The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019: The Full List of Winners
At a ceremony in Singapore today, chefs from around the world (okay mostly Europe and the Americas) gathered to learn whose restaurants were named one of the World’s 50 Best on a list sponsored by San Pellegrino.
The list, which has faced years of criticism for acting as a self-perpetuating collection of expensive, European-leaning tasting menu restaurants run by white men, finally overhauled its rules this year to encourage more diversity among the restaurant picks and gender balance among its voting body.
And yet in 2019 the list didn’t evidence a lot of change. Mauro Colagreco’s Mirazur, an expensive French Riviera restaurant with a backyard farm, has been named the World’s Best Restaurant. It is the first time a French restaurant has ascended to the top of the rankings since the listicle debuted in 2002. The Menton establishment, located right by the border with Italy, is known for its salted beetroot with caviar cream, and for its unparalleled views of the Cote D’Azur.
In the list’s 18-year history, the “best” restaurant has only gone to European or North American restaurants. The only mainland Chinese spot is still, as has been the case for half a decade, a $600 tasting menu spot run by a French guy. There are no restaurants from India on the list and the only African restaurant is a European-leaning spot in Cape Town. The only entrant from Turkey fell off the list. Voters, who are often courted by tourist boards, are still not required to pay for their meals.
The organizers removed previous winners from the list this year, a move designed to promote much-needed turnover (and perhaps protect chef egos), but it essentially freed up just three spots, as the French Laundry and the Fat Duck had both long fallen from the top 50 ranks already and elBulli is closed. And because Noma is actually New Noma™ — it opened in its current location in February 2018 with a tasting menu that now rotates a few times a year — the Copenhagen restaurant was permitted back on the list, and it debuted again in the No. 2 slot. Per the Orwellian math of the 50 Best list, the wins from 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014 do not count, because that was a different restaurant. And ultimately, the top three remained a familiar mix: Mirazur, Noma, and Asador Etxebarri.
The other big institutional change came last September, when 50 Best Director Hélène Pietrini said that the academy would have an equal male/female split going forward, and that voters would be encouraged to “explore a diverse mix of restaurants.”
Overall, the top 50 list included just five restaurants helmed by female chefs, the same as last year. Clare Smyth, who earned the dubious honor of “World’s Best Female Chef,” has yet to make it to the full list, but Dominique Crenn, who became one of just fourteen or so U.S. chefs to earn three Michelin stars, finally won a spot this year, debuting at No. 35. Leonor Espinosa’s Leo in Bogotá also moved into the top 50, at No. 49.
There were some bright spots, however. Mexico made a particularly strong showing; Enrique Olvera’s Pujol in Mexico City earned the top ranking of any North American restaurant, at No. 12, and his New York City restaurant Cosme, run with this year’s “best female chef” Daniela Soto-Innes, was the top ranked USA restaurant at No. 23.
The guide also benefited from a few new Latin American restaurants. Leo, the first Colombian spot to make the list, was joined by new entrants A Casa do Porco in Sao Paolo, as well as Don Julio in Buenos Aires.
Below, the winners. (Restaurants ranking 51 – 120 were revealed last week.)
The 2019 World’s 50 Best Restaurants List
- Mirazur (Menton, France)
Chef: Mauro Colagreco
Last year’s rank: 3
Average cost: €110-€210 - Noma (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Chef: Rene Redzepi
Last year’s rank: N/A
Average cost: 2,500 DKK - Asador Etxebarri (Atxondo, Spain)
Chef: Victor Arguinzoniz
Last year’s rank: 10
Average cost: €176 tasting - Gaggan (Bangkok, Thailand)
Chef: Gaggan Anand
Last year’s rank: 5
Average cost: THB 6,500 - Geranium (Copenhagen, Denmark)
- Central (Lima, Peru)
- Mugaritz (San Sebastian, Spain)
- Arpège (Paris, France)
- Disfrutar (Barcelona, Spain)
- Maido (Lima, Peru)
- Den (Tokyo, Japan)
- Pujol (Mexico City, Mexico)
- White Rabbit (Moscow, Russia)
- Azurmendi (Larrabetzu, Spain)
- Septime (Paris, France)
- Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée (Paris, France)
- Steirereck (Vienna, Austria)
- Odette (Singapore)
- Twins Garden (Moscow, Russia)
- Tickets (Barcelona, Spain)
- Frantzén (Stockholm, Sweden)
- Narisawa (Tokyo, Japan)
- Cosme (New York City, USA)
- Quintonil (Mexico City, Mexico)
- Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen (Paris, France)
- Boragó (Santiago, Chile)
- The Clove Club (London, United Kingdom)
- Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills, USA)
- Piazza Duomo (Alba, Italy)
- Elkano (Getaria, Spain)
- Le Calandre (Rubano, Italy)
- Nerua (Bilbao, Spain)
- Lyle’s (London, United Kingdom)
- Don Julio (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- Atelier Crenn (San Francisco, USA)
- Le Bernardin (New York City, USA)
- Alinea (Chicago, USA)
- Hiša Franko (Kobarid, Slovenia)
- A Casa do Porco (São Paulo, Brazil)
- Restaurant Tim Raue (Berlin, Germany)
- The Chairman (Hong Kong)
- Belcanto (Lisbon, Portugal)
- Hof Van Cleve (Kruishoutem, Belgium)
- Test Kitchen (Cape Town, South Africa)
- Sühring (Bangkok, Thailand)
- De Librije (Zwolle, Netherlands)
- Benu (San Francisco, USA)
- Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet (Shanghai, China)
- Leo (Bogotá, Colombia)
- Schloss Schauenstein (Fürstenau, Switzerland)
Best Pastry Chef: Jessica Préalpato (Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, Paris)
Best Female Chef: Daniela Soto-Innes (Cosme, New York City)
Icon Award: José Andrés (ThinkFoodGroup, Washington D.C.)
One to Watch: Lido 84 (Gardone Riviera, Italy)
BBVA Scholarship Winner: Andersen Lee
Sustainable Restaurant Award: Schloss Schauenstein (Fürstenau, Switzerland)
Chefs’ Choice Award: Alain Passard
Highest Climber: Azurmendi (Larrabetzu, Spain)
Art of Hospitality Award: Den (Tokyo, Japan)