The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino, is a prestigious and globally recognised restaurant list that serves as a culinary reference point. The list provides a snapshot of the opinions and experiences of over 1,000 international restaurant industry experts listing the “best destinations for unique culinary experiences as well as serving as a barometer for global gastronomic trends.”
The list of restaurants is revealed during an annual red-carpet award ceremony with industry leaders, restaurateurs and media in attendance, in an exciting countdown to the announcement of the coveted title of Best Restaurant in the World.
The awards were first launched in London in 2003 where they were held each consecutive year until 2015. Since then the awards ceremony has embarked on a global tour, with stops in New York 2016, Melbourne 2017, Bilbao 2018 and Singapore 2019.
In addition to the main restaurant ranking, the organisation also awards a series of special prizes for individuals and restaurants, including; the One To Watch Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Chefs' Choice Award, the latter is based on votes from the fifty head chefs from the restaurants on the previous year's list.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards ceremony is live-streamed, and the results are published online and via social media as soon as they have been announced to the assembled chefs, sponsors and attending media.
The event has generated a close-knit community of chefs around the world, and from 2019, a Best of the Best group, or hall of fame, was created. An elite group made up of former No.1 restaurants and chefs who are now no longer eligible for the annual ranking and will reside in a place of honour.
Ahead of the annual ceremony, the #50BestTalks takes place. A series of live culinary conferences and demonstrations from some of the world’s gathered top food leaders to discuss the biggest issues facing gastronomy. Past themes have included “Voices for Change: Championing a Diverse Future”, “Food Forward: Visions of Gastronomy” and “Life Cycle”, with some of the world’s best chefs reflecting on the journey of their food from conception to consumption. Past speakers have included Lara Gilmore, Massimo Bottura, Enrique Olvera, Daniela Soto-Innes, Virgilio Martínez, Gaggan Anand and Dominique Crenn. Master classes are also held by some of the world’s greatest chefs, as well as explorative dinners and presentations.
The World’s 50 Best List is compiled from the opinions and experiences of over 1000 international restaurant industry experts. The judges don’t work to a pre-determined checklist and are given sufficient freedom to judge what is “best” based on their vast experience. However, there are strict voting processes and results are also subject to independent adjudication.
El Bulli, Ferran Adria’s restaurant which has since closed, and Noma in Copenhagen have been the most prolific winners, both winning the coveted title of Best Restaurant in the World twice since the list opened. Bottura’s Osteria Francescana, has also taken the title twice as has El Celler de Can Roca in Girona.
In addition to the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list there are two prestigious regional lists; Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Stay tuned for all the news and updates following the hashtags #Worlds50Best and #fdlinsider.
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