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Life Style / Food

Mirazur is the world’s best restaurant

Published: 25 Jun 2019 - 07:03 pm | Last Updated: 03 Nov 2021 - 11:01 am
This is the first time chef Mauro Colagreco and his sunny Provencal dining room have clinched the top spot; previously the restaurant was No.3. (theworlds50best.com photo)

This is the first time chef Mauro Colagreco and his sunny Provencal dining room have clinched the top spot; previously the restaurant was No.3. (theworlds50best.com photo)

Kate Krader, Joanna Ossinger & Richard Vines I Bloomberg

Mirazur in Menton, France, is the number one restaurant in the world.

This is the first time chef Mauro Colagreco and his sunny Provencal dining room have clinched the top spot; previously the restaurant was No.3.

"What a great year. Three Michelin stars and No. 1 all in the same year,” said Colagreco while accepting the award. "It’s a year I shall remember forever.”

That’s in part because executives behind the World’s 50 best restaurants list, made a profound change to the rules this year, decreeing that no previous winner can be number one again-or even be ranked on the list.

Previous winners have now been relegated to a ‘Best of the Best’ category. That includes Osteria Francescana, Massimo Bottura’s modernist restaurant in Modena which has won the award twice; Eleven Madison Park, which took the top spot in 2017; El Cellar de Can Roca; and the original Noma.

But the 2.0 version of Noma, which is set in a different location in Copenhagen with a new menu format, is eligible for the top spot and in fact sky-rocketed to the Number 2 place on the list. William Drew, Group Editor of the World’s 50 best restaurants, says the criteria they used, which included location and menu concept, was not just to allow Noma, one of the world’s highest profile dining spots, to be in contention. "The aim is to have an objective set of criteria that prevails over time,” he says. Leading up to the announcement, which took place in Singapore on the evening of June 25th before an audience, Noma was an insider favorite to clinch the top spot.

The Best of the Best is a convenient landing place for some formerly top ranked restaurants that have been falling on the list, like the Fat Duck in Bray in England, which last year came in at number 74. Nonetheless, chef/owner Heston Blumenthal is sanguine about the experience: 'If you get on the list, lap it up, bathe in the warmth of it, but just do your work. Nothing is permanent.'

The World’s 50 Best committee also announced that it is highlighting diversity in advance of the ceremony. According to the website, voters are asked to "take issues of representation and reputation into consideration with their choices.”

This year, the list was also expanded from 100 to 120 to coincide the list's leading sponsor, San Pellegrino, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary. It's a ‘one-off’ expansion, according to Drew.

The restaurants appearing on the list from 51-120 were released ahead of time. That half of the list included restaurants from 25 countries, which demonstrates one good reason to expand the list, advertiser anniversaries notwithstanding. The expansion also makes it easier to highlight restaurants in cities that never caught the 50 Best’s attention before, like Alcade in Guadalajara, Mexico (109 on the list). "We embraced the opportunity to showcase an even more diverse range of restaurants,” says Drew.

A lot of the buzz around the awards are the drops. Among the notable demotions on the list were Attica in Melbourne, which fell an astonishing 64 spots, to 84 from 20. Also eye-brow raising were perennial favorites Arzak in San Sebastian, Spain, to 53 from 31, and D.O.M. in São Paulo, which fell to 54 from 30.

The World’s 50 best restaurants list is organized and compiled by William Reed Business Media. It is created from the votes of 1,040 restaurateurs, chefs, food writers, and foodies. The voters are split into 26 separate regions around the world. Each region has its own panel of 40 members. (Vines formerly chaired the U.K. and Ireland panel; he is no longer involved). The awards started in 2002 as a feature in Restaurant, a U.K. publication, based on the picks of journalists and chefs. The founders compare it to a music magazine compiling a best-albums list.

Ahead of Tuesday evening’s ceremony, three awards were announced: Daniela Soto-Innes, of Cosme in New York, won Elit Vodka World’s Best Female Chef; American Express Icon Award goes to the humanitarian chef José Andrés; and Lido 84 a locally focused restaurant in Lombardy, Italy won the Miele One to Watch.

Here are the winners (with last year’s place in parentheses):

1. Mirazur, Menton, France (3)

2. Noma, Copenhagen ** NEW ENTRY

3. Asador Etxebarri, Axpe, Spain (10)

4. Gaggan, Bangkok (5)

5. Geranium, Copenhagen (19)

6. Central, Lima (6)

7. Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain (9)

8. Arpège, Paris (8)

9. Disfrutar, Barcelona, Spain (18)

10. Maido, Lima (7)

11. Den, Tokyo (17)

12. Pujol, Mexico City (13)

13. White Rabbit, Moscow (15)

14. Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Spain (43)

15. Septime, Paris (40)

16. Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, Paris (21)

17. Steirereck, Vienna (14)

18. Odette, Singapore (28)

19. Twins Garden, Moscow (72)

20. Tickets, Barcelona (32)

21. Frantzén, Stockholm (65)

22. Narisawa, Tokyo (22)

23. Cosme, New York (25)

24. Quintonil, Mexico City (11)

25. Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris (29)

26. Boragó, Santiago (27)

27. The Clove Club, London (33)

28. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, U.S. (12)

29. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy (16)

30. Elkano, Getaria, Spain (77)

31. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy (23)

32. Nerua, Bilbao, Spain (57)

33. Lyle’s, London (38)

34. Don Julio, Buenos Aires (55)

35. Atelier Crenn, San Francisco **NEW ENTRY

36. Le Bernardin, New York (26)

37. Alinea, Chicago (34)

38. Hiša Franko, Kobarid, Slovenia (48)

39. A Casa do Porco, São Paulo (79)

40. Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin (37)

41. The Chairman, Hong Kong ** NEW ENTRY

42. Belcanto, Lisbon (75)

43. Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium (63)

44. The Test Kitchen, Cape Town (50)

45. Sühring, Bangkok (54)

46. De Librije, Zwolle, Netherlands (51)

47. Benu, San Francisco (53)

48. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet, Shanghai (24)

49. Leo, Bogotá, Colombia (99)

50 Schloss Schauenstein, Fürstenau, Switzerland (47)

And here are the previously announced winners from 51 to 120.

"NEW ENTRY” indicates the first time the restaurant has appeared on the list. "RE-ENTRY” indicates its reappearance in list after a year of absence (i.e. due to a closing/renovation).

​51. ​​​​​​Reale, Castel di Sangro, Italy (36)

52. Mikla, Istanbul (44)

53. Arzak, San Sebastian, Spain (31)

54. D.O.M., São Paulo (30)

55. Maaemo, Oslo, Norway (35)

56. Relae, Copenhagen (71)

57. Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Berlin (88)

58. Sud 777, Mexico City, Mexico (64)

59. Burnt Ends, Singapore (61)

60. Indian Accent, New Delhi (90)

61. Uliassi, Senigallia, Italy **NEW ENTRY

62. Nihonryori RyuGin, Tokyo (41)

63. Florilège, Tokyo (59)

64. The Ledbury, London (42)

65. Selfie, Moscow (70)

66. Core by Clare Smyth, London (66)**NEW ENTRY

67. Astrid y Gastón, Lima (39)

68. Fäviken, Järpen, Sweden (67)

69. Nahm, Bangkok (49)

70. Saison, San Francisco (46)

71. SingleThread, Healdsburg, California (91)

72. Aqua, Wolfsburg, Germany (73)

73. Maní, São Paulo (87)

74. Lasai, Rio de Janeiro (100)

75. DiverXo, Madrid (96)

76. Momofuku Ko, New York (62)

77. Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, New York (69)

78. Lido 84, Gardone Riviera, Italy **NEW ENTRY

79. Mingles, Seoul (78)

80. Estela, New York (83)

81. Quique Dacosta, Denia, Spain (68)

82. Enigma, Barcelona, Spain (95)

83. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London (45)

84. Attica, Melbourne (20)

85. Amass, Copenhagen, Denmark *RE-ENTRY

86. Tegui, Buenos Aires (60)

87. Martin Berasategui, Lasarte-Oria, Spain (76)

88. Lung King Heen, Hong Kong (80)

89. 108, Copenhagen (98)

90. Alo, Toronto (94)

91. Sushi Saito, Tokyo *RE-ENTRY

92. Harvest, St. Petersburg, Russia **NEW ENTRY

93. La Cime, Osaka, Japan **NEW ENTRY

94. Aponiente, El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain **NEW ENTRY

95. Gaa, Bangkok, Thailand **NEW ENTRY

96. Belon, Hong Kong *NEW ENTRY

97. Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany (66)

98. Anne-Sophie Pic, Valence, France *RE-ENTRY

99. The Jane, Antwerp, Belgium (89)

100. Oteque, Rio de Janeiro **NEW ENTRY

101. Brae, Birregurra, Australia (58)

102. Amber, Hong Kong (56)

103. Jade Dragon, Macao **NEW ENTRY

104. Cococo, St. Petersburg **NEW ENTRY

105. Kadeau, Copenhagen, Denmark *RE-ENTRY

106. Restaurant David Toutain, Paris **NEW ENTRY

107. Il Ristorante Luca Fantin, Tokyo **NEW ENTRY

108. L'Astrance, Paris (52)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Restaurante Alcalde (@restalcalde) on Sep 11, 2018 at 11:48am PDT

109. Alcade, Guadalajara, Mexico **NEW ENTRY

110. Neolokal, Istanbul **NEW ENTRY

111. Chambre Séparée, Ghent, Belgium **NEW ENTRY

112. St. John, London (84)

113. Vea, Hong Kong **NEW ENTRY

114. La Colombe, Cape Town *RE-ENTRY

115. Per Se, New York (81)

1116. St. Hubertus, San Cassiano, Italy **NEW ENTRY

117. Epicure, Paris *RE-ENTRY

118. Ernst, Berlin **NEW ENTRY

119. Atomix, New York **NEW ENTRY

120. Sugalabo, Tokyo **NEW ENTRY