The Top Ten Restaurants in the World

I am sure, like me, you favour certain restaurants due to the standard of the meals they produce. I am also sure they do not come close to the top ten restaurants in the world as decided on an annual basis by the food critics, restaurateurs, gourmands and celebrated chefs who vote in the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants poll. This year’s winners have just been announced.

Climbing two places to the top of the list this year us Noma in Denmark. It was the Chef’s Choice last year. Led by chef Rene, this Copenhagen restaurant has catapulted into a league of its own over the past couple of years. Noma aims to pay homage to the source of our food – soil and sea. In fact, one of the dishes you can expect to see on Rene’s menu is a combination of baby carrots and edible soil which is created from hazelnuts, malt, beer and creamed herbs. Noma has imagination and sophistication in spades.

El Bulli in Spain was pushed into second place by Noma although this restaurant has won the Restaurant Magazine Chef of the Decade. The influential Chef Ferran Adria shares his knowledge and expertise across the globe, which means that the techniques he has honed are now used by chefs world over. This generosity could one day mean that those he has trained will find themselves with restaurants considered to be amongst the best in the world. Adria cooks with passion and is firmly against following rules. He creates unique dishes which are beyond description. He has won the S. Pellegrino Best Restaurant Award five times this decade.

The Fat Duck, the UK’s only restaurant in the top ten, was last year’s second best restaurant in the world. It will come as no surprise that this is the restaurant of renowned chef Heston Blumenthal. With the Fat Duck he has created a restaurant that brings fine dining to the masses. The menu is constantly evolving and changing and even recognisable dishes are adapted year on year. Amongst the favourites, though, are his Salmon poached in Liquorice with Artichokes. It sounds like it shouldn’t work but it does. He is admired by his fellow chefs to such an extent that his restaurant was voted the Electrolux Chef’s Choice at this year’s awards.

Another Spanish restaurant remains in the top ten. El Celler De Can has climbed one place on the list this year after it was last year’s highest climber. This restaurant is the brainchild of three brothers. The head chef is Joan Roca and he is joined by pastry chef Jordi and Maître d’ Josep. The restaurant is ultra modern with a state of the art kitchen and a wine cellar in which customers can journey through the wine regions. The dining area provides a calm, natural space in which diners can savour the delights of Joan’s concoctions.

Mugaritz in Spain is considered the fifth best restaurant in the world. Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz is less focussed on new technologies and modern cooking as many of his counterparts. However, this does not mean he is any less dedicated to the creation of perfect food. In fact, some may say he is more dedicated than anyone. He studied the chemistry of coagulation for two years just to perfect the poached egg. Now, that’s dedication! Aduriz really plays with food to create the best cooking conditions and the most exquisite dishes. As an example, he bakes carrots in clay to produce the best flavour and this is a constant in everything that he does. Yes, he shuns the newer technologies but he still strives to find the best methodologies to produce the best flavours. He is also a fan of obscure ingredients again to the same end.

Osteria Francescana is considered the sixth best restaurant in the world having climbed from last year’s thirteenth place. It is based in Italy and headed by chef Massimo Bottura. He creates food which you want to eat on sight. His dishes are works of art – literally. After all, we do not pay as much attention to the way a dish looks as we should. Bottura’s dishes are colourful and full of texture, a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds!

Climbing from last year’s tenth position is the USA’s Alinea. Based in Chicago, this restaurant is run by Chef Grant Achatz. His business partner declared: ‘Alinea is a chef-driven restaurant – we live and die by the work, cuisine and vision of Grant Achatz.” He creates new twists and classics such as the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Achatz has been responsible for the abundance of plaudits awarded to this restaurant and he looks set to open some new eateries throughout the course of 2010.

And now for the highest climber. Daniel restaurant in the USA climbed from 41st on the list last year to this year’s eighth spot. Named after its chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud, this restaurant in the swanky Upper East Side in Manhattan is Boulud’s most successful eaterie. His food is a fusion of French and American. It is unique and it works so well. This is also the ideal restaurant for vegetarians, who usually find they have one or two options on a standard menu, as Boulud creates a whole tasting menu from seasonal veg. However, there is also plenty of meat dishes on offer for the carnivores amongst us!

At number nine on the list we head back to Spain and the Arzak restaurant. Arzak is headed by Juan Mari Arzak and this family restaurant has been in operation since 1897. Arzak’s daughter Elena now works with him also. The food is classic but it is served with a twist such as lobster with white olive oil. It is no wonder this restaurant has been in existence for so long and is a regular on this list.

And finally, gripping to its place in the top ten is Per Se in New York, despite falling four places on the list from last year when it was named Best Restaurant in the Americas. However, there is a new chef at the helm this year in the form of Eli Kaimeh. Time will tell if he can build on the international reputation built by his predecessor Thomas Keller.

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