Today S. Pellegrino released their fairly well-regarded annual list of the "World's 50 Best Restaurants," and for the third year in a row, René Redzepi's Copenhagen restaurant Noma took the number one spot. Two new restaurants made the top ten: Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London and Daniel Humm and Will Guidara's Eleven Madison Park in New York, which took spots nine and ten respectively.
Making way for the newcomers in the top ten are Le Chateaubriand in Paris, which dropped to 15, and Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck, which dropped to 13. Not too bad, trading one top ten restaurant for the other.
As for US restaurants, the highest ranked restaurant was Thomas Keller's Per Se in New York. Eleven Madison Park squeaked into the top ten for the first time ever this year, after getting 24th last year. Both Manresa and the French Laundry both reentered the top 50 this year after being absent last year.
Major rises in the ranks outside the US included Mexico's Pujol, Spain's Quique Dacosta, France's Mirazur and London's The Ledbury.
The organization also announced that next year they will launch the World's 50 Best Asia list, with the inaugural ceremony to be held in Singapore.
1. Noma (website)
Location: Copenhagen
Chef: René Redzepi
Rank Last Year: 1
Michelin Star Rating: Two
Year Established: 2004
All Rene Redzepi Coverage on Eater [-E-]
All Noma Coverage on Eater [-E-]
2. El Celler de Can Roca (website)
Location: Girona, Catalonia, Spain.
Chef: Juan Roca
Rank Last Year: 2
Michelin Star Rating: Three
Year Established: 1986
Fun Fact: The restaurant is the work of the three Roca brothers. Juan is the head chef, his little brother Joseph is the sommelier, and the youngest of the brothers, Jordi is the pastry chef. Jordi, considered one of the best pastry chefs in the world, has recently opened an ice cream shop that he hopes to expand throughout Europe.
· All Juan Roca Coverage on Eater [-E-]
All El Celler de Can Roca Coverage on Eater [-E-]
3. Mugaritz (website)
Location: San Sebastián, Spain
Chef: Andoni Aduriz
Rank Last Year: 3
Michelin Star Rating: Two
Year Established: 1998
Fun Fact: When you sit down at Mugaritz, you have to choose between two experiences: "Submit Yourself" and "Rebel."
· All Andoni Aduriz Coverage on Eater [ -E-]
All Mugartiz Coverage on Eater [-E-]
4. D.O.M. (website)
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Chef: Alex Atala
Rank Last Year: 7
Michelin Star Rating: N/A
Year Established: 1999
Fun Fact: Atala used to be a DJ.
· All Alex Atala Coverage on Eater [-E-]
5. Osteria Francescana (website)
Location: Modena, Italy
Chef: Massimo Bottura
Rank Last Year: 4
Michelin Stars: Three
Year Established: 1995
· All Massimo Bottura Coverage on Eater [-E-]
6. Per Se (website)
Location: New York
Chef: Thomas Keller
Rank Last Year: 10
Michelin Star Rating: Three
Year Established: 2004
All Thomas Keller Coverage on Eater [-E-]
All Per Se Coverage on Eater [-E-]
7. Alinea (website)
Location: Chicago
Chef: Grant Achatz
Rank Last Year: 6
Michelin Stars: Three
Year Established: 2005
Fun Fact: Some serious changes may be afoot at Alinea, where Grant Achatz wants to "think off the plate."
All Grant Achatz Coverage on Eater [-E-]
All Alinea Coverage on Eater [-E-]
8. Arzak (website)
Location: San Sebastián, Spain
Chef: Juan Mari Arzak
Rank Last Year: 8
Michelin Star Rating: Three
Year Established: 1897
Fun Fact: Arzak's daughter Elena, who also cooks at Arzak, won the S. Pellegrino Best Female Chef award for 2012.
All Juan Mari Arzak Coverage [-E-]
All Arzak Coverage on Eater [-E-]
9. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (website)
Location: London
Chef: Heston Blumenthal
Rank Last Year: NA
Michelin Star Rating: One
Year Established: 2011
Fun Fact: Dinner's infamous "meat fruit" — chicken liver parfait made to look like a mandarin — was already called "a culinary icon" by British restaurant critic Jay Rayner.
· All Heston Blumenthal Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Dinner Coverage on Eater [-E-]
[Photo: Ewan-M / Flickr]
10. Eleven Madison Park (website)
Location: New York
Chef: Daniel Humm
Rank Last Year: 24
Michelin Star Rating: Three
Year Established: 1998
All Daniel Humm Coverage on Eater [-E-]
All EMP Coverage on Eater [-E-]
World's 50 Best Restaurants, 11-50
11) Steirereck, Austria
12) L’Atelier Saint-Germain de Joël Robuchon, France
13) The Fat Duck, UK
14) The Ledbury, UK
15) Le Chateaubriand, France
16) L’Arpège, France
17) Pierre Gagnaire, France
18) L'Astrance, France
19) Le Bernardin, USA
20) Frantzen/Lindeberg, Sweden
21) Oud Sluis, The Netherlands
22) Aqua, Germany
23) Vendome, Germany
24) Mirazur, France
25) Daniel, USA
26) Iggy's, Singapore
27) Les Creation De Narisawa, Japan
28) Nihonryori Ryugin, Japan
29) Quay, Australia
30) Schloss Schauenstein, Switzerland
31) Asador Etxebarri, Spain
32) Le Calandre, Italy
33) De Librije, The Netherlands
34) Fäviken Magasinet, Sweden
35) Astrid y Gaston, Peru
36) Pujol, Mexico
37) Momofuku Ssam Bar, USA
38) Biko, Mexico
39) Waku Ghin, Singapore
40) Quique Dacosta, Spain
41) Mathias Dahlgren, Sweden
42) Hof Van Cleve, Belgium
43) The French Laundry, USA
44) Amber, China
45) Vila Joya, Portugal
46) Il Canto, Italy
47) Bras, France
48) Manresa, USA
49) Geranium, Denmark
50) Nahm, Thailand
· 51-100 Winner 2012 [World's 50 Best]
· S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants 2011 [-E-]
· All Awards Season Coverage on Eater [-E-]