The World's 50 Best Restaurants: Part 2

The circus, salutations and contradictions of the world's biggest restaurant awards.

It was with much fervour and pageantry that the who’s-who of the international culinary elite descended on Las Vegas for the unveiling of the World's 50 Best Restaurants this past week. There were a few surprises on the night, chief among them New York’s Korean fine diner Atomix’s ascension to number 6 in the world, and the status as North America’s best restaurant.

However, in keeping with the W50B’s recent tradition of producing a slow, orderly conveyor belt of desirable birthday venues for billionaires, the crowning of a new number one was far less surprising. Disfrutar finished third in 2022 and second in 2023, so it was little surprise that the Barcelona experimental diner was crowned number one in 2024. Restaurants essentially have to wait for their turn at the title, soaking up their moment of glory for one brief year, before being retired to the “Best of the Best” list and being ineligible for future top 50s. 

Still, winning the award remains the most sought-after accolade at this level of dining, and puts chefs Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas in rarified air. For long time followers of the list, a restaurant that favours the sort of boundary-pushing, molecular gastronomy like Disfrutar being considered the best of the best should come as no surprise. After all, the list is essentially forged in the image of the Adria brothers, the legendary chefs who dominated the top 50 for years at El Bulli. Disfrutar is the restaurant tasked with carrying that legendary lineage, and all three chef patrons are former El Bulli alum.

I’m not sure if this is something you can actually bet on, but given the logical progression of previous years, 2025 will almost certainly be the year for Basque icon Asador Etxebarri, this year’s runner up. Chef Victor Arguinzoniz is a living legend, making famous the parilla-centric style which has come to inform so many modern high-end restaurants. For these wishing for a taste of this cuisine without a passport, Arguinzoniz’s long time lieutenant Lennox Hastie now champions Basque parilla cooking at his Sydney restaurants Firedoor and Gildas. Over the years, Etxebarri has been featured by everyone from Rick Stein to Anthony Bourdain, and even hosts a memorable scene in Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s ‘Trip to Spain’. I’ve never been, but if anyone within the sound of my keyboard wants to finance it, that’s a meeting I'd be willing to take.

Elsewhere on the list, a predictable European and Latin American focus makes up the majority of the winners, largely featuring restaurants practising experimental, nature focused uber fine dining. Paris’s legendary bistronomy standout Septime is the notable casual exception, the most relaxed restaurant on the list at number 11.

The ceremony itself was rather unremarkable in execution, and a touch ramshackle at times as the host, with remarkable commitment to correct regional pronunciation, was tasked with constantly integrating branding collaborations into the awards. A personal highlight was the introduction of San Pellegrino representative Stefano Bolognese to the stage. Had J.K Rowling ever had an Italian student at Hogwarts, that would have surely been his name.

From a local perspective, the night was notable for local legend Neil Perry’s elevation to Icon status. It’s a well deserved accolade, and long time readers will know the esteem in which I hold Perry. Few chefs have showcased Australian produce as elegantly and proudly as Perry, and even fewer have been so successful in the process. While Perry’s award doesn’t excuse the lack of Australian restaurants on the list, it’s a nice recognition of our status as an influential food nation.

So what is the current status of the W50B list? Is it relevant in today’s climate? I don’t think the restaurants on this list accurately reflect the direction of the hospitality industry, but it certainly gives those that aspire to greatness something to aim for. The subjective nature of any ranking will mean that there will always be a difference of opinion on what is considered “best”. On a rainy cold Melbourne winter’s night, are the ribbons of steam coming off of my $13 wonton soup and the frosted green glass of a cold Tsing Tao really any lesser than a $1000 tasting menu? Does the inherently prohibitive price of these restaurants mean that fair appraisal of their offering is essentially class-based? And are there really 44 restaurants in the world better than Arpege? All fair questions. To me, the W50B is a nice discussion point, and an annual celebration of a certain kind of restaurant. Calling any such list the best is folly, but confidence is marketing, and that’s something W50B does very well.