across five continents placed on the list, culminating in the announcement of a new No.1, as René Redzepi took to the stage to collect the double honours for his restaurant, Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, as The World’s Best Restaurant 2021 and The Best Restaurant in Europe 2021.
Taking over the No.1 position from Mirazur, which has been elevated to the Best of the Best hall of fame, Noma (seen top of page) has climbed from the No.2 spot in 2019 when it was announced as the Highest New Entry on the list in its fresh incarnation. Noma is joined in the top three by Geranium (No.2) also in Copenhagen, Denmark and Asador Etxebarri (No.3) in Atxondo, Spain.
Noma’s accolade is a testament to Chef Redzepi and his team’s unerring focus on unusual seasonal ingredients – the menu is strictly seasonal, divided into three phases: seafood in the winter, vegetable in the summer, and game and forest in the autumn – foraged locally and brought to life in
creative and complex ways on the plate. This new iteration of Noma (sometimes referred to as Noma 2.0) is eligible for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list due to three key changes from the original restaurant: its location, concept and ownership. As such, it is considered a new restaurant.
The previous version of Noma topped the 50 Best list on four occasions, in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Influential
William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, said: “Noma has arguably been the most influential restaurants of its generation, setting new standards in terms of research and ingredient sourcing, dish development and presentation. It has become one of the most sought-after dining destinations by consumers from all over the world and we are delighted to announce it as this year’s No.1.
“It is also wonderful to see eight new restaurants making their debut as well as two re-entries after one of the most challenging periods the sector has seen. It has been an honour to witness the resilience and community spirit of so many restaurants on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list and beyond.”
Spain and the US lead the way with six restaurants each in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list with Spain boasting two in the top 10: Asador Etxebarri (No.3) and Barcelona’s Disfrutar (No.5). Following close behind are Elkano (No.16) in Getaria and the evergreen Mugaritz (No.14) in San Sebastián.
In the US, New York’s Cosme is No.22, San Francisco’s Benu No.28 and SingleThread No.37. Italy is also well represented with four restaurants in the list including new entrant Lido 84 in Gardone Riviera (No. 15), also the winner of the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by Aspire Lifestyles.
South Africa makes a splash this year with new entry Wolfgat at No.50 winning Best Restaurant in Africa. Other new entrants into this year’s top 10 include Hong Kong’s The Chairman, rising 31 places to take the No.10 spot, earning it this year’s Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Alaska
Seafood. Mexico’s City’s Pujol is No.9 and awarded Best Restaurant in North America. Odette in Singapore at No.8 moves up 10 places and is also awarded Best Restaurant in Asia, and Frantzén in Stockholm rises 15 places to No.6.
Awards
Basque grill master Victor Arguinzoniz wins the Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award. Voted on by his peers – the world’s leading chefs – it is awarded to a chef who has had a significant influence on the culinary community.
The Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award goes to Vienna’s Steirereck (No.12), a restaurant renowned for breaking the boundaries of Austrian cuisine. Under the tenure of Heinz and Birgit Reitbauer, the chef and front of house doyenne respectively, Steirereck has become a byword for cutting-edge
cuisine rooted in the Styrian countryside, while every detail of service is gracefully orchestrated by Birgit, from the mouth-watering wine list to the sprawling cheese offering.
Boragó in Santiago, Chile (No.38) wins the Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award 2021. This award is independently audited by Food Made Good Global – the international arm of the Sustainable Restaurant Association – which rates establishments in the list of 100 restaurants that
self-nominate for the award based on set sustainability criteria.
Will Goldfarb of Room4Dessert in Bali, Indonesia, takes home The World’s Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Cacao Barry. Goldfarb has been passionately focused on desserts throughout his career and centres much of his work on sustainability, growing plants and herbs for his own
restaurant. He opened the first Room4Dessert in New York in 2006, followed by a new iteration in 2014, in Bali, Indonesia, where he currently resides.
Finally, pre-announced special award winners accepting their accolades at the Flanders ceremony include Peruvian chef Pía Léon, of Central, Kjolle and Mil, winner of The World’s Best Female Chef Award, sponsored by Nude Glass; French-born, San Francisco-based chef Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn, winner of the Icon Award, and London restaurant Ikoyi, winner of the American Express One To Watch Award.
Voting
The annual restaurants list is created from the votes of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of more than 1,000 leaders made up of food writers and critics, chefs, restaurateurs and international culinary experts, with a 50/50 gender balance. To counter the
restrictions on international travel and limited dining opportunities of the last year, the 2021 list has been created from a combination of votes cast in January 2020 (which have never been published) and a ‘voting refresh’ which took place in March 2021. Each voter had the chance to update their
2020 selections based only on restaurant experiences in their own region in the 14 months since the previous voting round, reflecting the increased importance of local dining.
The Winning List from 1-50:
1 Noma Copenhagen Denmark
2 Geranium Copenhagen Denmark
3 Asador Etxebarri Atxondo Spain
4 Central Lima Peru
5 Disfrutar Barcelona Spain
6 Frantzén Stockholm Sweden
7 Maido Lima Peru
8 Odette Singapore Singapore
9 Pujol Mexico City Mexico
10 The Chairman Hong Kong China
11 Den Tokyo Japan
12 Steirereck Vienna Austria
13 Don Julio Buenos Aires Argentina
14 Mugaritz San Sebastian Spain
15 Lido 84 Gardone Riviera Italy
16 Elkano Getaria Spain
17 A Casa do Porco São Paulo Brazil
18 Piazza Duomo Alba Italy
19 Narisawa Tokyo Japan
20 Diverxo Madrid Spain
21 Hiša Franko Kobarid Slovenia
22 Cosme New York USA
23 Arpège Paris France
24 Septime Paris France
25 White Rabbit Moscow Russia
26 Le Calandre Rubano Italy
27 Quintonil Mexico City Mexico
28 Benu San Francisco USA
29 Reale Castel di Sangro Italy
30 Twins Garden Moscow Russia
31 Restaurant Tim Raue Berlin Germany
32 The Clove Club London UK
33 Lyle’s London UK
34 Burnt Ends Singapore Singapore
35 Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet Shanghai China
36 Hof Van Cleve Kruishoutem Belgium
37 SingleThread Healdsburg USA
38 Boragó Santiago Chile
39 Florilège Tokyo Japan
40 Sühring Bangkok Thailand
41 Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen Paris France
42 Belcanto Lisbon Portugal
43 Atomix New York USA
44 Le Bernardin New York USA
45 Nobelhart & Schmutzig Berlin Germany
46 Leo Bogotá Colombia
47 Maaemo Oslo Norway
48 Atelier Crenn San Francisco USA
49 Azurmendi Larrabetzu Spain
50 Wolfgat Paternoster South Africa
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