The awards ceremony for the 50 best restaurants in the world took place last night (Tuesday) in Valencia, Spain, where the most worthy culinary institutions of the past year were crowned - places that left their mark on the taste buds of the judges (and hopefully of regular diners as well). The event was held on behalf of the prestigious restaurant rating The 50 Best.
The prestigious list, published annually, reviews 50 outstanding food destinations around the world and operates a panel of 1,080 culinary experts from all corners of the world. The ranking has defined itself as a "barometer of global gastronomic trends" since 2002.
Central Restaurant, photo: from the restaurant's website
Winning Restaurants
Assuming all this opening made you hungry, skip the aperitif and go straight to the main course: Central Restaurant in Lima, Peru, founded in 2008 and specializing in local haute cuisine, is the best restaurant in the world for 2023.
One of the restaurant's dishes, photo: from the restaurant's website
Led by couple and partners Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon, Central boasts dishes inspired by 15 Peruvian ecosystems, categorized by height – from 15 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean to 4,200 meters somewhere on the peaks of the Andes. Each dish served in the restaurant reflects the origin of its ingredients, such as the "Amazon water" dish consisting of paco, watermelon and cocoa leaf. Mark your calendar and jump in the chance, assuming you manage to book six months in advance.
And who are the other restaurants that conquered the top ten? In second place came the Disfrutar restaurant (Barcelona, Spain), which serves a worldwide changing menu of innovative and experimental dishes, for example, a donut filled with caviar and cream cheese or a cassette of gazpacho ice cream; Diverxo (Madrid, Spain) took third place thanks to a tasting menu consisting of 12 upgraded international dishes; Asador Etxebarri (Achondo, Spain) in fourth place will serve you elegant meat dishes straight from the grill (forget vegetarian options, because there simply aren't); And Alchemist (Copenhagen, Denmark) rounds out the top five and provides a multi-sensory experience that focuses not only on gastronomy, but also tries to convey ecological and social messages. For example, with a dish such as cod fish with edible plastic, she aims to raise awareness of seawater pollution, and with a chocolate dessert in the shape of a coffin, not on us, she tries to remind us of the phenomenon of child labor in appalling conditions in the chocolate industry. Guys, we came to eat and enjoy, not to be tormented!
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Rounding out the top ten are Maido (Lima, Peru) in sixth place; Lido 84 (Gardone Riviera, Italy) in seventh place; Atomix (New York, USA) in eighth place; Quintonil (Mexico City, Mexico) in ninth place; and Table by Bruno Verjus (Paris, France).
The full list of fifty restaurants is here, and for those wondering - there is no (yet?) Israeli representation there. Last January, the prestigious BEST 50 restaurant ranking sponsored by San Pellegrino published the list of the best restaurants in Africa and the Middle East for 2023, and Israel starred in the ceremony with 7 restaurants.
Another important clarification: looking in the rankings for Geranium, last year's winner, and don't know where she went? Don't worry, it hasn't closed, nor has it dropped in level. Restaurants that were crowned the best in the world in previous years are not eligible for re-election. They are automatically transferred to the "best of the best" category, where they enjoy eternal fame. We relaxed.
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