Every year, and in some cases twice a year, several recognized versions of restaurant ratings are formed-Michelin, Gault & Millau, Tripadvisor, Forbes. But the most prestigious is the World's 50 Best Restaurants, compiled every year since 2002 by Restaurans magazine based on a secret vote of reputable chefs, restaurateurs, foodies and restaurant critics. Including a restaurant at the TOP in this ranking is similar to an Oscar nomination in the film industry.
Among the winners of the rating are Haute cuisine restaurants and establishments specializing in molecular gastronomy. To get into them, you need to register a few months before the date of the visit. These are the best restaurants in the world for true connoisseurs.
In 2020, the top five of the rating were:
1. Mirazur. Chef Mauro Colagreco. @restaurantmirazur
What makes this restaurant special: unsurpassed views of the French Riviera, three levels of cascading vegetable gardens producing the ripest produce, and a team of incredibly talented chefs and waiters combine to make Mirazur perfect. Mauro Colagreco's unique cuisine is inspired by the sea, mountains and the restaurant's own gardens, including the iconic citrus fruit of Mentone.
In the list of achievements, it's fair to say that 2019 was the year of chief Mauro Colagreco. Steadily climbing the list of the world's 50 best restaurants since its debut at 35th place in 2009, Mirazur celebrated 10 years in the ranking by climbing to 1st place. The award coincided with the restaurant finally receiving the coveted three Michelin stars, as well as the start of a three-year renovation project that includes a new dining room, extensions to the vegetable gardens, and a more immersive dining experience.
About food: with three months of closure in 2020 due to the pandemic, Colagreco took the opportunity to review the Mirazur menu. The new" moon menu", inspired by the cycle of nature, is divided into four suggestions (root, leaf, flower and fruit) based on seasonal changes. They include creations like a delicate rose made with Sanremo shrimp, or a striking combination of cucumber and nasturtium.
About the chef: Argentine-born Colagreco moved to France at the age of 20, working with the famous chef Bernard Loiseau until his death in 2003. Later, he worked in Paris with Alain Passard at Arpège and Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée hotel, before settling in Menton, on the Italian-French border, where he opened Mirazur in 2006.
Other businesses: in addition to its ever-popular Grand Coeur restaurant in Paris and branches Of the carne meat company in Argentina, Colagreco recently opened Grill 58 in Macau and Florie's in palm beach, USA, as well as several other restaurants located in Bangkok and Beijing.
2. Noma. Chef Rene Redzepi @nomacph
The original Noma was undoubtedly one of the best restaurants of its generation. With his food, Rene Redzepi developed a new genre of cuisine. New Nordic cooking looks back to look ahead; digging deeper than seasonality to explore unsung forage products, while seamlessly weaving in the study of fermentation. Redzepi's visionary approach to celebrating the terroir with ingredient-oriented, minimalist plates earned the first incarnation of Noma the title of best restaurant in the world in four years: 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
New Noma: Redzepi closed the original Noma in February 2017. It moved the restaurant from the Christianshavn district of Copenhagen to a larger site on the island of Artsi Refshalevey, and the first service of the new restaurant took place in February 2018. According to the best of the best rules, the new Noma is a separate restaurant than its original location, and therefore receives the highest New Entry Award, debuting this year on the # 2 List.
How does the menu work? When Noma reopened, Redzepi introduced a new food structure in which the restaurant offers three menus a year, each of about 20 dishes based on the best ingredients available during a given season. The seafood season runs from January 9 to June 1, the vegetable season runs from June 25 to September 21, and the hunting and forest season runs from October 15 to December 21. Guests are advised to make a reservation at a time that suits their taste. Throughout the menu, the ideology that made Noma's name remains true: local ingredients are explored through the lens of myriad culinary techniques that combine to become much more than the sum of their component parts.
Book club: last fall, Redzepi, along with David Silber – Noma's former head of fermentation – published the Noma fermentation guide, a volume that describes the "basics of flavor" with recipes such as lacto-tomato skin, coffee-tea mushroom tiramisu, and squid garum. In just a few months, the guide became a New York Times bestseller.
3. Asador Etxebarri chef Victor Arguinzoniz
Chef Victor Arguinzoniz has a remarkable ability to extract explosive flavor from seemingly simple ingredients, most of which are fried over an open fire.
The restaurant respects the natural tastes inherent in local products and delicately encourages each ingredient to show its potential: goat's milk whipped into essential oil, green peas enhanced in their own juice, dry beef aged for so many days that it bites with minds. Arguinzoniz cooks vegetables and proteins on various coals, which he makes from various types of wood.
About the chef: Arguinzonis was born and raised in the farming community of Axpe, a tiny picturesque village located in the mountains an hour's drive from Bilbao. He is self-taught and only worked in one kitchen-his own – where he designed and built his famous adjustable-heat grills.
No pretense: despite its world-famous status, what sets Etxebarri apart from many other world-class restaurants is its simple landing on the austere second floor, a stone-decorated dining room that is completely unpretentious. The casual yet impeccably charming service style is perfect for this setting. The main bar, which also serves as a village pub, is located on the ground floor of the Etxebarri.
In print: in 2017, Arguinzoniz released his first book "Etxebarri", dedicated to the masterful cooking of grilled dishes in a restaurant.
4. Gaggan chef Gaggan Anand
Best restaurant in Asia: for four consecutive years (2014-2018), Gaggan was ranked # 1 in the top 50 restaurants in Asia, a Testament to the constant innovation and improvement in this ever-evolving center of creativity. El Bulli-influenced chef Gaggan Anand offers a menu of 25 or more fast-food small snacks, many of which are eaten by hand.
Gaggan is currently the best Asia has to offer, it won't be that long, as Anand has promised to close his flagship restaurant in 2020 after 10 years of serving foodies from around the globe. After the final service, he plans to open a small restaurant in Fukuoka, Japan, along with fellow top 50 Asian restaurant chef Takeshi ' go ' Fukuyama from La Maison de la Nature Goh.
Constant creativity: with the help of test cuisine and some brilliant new equipment, Anand's menu has evolved from purely modern Indian to much more global cuisine as the chef has traveled and enjoyed the influence of restaurants around the world. The menu now includes Mexican Taco bites, Japanese-Indian nigiri sushi, and even eggplant Oreo cookies. The classic yogurt blast remains on the menu along with new captions such as Lick It Up, where Diners are invited to lick the flavorful Curry right off the plate.
5. Geranium. Chef Rasmus Kofoed @restaurant_geranium
Edible art: a seemingly unlikely Duo of nature and technology is at the heart of chef Rasmus Kofoed's progressive tasting menu: 17-plus art-inspired dishes made up of organic and wild Scandinavian ingredients. While the presentation of the fragile, almost transparent leaves is made from mashed Jerusalem artichoke, what looks like razor clams is actually a dough colored with cuttlefish ink.
About the chef: if you count a rather impressive resume, Rasmus Kofoed is the first chef in Denmark to receive three Michelin stars, which the French fine dining guide provided to Geranium in 2016. The coffee eater is also the only chef to ever win a gold, silver and bronze medal at the respected global culinary competition The Bocuse d'or, and his meticulous approach to seasonal Danish cuisine has seen Geranium climb the list of the world's 50 best restaurants from # 49 in 2012 to # 5 in 2019.
How to find it: the rather unexpected location of the national football stadium serves as a backdrop for geraniums. The restaurant is located on the eighth floor of the building and its dining room offers panoramic views of the Felledparken (shared garden). Ask the management to take a tour of the back kitchen area to see the most epic view of the sports stadium.
Fun fact: while Kofoed heads the kitchen operations, partner Seren Ledet manages the dining room and wine. But when Geranium opened in 2007, those roles were still to be determined. Since both men were chefs, they originally planned to spend time cooking. But Kofoed quickly fell in love with the cuisine, while Ledet fell in love with the hospitality and booze, putting them in the positions they command today. Over the years, Ledet's 2,500-bottle wine list, which ranges from classic varieties to natural juices, has won numerous awards, including the prestigious wine Spectator Grand prize. In 2018, his dedication to exceptional service won the Geranium the Art of Hospitality Award.
