The World’s 50 Best Restaurants are announced and there’s a new number one

Hot off yesterday’s news that the World’s 50 Best Restaurants will bring their annual awards to Melbourne in 2017, numbers one to 50 have been announced at the awards ceremony in New York. And there’s a new top dog.

Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, has knocked Girona’s El Celler de Can Roca from the number-one spot. It’s also the first-ever Italian restaurant to top the list. Chef Massimo Bottura took to the stage to accept the award, stopping to hug the Roca brothers, who are now placed at number two. “Culture is our most important ingredient,” said Bottura. “It’s all about hard work.”

The highest placed Australian chef on the list is Newcastle-born Brett Graham. His London restaurant, The Ledbury, comes in at number 14, the highest UK restaurant on the list.

Melbourne’s Attica, number 32 in 2015, dropped a spot to 33, but was awarded the title of Best Restaurant in Australasia. “I think any year we see an Australian restaurant on the list is a big win,” said GT‘s deputy editor and chief restaurant critic, Pat Nourse, and chair of the voting panel for Oceania and Australasia.

Australia’s king of Thai food, David Thompson’s Bangkok restaurant, Nahm, placed at number 37.

“Look at the Australians and the Australian restaurants on the list – Attica, Brae, Quay, The Ledbury, Burnt Ends, Nahm – and you’re looking at a more diverse and exciting mix of places than any other nation is fielding right now,” said Nourse. “I think it says great things about food and culture in Australia.”

Absent from this year’s list is Sydney restaurant Sepia, who last year took out the award for One to Watch. This year that title was awarded to Tokyo-born chef Zaiyu Hasegawa and his Tokyo restaurant, Jimbocho Den.

Alain Passard, of L’Arpège in Paris, accepted the Lifetime Achievement award to the first standing ovation of the night. “This is the best job in the world,” he said.

In other international developments, The Clove Club in Shoreditch, London, was awarded the Highest New Entry Award, débuting at number 26. Eleven Madison Park in New York took out the Art of Hospitality award, and Noma in Copenhagen, placed number three on the list in 2015, dropped to number five.

The list from 1-50:

1. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy

1. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain

1. Eleven Madison Park, New York City, US

1. Central, Lima, Peru

1. Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark

1. Mirazur, Menton, France

1. Mugaritz, Errenteria, San Sebastián, Spain

1. Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan

1. Steirereck, Vienna, Austria

1. Asador Etxebarri, Axpe, Spain

1. DOM, São Paulo, Brazil

1. Quintonil, Mexico City, Mexico

1. Maido, Lima, Peru

1. The Ledbury, London, UK

1. Alinea, Chicago, US

1. Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Spain

1. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy

1. White Rabbit, Moscow, Russian

1. L’Arpège, Paris, France

1. Amber, Hong Kong

1. Arzak, San Sebastián, Spain

1. The Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa

1. Gaggan, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Le Bernardin, New York City, US

1. Pujol, Mexico City, Mexico

1. The Clove Club, London, UK

1. Saison, San Francisco, US

1. Geranium, Copenhagen, Denmark

1. Tickets, Barcelona, Spain

1. Astrid y Gastón, Lima, Peru

1. RyuGin, Tokyo, Japan

1. Restaurant André, Singapore

1. Attica, Melbourne, Australia

1. Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin, Germany

1. Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany

1. Boragó, Santiago, Chile

1. Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand

1. De Librije, Zwolle, The Netherlands

1. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy

1. Relae, Copenhagen, Denmark

1. Fäviken, Järpen, Sweden

1. Ultraviolet, Shanghai, China

1. Biko, Mexico City, Mexico

1. Estela, New York, US

1. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London, UK

1. Combal.Zero, Rivoli, Italy

1. Schloss Schauenstein, Fürstenau, Switzerland

1. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocatino Hills, New York, US

1. Quique Dacosta, Dénia, Spain

1. Septime, Paris, France