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| The World’s Top 12 Best Restaurant Awards 1-12 (2010) No.1 – Noma2010 Awards – The World’s Best Restaurant, Best Restaurant in Europe 2009 Awards – Chef’s Choice For those in the know, Rene’s colossal achievement of winning the World’s Best Restaurant Award in such a short space of time is no surprise. But just look at the legends he has leapfrogged and you cannot help but think something truly significant is taking place at Rene’s Copenhagen restaurant. Noma is a homage to soil and sea, a reminder of the source of our food. Take his starter of crunchy baby carrots from the fertile Lammefjorden region of Denmark, served with edible “soil” made from malt, hazelnuts and beer, with a cream herb emulsion beneath – you are literally eating the earth! Great restaurants are a blend of sophisticated cooking, imaginative ideas and respect for ingredients. Noma is more than this. It’s a experience that reminds you why some restaurants deserve to be revered. InfoStrandgade 93, 1401 Copenhagen K, Denmark No.2 – El Bulli2010 Awards – Chef of the Decade 2009 Awards – The World’s Best Restaurant, Best Restaurant in Europe Ferran’s generous willingness to share his knowledge means his influence now spans the globe. Many of those who have worked with him have taken his techniques and ideas back to their part of the world. Maybe this is what drives Adria to surpass himself each year, in the knowledge that the people who have worked for him are one day capable of topping this list themselves. Ferran Adria continues to tear up the fine dining rule book, presenting customers with food that often defies description, and maybe even defies the laws of physics too. El Bulli won the S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant Award no less than 5 times in the last decade. This achievement earnt Ferran Adria the accolade of Chef of the Decade in 2010. InfoApartado 30
17480 Roses en Cala Montjol
Spain No.3 – The Fat Duck2010 Awards – Chef’s Choice The Fat Duck is one of the world’s truly unique experiences. The Fat Duck has revolutionised the perception of high-end dining among the wider public in the UK and beyond, with it’s scientific, theatrical and (most of all) fun approach to food and eating out. Nothing on this menu stands still. Dishes may appear year after year, but they continue to be refined and tweeked to perfection. Examples on the current menu include Salmon poached in Liquorice with Artichokes, and Roast Foie Gras with Rhubarb Braised Konbu & Crab Biscuit. Heston Blumenthal continues to receive the respect and admiration of his peers having this year been voted the “Electrolux Chefs Choice” by his fellow 50 Best chefs. InfoThe Fat Duck, High Street, Bray, Berkshire, SL6 2AQ, England No.4 – El Celler de Can Roca2009 Awards – Highest Climber El Celler de Can Roca is the work of three brothers: head chef Joan Roca, maitre d’ and head sommelier Josep and pastry chef Jordi. Such a meteroric climb into the top 10 might be attributed to their move and new state-of-the-art kitchen-cum-lab, a wine cellar that offers customers an audio-visual journey through five key wine regions and a breathtaking dining space created with natural, organic materials and an abundance of natural light. Spain has yet another top 10 masterpiece restaurant in El Celler De Can Roca. InfoCtra. Taialà, 40, 17007 Girona, Spain No.5 – MugaritzAndoni Luis Aduriz is often portrayed as the quiet man of Nueva Cocina. His food is less flamboyant than that of many modern Spanish chefs, and, ostensibly, he is less driven by new technology and kitchen science. But it is all a matter of degree. Aduriz spent two years studying the chemistry of coagulation in order to produce the perfect poached egg. Clearly, he is a chef in possession of a fathomless curiosity and a razor-sharp cutting-edge. “I encourage my team to make an individual effort to explore the origin of everything they touch and transform over fire.” Where Aduriz veers away from molecular gastronomy, however, is that this learning and technical wizardry very much plays a support role in the Mugaritz kitchen. From baking carrots in clay and ash to creating “crunchy milk sheets”, technique and technology are very much a means to an end. And what is that end? Well, it’s about coaxing the best flavour from the ingredients. It’s also about paying a creative homage to the natural world. This often involves exploring obscure ingredients, such as winter purslane, roasted acorn skins or amaranth grains, and making original, daring marriages on the plate. At a more profound level, it’s about attempting to produce food which resonates on an emotional as well as sensual level. Mugaritz’s Naturan menu is full of arresting ideas: warm lettuce hearts soaked in vanilla brine; sheep’s milk curd seasoned with hay and toasted fern; beef roasted with the embers of vine cuttings. It is subtler, earthier, less sexy even, than what is going on at El Bulli, but, be in no doubt, Mugaritz is playing a pivotal role in the great global shift away from tradition, orthodoxy and dull restaurant food.
Mugaritz, Otzazulueta Baserria, Aldura Aldea 20, 20100 Errenteria Gipuzkoa, Spain InfoOtzazulueta baserria. Aldura aldea 20 zk. – Errenteria 20100. Gipuzkoa No.6 – Osteria Francescana2009 Awards – Highest New Entry Osteria Francescana has only been in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants listing since 2009, so being 6th must be particularly sweet for Massimo Bottura.
This is the most cutting edge food in Italy. Bottura is a master of colour, texture and geometry, the results are quite superb looking dishes. Osteria Francescana’s walls are adorned with some of the best contemporary art in the world, and Bottura matches them on the plate with his artistic skill. Take his interpretation of a New York skyline, a dish of Italian meats gently cooked sous vide, standing in for buildings and parsley foam depicting foliage…..Massimo is a welcome addition to The World’s 50 Best Restaurants indeed. Info22 Via stelle Modena, Itlay No.7 – Alinea2010 Awards – Best Restaurant in North America “Alinea is a chef driven restaurant – we live and die by the work, cuisine and vision of Grant Achatz”. That is the view of Grant’s Business partner in Alinea. Judging by our Academy’s opinions, the Chicago staff of Alinea can rest assured their lives are in safe hands with Achatz at the helm. And you’ll know why if you ever get to try dishes such as the all American peanut butter and jelly sandwich, served with bread wrapped round a grape on a specially made spike. This is arguably the most cutting edge food in America. And in 2010, Grant Achatz’s Chicago outpost has been crowned as the Best Restaurant in North America. The future is bright for Achatz with two new “projects” in the pipline for 2010. Info1723 North Halstead, Chicago, Ilnois 60614, USA No.8 – Daniel2010 Awards – Highest Climber Daniel Boulud has a clutch of restautrants, but it is here in manhattans Upper East Side that Daniel Boulud’s class shines brightest. Here he blends traditional French techniques with American flair. In true Gallic egalitarian fashion, Boulud devotes an entire tasting menu to seasonal vegetables, making this a treat for vegetarians or carnivores alike! InfoDaniel, East 65th Street, New York City, NY 10021, USA No.9 – ArzakJuan Mari Arzak serves dishes to amaze and amuse the senses. His family have occupied the same site in San Sebastian since 1897, and it remains a family affair with his talented daughter Elena at his side now. Together they offer a modern interpretation of classic Basque cuisine, including such delights as Lobster with white olive oil and smoked white tuna with figs and pine nuts. Info273 Avenida Alcalde Elosegui, 20015 Donostia/San Sebastian No.10 – Per Se2009 Awards – Best Restaurant in the Americas In Per Se, Thomas Keller has successfully created an urban interpretation of The French Laundry for New York. Salmon Cornet and signature Oysters and Pearls open the meal at both. Daily menus offer nine petite courses of perfectly wrought modern US cuisine. Snake River Farm beef with crispy bone marrow or spring lamb with butter poached morels deliver an experience that have earnt Per Se international recognition. Per Se has embarked on a new era, with Chef Eli Kaimeh having taken control of the stove earlier this year. Info10 Columbus Circle (at 60th Street), 4th Floor, New York, NY 10019, USA No.11 – Le ChateaubriandLe Chateaubriand breaks the mould of top French restaurants serving haute cuisine. Its classy, wonderfully inventive food would grace the tables of the swankiest venues the world over but is served instead in a simple bistro setting, complete with zinc bar, chalk boards and hard wooden chairs. Chef-patron Iñaki Aizpitarte always maintained he wanted to create a restaurant where his friends could afford to eat. So this is fine dining at its most democratic; the prices, together with the young, cool staff and the simple, unintimidating décor, draw an eclectic clientele and the atmosphere is all the better for it. Aizpitarte’s dishes are influenced by his Basque roots but also draw on his extensive travels. He has a particular penchant for deconstructing classics and reworking them, and also a focus on pared-back simplicity. There are plenty of bold, imaginative flavour combinations but many dishes employ very little ‘cooking’ – unadulterated, raw (and usually colourful) ingredients are a significant feature of his menus. A five course prix fixe menu changes daily. You get no choice in what you eat but it’s this system that allows Aizpitarte to keep his prices so low. Affordability and creativity together in one great neighbourhood restaurant, not to mention one of the best-looking brigades in the business. If you’re into that sort of thing. Info129 Avenue Parmentier, 75011 Paris, France No.12 – La Colombe2010 Awards – Best Restaurant in South Africa La Colombe’s recent rise on the World’s 50 Best is under the new stewardship of British Chef Luke Dale Roberts. Since his arrival in 2006 La Colombe has won praise for his Asian influenced French cuisine.
Nestled between the Constatina Uitsig Estate La Colombe has a stunning wine list, and Dale Roberts creates outstanding dishes such as Home Cured Ox Tongue with Jerusalem Artichoke and Lentil Puree and pickled Shimeji. Not only has La Colombe been now crowned as the Best Restaurant in South Africa, it has also shot up to a healthy No.12 on the rankings in 2010. InfoSpaanschemat River Road, Constania 7800, South Africa | |
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