Getty Image / Michael Loccisano
New York City’s Eleven Madison Park has been unseated as the World’s Best Restaurant by a familiar face, Massimo Bottura who runs Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. Massimo and his restaurant captured the coveted #1 spot on the 50 Best Restaurants list this year and if his name rings a bell it’s because you probably saw him and his restaurant featured in S01E01 of Netflix’s Chef’s Table, or when he made a cameo on Aziz Ansari’s Master of None.
This year’s list of the 50 Best Restaurants is heavy on European restaurants and a noticeable restaurant is missing from the list, Noma 2.0. That’s because the new reworked and remodeled Noma 2.0 didn’t re-open in time for the voting, but it’s a lock to make the list for next year. There are 4 New York restaurants on the list. Eleven Madison Park is the highest-rated American restaurant at #4 on the list, followed by Blue Hill at Stone Barns (#12), Cosme (#25), Le Bernardin (#26), Alinea (#34), and Saison (#46). Here’s what the complete 50 Best Restaurants in the world list looks like for 2018.
1. Osteria Francescana (Modena, Italy) — Chef: Massimo Bottura
2. El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain) — Chef: Joan Roca
3. Mirazur (Menton, France) — Chef: Mauro Colagreco
4. Eleven Madison Park (New York City) — Chef: Daniel Humm
5. Gaggan (Bangkok, Thailand) — Chef: Gaggan Anand
6. Central (Lima, Peru)
7. Maido (Lima, Peru)
8. L’Arpege (Paris, France)
9. Mugaritz (Errenteria, Spain)
10. Asador Etxebarri (Axpe, Spain)
11. Quintonil (Mexico City, Mexico)
12. Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills, New York, USA)
13. Pujol (Mexico City, Mexico)
14. Steirereck (Vienna, Austria)
15. White Rabbit (Moscow, Russia)
16. Piazza Duomo (Alba, Italy)
17. Den (Tokyo, Japan)
18. Disfrutar (Barcelona, Spain)
19. Geranium (Copenhagen, Denmark)
20. Attica (Melbourne, Australia)
21. Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée (Paris, France)
22. Narisawa (Tokyo, Japan)
23. Le Calandre (Rubano, Italy)
24. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet (Shanghai, China)
25. Cosme (New York City, USA)
26. Le Bernardin (New York City, USA)
27. Boragó (Santiago, Chile)
28. Odette (Singapore)
29. Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen (Paris, France)
30. D.O.M. (São Paulo, Brazil)
31. Arzak (San Sebastian, Spain)
32. Tickets (Barcelona, Spain)
33. The Clove Club (London, UK)
34. Alinea (Chicago, USA)
35. Maaemo (Oslo, Norway)
36. Reale (Castel Di Sangro, Italy)
37. Restaurant Tim Raue (Berlin, Germany)
38. Lyle’s (London, UK)
39. Astrid y Gastón (Lima, Peru)
40. Septime (Paris, France)
41. Nihonryori RyuGin (Tokyo, Japan)
42. The Ledbury (London, UK)
43. Azurmendi (Larrabetzu, Spain)
44. Mikla (Istanbul, Turkey)
45. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (London, UK)
46. Saison (San Francisco, USA)
47. Schloss Schauenstein (Fürstenau, Switzerland)
48. Hiša Franko (Kobarid, Slovenia)
49. Nahm (Bangkok, Thailand)
50. The Test Kitchen (Cape Town, South Africa)
Other awards were given out at last night’s 50 Best Restaurants award ceremony including ‘Best Female Chef’ awarded to Clare Smyth of Core by Clare Smyth in London, the ‘Chef’ Choice Award’ was given to Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York, chef Gastón Acurio was awarded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, Geranium in Copenhagen was awarded the ‘Art of Hospitality Award’, and Single Thread in Healdsburg, California was given the ‘One to Watch’ award.
I feel like it’s worth noting that not a single Portuguese restaurant made the list when the country is full of Michelin-starred restaurants who are pushing culinary perfection as much as any other country in Europe. One has to think that there’s some sort of stonewalling or bias going on there.