In the world of haute cuisine, it is known that it is easier to bring together the fans of two rival teams than the palates of the most refined gourmands. To try to arrive at an assessment that can best advise those who travel the world and want to take away the satisfaction of eating at a high level and immerse themselves in the delights of a stratospheric table of flavours, aromas, tastes, aromas of signature gastronomy, and , given the super-high costs, also having the guarantee of a fair cost-benefit ratio, was born "The List".
A project that was born from the French Foreign Ministry to arrive at defining which one is the best restaurant in the world based on the opinions expressed from different points of view, i.e. from over 200 international food guides, food magazines, awards, comments from review sites, using an algorithm capable of analyzing any type of data from the first product, the food of course, to the variety and originality of the offer, but also to the environment, the cellar, the service, the furnishings. Not only that, to get things done right, the reviews of the guides have been subjected to the evaluation of 150.000 restaurant owners for an assessment of reliability.
In short, after a lot of work carried out by an international team of journalists, gastronomes and experts, here are the 1000 best restaurants in the world headed by the "Liste" with a Swiss restaurant, the Hotel de Ville of Crissier, a commune in the canton of Vaud near Lausanne, led by Benoit Violier, and his wife Brigitte, followed by "Per se" of New York and from Japanese KYOAJI by Shinbashi.
Interestingly, in this list, like it or not, the Japan takes the lion's share with 126 reports, followed by France with 118, the United States with 101, China with 69, Spain with 59. Then comes Germany with 52 recommendations and finally Italy with 51 high-class restaurants. AND Italy appears there with the great Massimo Bottura of the Osteria Francescana in Modena in 18th place, with Massimiliano Alajmo de le Calandre di Rubano at 22nd, with Heinz Beck's Pergola at 36th. Further down, in 61st place we find Antonio and Nadia Santini with Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull'Oglio, Niko Romito of the Reale di Castel di Sangro in 74th, Enrico Crippa of the Duomo d'Alba in 78th, Pino Cuttaia with the Madia of Licata in 83rd, Mauro Uliassi in Senigallia 86th, Enrico Cerea with Da vittorio in Brusaporto 90th, Norbert Niederkofler with Sant Hubertus in San Cassiano 91st and Gianfranco Vissani with the Baschi restaurant in 100th place. To follow the others.
But it must also be said that the Italian gastronomic fame and value is largely redeemed in the narrowest list of 100 best restaurants in the world. Because in this case if France is on the first podium, with 26 restaurants, followed by Japan with 23, it is Italy to place firmly and honorably on the third podium with 11 restaurants.
Going back to the list of prize winners, the first place for Benoit Violier appears amply justified. 45 years old, initiated into the taste of good cooking by his mother, Violier after a double apprenticeship as a cook and pastry-chocolate maker, gains experience and specializes at the court of the greatest French chefs and beyond, those who dictated the law on the tables of half the world, such as Joël Robuchon and Benoît Guichard, Bruno Gricourt, Sylvain Knecht, Jean Philippon, Frederic Anton, Erich Buchenoire also passing through some temples of French gastronomy such as Lenotre, Fauchon, Ritz, La Tour d'Argent. It goes without saying that titles such as the Best operator in France or awards such as three Michelin stars come in abundance on his refined restaurant all flowers and works of art. For a lunch here you can spend stratospheric sums, especially if accompanied by one of the wines from its precious and unique cellar. But you can have a great experience with two unforgettable tasting menus at 270 3 for 349 euros. An expense that will not be regretted.
The second best restaurant in the world is located on the fourth floor of the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle in Manhattan in New York: "Per se" and is owned by chef Thomas Keller, a cook entrepreneur since he set up a real imperùo of venues in the States and abroad. The New York Times has long since elevated it to the rank of the best restaurant in New York. But it also has another record: it is the third most expensive restaurant in the world after Sublimotion and Urasawa. Here for an average lunch without excesses you spend 851 dollars, not bad. But there's also the option to choose two $300 prix fixe menus for lunch: a nine-course vegetable tasting menu or a nine-course steak tasting menu. And here too international awards and recognitions abound.
There is a rarefied almost religious atmosphere in the third best restaurant in the world: Shinbashi's "Kyoaji" in Tokyo. The owner and Chef Kenichiro Nishi is the son of art: his father was considered the best cook in Kyoto. Here the attention to the customer is almost obsessive, just think that Kenichiro Nishi refused the three stars of the Michelin Guide so as not to be besieged by an international public that could disturb his traditional clientele. It is even fabled that rich millionaire industrialists have offered disproportionate sums to secure a table at the "Kyoaji", which is sold out for months, without success. In this small restaurant, only one menu is served, strictly based on seasonal products.
So far, therefore, the top of the world's restaurants on the "Liste". But there is a total change of register with another of the most prestigious international gastronomic competitions "World's 50 Best Restaurants" decreed by a jury of 1000 experts from five continents which took place at the Guildhall in London. Which experts have instead decided, unlike those of the "Lists", to assign the maximum awards to the Brothers Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca of El Celler De Can Roca, three-Michelin-starred near Girona in Spain. They had already taken the prize in 2013, then they had gone down a step to then return to regain the first potion. Here too a lunch can go up in price, but for those who want to try the prodigious culinary inventions of the three brothers, a tasting menu at 135 euros comes in handy, obviously excluding wines.
A redemption of pride comes to Italy from this guide: ours Massimo Bottura, a true icon of the international affirmation of Italian gastronomy, has conquered the second position in the world leaving the third place (maintained for three years) to the hyper-celebrated Name of Copenhagen led by Rene Redzepi, followed by Virgilio Martinez, with his Central in Lima. To find another Italian you have to go down to 27th place where Enrico Crippa of Piazza Duomo in Alba is attested followed by Massimiliano Alajmo in 34th with the Calandre di Rubano.
He doesn't think so Forbes the most authoritative magazine of American economics and finance, which for years has decreed who are the scrooges of the world. According to Forbes experts the 12 best restaurants in the world they must be discovered among those who have not yet entered the Gotha of the big prizes. And with this objective they put Kristian Brask Thomson to work, sommelier, communication consultant for chefs and restaurants all over the world, a true cooking Guru. The result is extremely democratic: there is no absolute winner: the 12 best (in his opinion) restaurants on planet earth win as a group. Here they are: Central in Lima; Attic in Melbourne in which New Zealand chef Ben Shewry religiously proposes natural cuisine; Minibar by José Andrés in Washington; Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo, ten places curated by a ninety-year-old chef; Fäviken Magasinet in Jonkoping in Sweden where what the chef hunts and fishes directly is served; Burnt Ends in Singapore; Restaurant AT, Paris, opened a year ago by Atsushi Tanaka, trained at the school of Pierre Gagnaire; Geranium of Copenhagen in which Rasmus Koefoed, several times winner of the Bocuse d'Or, works; DiverXO of Madrid where chef David Munoz works; Pakta in Barcelona inspired by Albert Adrià as a meeting between Japanese and Peruvian cuisine; Atera in New York where Matt Lightner reinterprets traditional cuisine; and finally Robuchon au Dôme at the Grand Lisboa hotel in Macao.
In short, there is no shortage of choice, so you can plan a trip to the five continents, making sure, however, that a dinner of lobsters, oysters, truffles, caviar and champagne does not cost more than the plane ticket.
