Asador Etxebarri in Atxondo, Spain is the best restaurant in the world.
This is according to the ranking of the 50 best restaurants in the world, which announced its results Wednesday evening in Lima, Peru. Asador Etxebarri, run by chef Bittor Arguinzoniz, is located in the Basque Country and offers grilled dishes like charred beef chop, fresh mozzarella from the chef’s buffalo or house-made chorizo.
Chef Gaggan Anand’s Gaggan in Bangkok, which combines progressive Indian cuisine with French, Thai and Japanese influences, came in second place, and Alchemist in Copenhagen, from chef Rasmus Munk, took third place.
India returned to the top 50 for the first time since 2004, with Masque at No.26 and NAAR at No.49. Mainland China made the list for the first time since 2021, with Meet the Bund in Shanghai at No. 21 and Ru Yuan in Hangzhou at No. 36.
Chef-restaurateur Ferran Adrià, who gained worldwide fame for his avant-garde techniques at his now-closed restaurant El Bulli, received the SevenRooms Icon Award. Adria continues to support culinary research and education through the nonprofit El Bulli Foundation.
The 50, as the umbrella organization is called, creates lists of restaurants, bars, hotels and wineries that it ranks among the best in the world or in the region. It draws on industry networks to help rank establishments.
For years, The 50 has been considered a kingmaker and opportunity for restaurants and bars around the world. Being “on the list,” many chefs and other restaurant industry insiders said, makes a huge difference in bookings and revenue.
But the competition has also come under increased scrutiny. Chef Ana Roš of Hiša Franko in Slovenia, ranked 60th this year, posted on Instagram that she would not attend the Lima ceremony, saying she would prefer to invest resources “in our guests, our team, our producers and the daily work to improve the restaurant.”
While noting that she had benefited from a “vibrant community” at 50 Best and made many friends there, she said that “over time, however, success in the rankings depends more and more on visibility within the system itself”, and that the promotion of her restaurant risked becoming as important as the work that goes on there.
She doesn’t seem to have been alone. Many of the world’s top chefs view awards and lists as a delicate balance with their work at their establishment.
“Guides and lists now shape the industry they purport to evaluate,” Ivan Brehm, chef-owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Nouri in Singapore, told CNBC. “Their judgments influence where diners spend money, where investments flow, which chefs get attention and what young cooks are taught to aspire to.”
He added of the 50 that “none of this negates the brilliance of the restaurants on the list or the opportunities they have created for all of us. The question is what does it sideline and what does it encourage.”
Roš’s Instagram post had more than 10,400 likes as of Friday, including from top chefs around the world.
“The reaction and reach were unexpected,” Roš told CNBC in an email. “I didn’t write an article to provoke, but rather to open eyes. And apparently, many people have the same perception as me.”
The 50 defended its list and its role within the industry.
“The 50 does not claim to have the ability to control establishments over their budgets or surrounding activities,” a spokesperson told CNBC. “The role of 50s is to provide insight into expert opinions on the best hotel experiences in a given region or category. It does not act as a regulator and applies the same voting rules and principles consistently across all countries and regions.
The time and effort spent on the competition can also be a dilemma.
“We didn’t go to Lima this year. It’s a lot of time in the air for very little time on the ground and, like Ana, I felt my time was better spent being present in our restaurant with our team and guests,” said Dave Pynt, chef-owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Burnt Ends in Singapore, which won the 50 Best Chef’s Choice Award in 2017.
However, he added that “when the awards are closer and easier to access, I love going there. It’s fun, you learn a lot and you get to catch up with friends and people in the industry that you don’t see enough.”
Gn entert
