Osteria Francescana crowned World’s Best Restaurant at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards

 

 

 
 worlds fifty best
  • Massimo Bottura’s restaurant in Modena, Italy, takes the No.1 spot in annual ranking for the first time
  • French chef Alain Passard of Arpège is The Diners Club® Lifetime Achievement Award winner
  • Dominique Crenn is named The World’s Best Female Chef 2016
  • Pierre Hermé wins The World’s Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Cacao Barry®
  • NYC’s Eleven Madison Park wins inaugural Ferrari Trento Art of Hospitality Award
  • Joan Roca wins Chefs’ Choice Award, sponsored by Estrella Damm
  • The Clove Club in London wins Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by John Paul
  • Maido in Peru takes Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Lavazza
  • Relae in Copenhagen wins Sustainable Restaurant Award for second year
  • Den, Tokyo, is the One To Watch, sponsored by Miele

 

 

Tonight, Italian restaurant Osteria Francescana is named as The World’s Best Restaurant 2016. The worldfamous restaurant of Massimo Bottura has been waiting in the wings for the No.1 spot after sitting at No.3 in 2013 and 2014 and stepping up to No.2 in last year’s ranking. The list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, along with special awards, was announced on stage at the annual celebration of global gastronomy, hosted at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.

 

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants brings together a unique community of extraordinary culinary talent to celebrate global gastronomy. Featuring restaurants from 23 countries spread across six continents, the list provides an annual snapshot of the greatest gastronomic experiences across the globe. This year, the awards were hosted in New York for the first time as 50 Best begins a global tour of gastronomic destinations.

 

Chef-owner Massimo Bottura is renowned for his twists on traditional Italian culinary ingredients – his Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano sees the region’s famed cheese served in forms and textures most diners will never have previously experienced. His menu also includes deliciously executed classics such as tagliatelle with hand-chopped ragu and risotto cooked with veal jus. The chef’s ambitious creations perfectly balance the demands of honouring heritage while embracing modernity.

 

With four restaurants making the top 50, 2016 is proving to be a great year for Italian cuisine: Le Calandre in Rubano sits at No.39, Piazzo Duomo in Alba climbs 10 places to the No.17 spot and Combal Zero in Rivoli also makes a re-entry to the list at No.46.

 

Spain also has plenty to celebrate with three restaurants in the top 10 including last year’s No.1 El Celler de Can Roca (now at No.2), Asador Etxebarri at No.10 and Mugaritz at No.7. Barcelona’s Tickets by Albert Adrià, 2015’s World’s Best Pastry Chef, also rises 13 places to No.29.

 

France can rejoice with three of its chefs taking home individual awards. Renowned tissier Pierre Hermé claims the 2016 World’s Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Cacao Barry. Alain Passard, who celebrates 30 years of his globally acclaimed Paris restaurant, Arpège (No.19), takes the 2016 Diners Club® Lifetime Achievement Award. French-born chef Dominique Crenn, based in San Francisco, is recognised as The World’s Best Female Chef while Mirazur in Menton moves into the top 10 at No.6.

 

The USA boasts a total of six restaurants on the list including former One To Watch winner Saison (No.27) in San Francisco, which is one of four new entries to the list (along with four re-entries). New York’s Estela (No.44) is also a newcomer, while Alinea in Chicago climbs 11 places on the list to No.15. 2016 also sees the introduction of a new addition to The World’s 50 Best Restaurants portfolio: The Ferrari Trento Art of Hospitality Award. In its inaugural year this is presented to Eleven Madison Park in New York, in recognition of the work of its world-renowned front-of-house team.

 

South America celebrates five restaurants from across the continent on the list. A new entry in 2015, Maido from Peru takes the Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Lavazza, having risen 31 places to No.13. Fellow Lima restaurant Central holds its position at No.4. Meanwhile, three Mexican restaurants also move up the ranking.

 

Six restaurants from Asia feature on the list this year. Narisawa in Tokyo remains at No.8. Restaurant André in Singapore (No.32) and Amber in Hong Kong (No.20) are both high risers, climbing 14 and 18 places respectively.

 

Scandinavia also has plenty to celebrate with five restaurants on this list. Former No.1 Noma now sits at No.5, as fellow Danish restaurant Geranium makes a high re-entry at No.28. There is another impressive re-entry to the list for Netherlands’ De Librije at No.38. Last year’s winner of the Sustainable Restaurant Award, Copenhagen’s Relae, reclaims the title for 2016 and also climbs five places to No.40. Sweden’s Fäviken sits close by at No.41.    

 

The Clove Club in the UK wins the Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by John Paul, after entering the list at No.26. Brett Graham’s The Ledbury in London also climbs six places to No.14.

 

William Drew, Group Editor of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, says: “It has been a hugely exciting year with the launch of the global tour and our first awards event in New York. It is fantastic to have such a variety of culinary talent celebrated here tonight. As the appetite for reaching new gastronomic heights continues to grow we feel privileged to play a part in this journey of discovery and are proud to bring together this unique community of extraordinary visionaries within the industry.    

 

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants will continue its global tour in 2017, landing in Melbourne, Australia to present the next edition of the list and awards.

 

How The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is compiled

The list is created from the votes of The Diners Club® World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of almost 1,000 international leaders in the restaurant community. The Academy comprises 27 separate regions around the world, each of which has 36 members, including a chairperson, and each member can cast seven votes. Of those seven, at least three votes must recognise restaurants outside of the academy member’s own region.

 

The panel in each region is made up of food writers and critics, chefs, restaurateurs and highly regarded ‘gastronomes’. Members list their choices in order of preference, based on their best restaurant experiences of the previous 18 months. There is no pre-determined check-list of criteria, but there are strict voting rules.

 

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is independently adjudicated by professional services consultancy Deloitte. This adjudication ensures that the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2016 are protected.

 

Results

The best way to find out more about The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is on https://www.facebook.com/50bestrestaurants, with Instagram @TheWorlds50Best and via Twitter @TheWorlds50Best. The results are also now published online at www.theworlds50best.com

 

The awards were also streamed live for everyone at home via www.finedininglovers.com.

 

To view the 2016 list and all awards: www.theworlds50best.com

Follow us on Twitter: @TheWorlds50Best

Become a fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/50bestrestaurants

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Sponsors:

 

Diners Club International – Sponsor of ‘The Diners Club® Lifetime Achievement Award’, sponsor of The Diners Club® World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy and official financial services partner

S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna – Official water partner

Ferrari Trento – Sponsor of ‘The Ferrari Trento Art of Hospitality Award’ and official sparkling wine partner

John Paul – Sponsor of the ‘Highest New Entry Award’ and official global concierge partner

The Glenlivet – Official whisky partner

Lavazza – Sponsor of the ‘Highest Climber Award’ and official coffee partner

Estrella Damm – Sponsor of the ‘Chefs’ Choice Award’ and official beer partner

Cacao Barry® – Sponsor of ‘The World’s Best Pastry Chef Award’ and official chocolate partner

Miele – Sponsor of the ‘One To Watch Award’ and official kitchen appliances partner

Wine Australia – Official wine partner

La Main – Presenting partner of the KoreaNYC Dinners series and official media partner

Grana Padano – Official cheese partner

Dekton by Cosentino – Official quartz work surface partner

Norwegian Seafood Council – Official seafood partner

Hudson – Official hotel partner

Sustainable Restaurant Association Official sustainability audit partner

Farm Africa – Official charity partner

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