Atelier Crenn Leading Candidate to Join World’s 50 Best List Next Week

Update, Tuesday June 19 3:50 pm EST: The 2018 World’s 50 Best Restaurants list has been announced.

Next week in Bilbao, Spain, the World’s 50 Best Restaurants will publish its annual listicle of overpriced restaurants largely run by men. But today, the guide revealed its honorable mentions: The 51-100 guide, a sturdy blend of newer venues that might make the proper list next year, and older venues that have fallen in stature.

These consolation prizes, however, are just as important for their omissions — high-profile establishments that are likely to debut on the full list next week. Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, ranked 83 last year, appears to be a candidate to join the proper list, as it is absent from the back 50.

Chef Dominique Crenn, one of the most prominent practitioners of avant-garde cuisine in the U.S., has blasted the organizers of the list for gender inequality. There were just three female head chefs on last year’s list, with all three of those venues co-run by men. Of course it’s also possible that Crenn has dropped from the 50 Best rankings entirely, though that rarely happens to high-profile U.S. venues the year after they join the list, especially following a period of positive press and accolades.

Perhaps the most notable absence on this year’s 51-100 rankings is Rene Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen. The groundbreaking New Nordic restaurant closed in early 2017 before re-opening in a new space at the beginning of 2018 — too late for consideration in this year’s list, a spokesperson for 50 Best tells Eater.

Noma occupied the No. 1 position, a rank currently held by New York’s Eleven Madison Park, from 2010-2012, and then again in 2014.

The U.S. saw two restaurants join the 51-100 list: Le Coucou, Daniel Rose and Stephen Starr’s fancy French hotspot, debuting at 85, and Single Thread, Kyle Connaughton’s ambitious tasting-menu spot in Healdsburg, joining the list at 91.

Other prominent stateside moves included Corey Lee’s Benu in San Francisco, moving up 14 spots to 53, Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare in New York, which leapt 13 spots to 69, and David Chang’s Momofuku Ko, which fell to 62. Thomas Keller’s French Laundry, which occupied the No. 1 spot in 2003, continued its slow decline, now ranking at 86, while his Per Se in New York, helmed by a new chef, Corey Chow, rose to 81.

Internationally, one of the biggest debuts was Enigma, the whimsical Barcelona tasting-menu spot by Albert Adria. It joins the list at 95, far below the top spot once perennially occupied by El Bulli, where Adria worked alongside his brother, Ferran.

Elsewhere in the world, notable absentees include London’s Lyle’s and Core by Clare Smyth. Last year Lyle’s was placed at 54. Core, by the longtime chef of three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, might have been a candidate to register high up, particular since Smyth herself was named the “best female chef” in the world by the same organization in April.

Leonor Espinosa’s Leo in Bogota, ranked at 99, became the first restaurant from Colombia to join the extended list.

[This post has been updated to reflect that Noma will not be included in this year’s 50 Best list.]

World’s 50 Best List 2018: 51 - 100

51. De Librije Zwolle, Netherlands

52. L’Astrance Paris, France

53. Benu, San Francisco, USA

54. Sühring, Bangkok, Thailand

55. Don Julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina

56. Amber, Hong Kong, China

57. Nerua, Bilbao, Spain

58. Brae Birregurra, Australia

59. Florilège, Tokyo, Japan

60. Tegui, Buenos Aires, Argentina

61. Burnt Ends, Singapore

62. Momofuku Ko, New York, USA

63. Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium

64. Sud 777, Mexico City, Mexico

65. Frantzén, Stockholm, Sweden

66. Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany

67. Fäviken, Järpen, Sweden

68. Quique Dacosta, Denia, Spain

69. Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, New York, USA

70. Selfie, Moscow, Russia

71. Relae, Copenhagen, Denmark

72. Twins Garden, Moscow, Russia

73. Aqua, Wolfsburg, Germany

74. The Fat Duck, Bray, England

75. Belcanto, Lisbon, Portugal

76. Martin Berasategui, Lasarte-Oria, Spain

77. Elkano, Getaria, Spain

78. Mingles, Seoul, Korea

79. A Casa do Porco, São Paulo, Brazil

80. Lung King Heen, Hong Kong, China

81. Per Se, New York, USA

82. Hedone, London, UK

83. Estela, New York, USA

84. St John, London, UK

85. Le Coucou, New York, USA

86. The French Laundry, Yountville, USA

87. Maní, São Paulo, Brazil

88. Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Berlin, Germany

89. The Jane, Antwerp, Belgium

90. Indian Accent, New Delhi, India

91. SingleThread, Healdsburg, USA

92. L’Effervescence, Tokyo, Japan

93. 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo, Bombana Hong Kong, China

94. Alo, Toronto, Canada

95. Enigma, Barcelona, Spain

96. Diverxo, Madrid, Spain

97. Atelier, Munich, Germany

98. 108, Copenhagen, Denmark

99. Leo, Bogotá, Colombia

100. Lasai, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil