1. El Bulli – Spain

The El Bulli site was founded in 1961 by Dr Hans Schilling, a German, and his Czech wife Marketta, who wanted a restaurant for a piece of land he had purchased. The name “El Bulli” came from the French bulldogs the Schillings owned. The first restaurant was opened in 1964. The restaurant won its first Michelin star in 1976 while under French chef Jean-Louis Neichel. Ferran Adrià joined the staff in 1984, and was put in sole charge of the kitchen in 1987. In 1990 the restaurant gained its second Michelin star, and in 1997 its third.

This man is going to be hard to beat, we knew that four years ago, but he has continued to raise the bar.

Ferran’s generous willingness to share his knowledge means his influence now spans the globe. Many of those who have worked with him have taken his techniques and ideas back to their part of the world. Maybe this is what drives Adria to surpass himself each year, in the knowledge that the people who have worked for him are one day capable of topping this list themselves.

Ferran Adria continues to tear up the fine dining rule book, presenting customers with food that often defies description, and maybe even defies the laws of physics too.

Although closer than ever before, the Academy have yet again voted El Bulli as Europe’s and The World’s Best Restaurant.

2. The Fat Duck – UK

The Fat Duck is a restaurant run by chef Heston Blumenthal in Bray, Berkshire, England. The restaurant is known for its menu of unusual dishes, created following the principles of molecular gastronomy: examples include “snail porridge”, “sardine on toast sorbet”, “bacon and egg ice cream”, and “salmon poached with liquorice”.

The restaurant was opened in 1995 and is one of only four in the United Kingdom and Ireland that hold a three-star Michelin Guide rating; this has been the case since 2004. In 2005, it was named as the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine and Best Restaurant in the UK in 2008 and 2009, scoring a maximum 10 out of 10 in the Good Food Guide.

For viewers it has been plain to see what makes The Fat Duck such a unique dining experience – it is Heston’s love of science and research into the molecular make up of ingredients behind many of his creations, the results of which are invariably fun, and delicious.

Who else could create the theatre in the service of his now famous nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream? The ice cream custard has been injected into an empty egg shell, which is then cracked at your table and ‘cooked’ or frozen with liquid nitrogen into clumps of scrambled egg like ice cream.

Heston remains the jewel in the crown of the UK dining scene, and not far off the summit in the world for that matter.

3. Noma – Denmark

Noma is a two Michelin star restaurant run by chef René Redzepi in Copenhagen, Denmark. The name is a concentration of the two Nordic words “nordisk” and “mad”, and the restaurant is known for its reinvention and interpretation of the Nordic Cuisine. In 2009, it was ranked as the 3rd best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine. Noma also received the honorary prize as “Chefs’ Choice” based on votes from the head chefs of the fifty restaurants on the list.

Noma is a homage to soil and sea, a reminder of the source of our food. Take his starter of crunchy baby carrots from the fertile Lammefjorden region of Denmark, served with edible “soil” made from malt, hazelnuts and beer, with a cream herb emulsion beneath – you are literally eating the earth!

Great restaurants are a blend of sophisticated cooking, imaginative ideas and respect for ingredients. Noma is more than this. It’s a experience that reminds you why some restaurants deserve to be revered, and why we created this list.

Awards
2009: 3rd Best Restaurant in the World and “Chefs’ Choice”, 2009 Restaurant magazine Top 50
2008-2009: Michelin Guide, two stars
2008: René Redzepi named International Chef of the Year at the Lo Mejor de la Gastronomia conference in San Sebastian, Spain
2008: The users of the international website TripAdvisor with 25 million users a month rated Noma as the best restaurant in the world.
2008: 10th Best Restaurant in the World, 2008 Restaurant magazine Top 50
2007: 15th Best Restaurant in the World, 2007 Restaurant magazine Top 50

4. Mugaritz – Spain

Mugaritz is a restaurant in San Sebastián, Spain. The restaurant lies in a village to the south of the town. The chef Andoni Aduriz apprenticed at El Bulli. His restaurant was voted 4th best in the world in Restaurant Top 50 2008.

Andoni Luis Aduriz is often portrayed as the quiet man of Nueva Cocina. His food is less flamboyant than that of many modern Spanish chefs, and, ostensibly, he is less driven by new technology and kitchen science. But it is all a matter of degree. Aduriz spent two years studying the chemistry of coagulation in order to produce the perfect poached egg. Clearly, he is a chef in possession of a fathomless curiosity and a razor-sharp cutting-edge. “I encourage my team to make an individual effort to explore the origin of everything they touch and transform over fire.”

Where Aduriz veers away from molecular gastronomy, however, is that this learning and technical wizardry very much plays a support role in the Mugaritz kitchen. From baking carrots in clay and ash to creating “crunchy milk sheets”, technique and technology are very much a means to an end.

And what is that end? Well, it’s about coaxing the best flavour from the ingredients. It’s also about paying a creative homage to the natural world. This often involves exploring obscure ingredients, such as winter purslane, roasted acorn skins or amaranth grains, and making original, daring marriages on the plate. At a more profound level, it’s about attempting to produce food which resonates on an emotional as well as sensual level.

Mugaritz’s Naturan menu is full of arresting ideas: warm lettuce hearts soaked in vanilla brine; sheep’s milk curd seasoned with hay and toasted fern; beef roasted with the embers of vine cuttings. It is subtler, earthier, less sexy even, than what is going on at El Bulli, but, be in no doubt, Mugaritz is playing a pivotal role in the great global shift away from tradition, orthodoxy and dull restaurant food.
Mugaritz, Otzazulueta Baserria, Aldura Aldea 20, 20100 Errenteria Gipuzkoa, Spain

5. El Celler de Can Roca – Spain

El Celler de Can Roca is a restaurant in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 1986 by the three Roca brothers next to the family restaurant that makes traditional meals. The oldest brother, Joan Roca is the head chef; Josep Roca, the middle brother, the sommelier, and the youngest brother, Jordi Roca is in charge of the desserts. The restaurant was voted 5th best in the world in Restaurant Top 50 2009.

El Celler de Can Roca is the work of three brothers: head chef Joan Roca, maitre d’ and head sommelier Josep and pastry chef Jordi. Such a meteroric climb into the top 10 might be attributed to their move and new state-of-the-art kitchen-cum-lab, a wine cellar that offers customers an audio-visual journey through five key wine regions and a breathtaking dining space created with natural, organic materials and an abundance of natural light. Spain has yet another top 10 masterpiece restaurant in El Celler De Can Roca.

6. Per Se – USA

Per Se is a restaurant located at Columbus Circle in New York City, on the fourth floor of the Time Warner Center. The owner is Thomas Keller who is also involved in the restaurants French Laundry and Ad Hoc in Napa Valley, Bouchon in Napa Valley and Las Vegas, and Bouchon Bakery, which is also located in the Time Warner Center in New York. The chef is Eli Kaimeh. The restaurant, opened in February 2004.

In Per Se, Thomas Keller and Jonathan Benno have successfully created an urban interpretation of The French Laundry for New York.

Salmon Cornet and signature Oysters and Pearls open the meal at both. Daily menus offer nine petite courses of perfectly wrought modern US cuisine.

Snake River Farm beef with crispy bone marrow or spring lamb with butter poached morels deliver an experience that have earnt Per Se the recognition of our academy, and the title of Best Restaurant in the Americas.

7. Bras – France

Michel Bras shows yet again what a perfect culinary marriage Japanese and French traditional cuisines can make. This modern restaurant in the Massif Central is where Bras pioneered the “go out and pick it” movement. The results are the finest herbs and local wild plants are used in perfect balance. A lagoustine arrives split open and garnished with Aubrac style combination of finely chopped broad beans and country sausage, laid out on a rectangular block of volcanic stone.

8. Arzak – Spain

Built as a house in 1897 by the current owner’s grandparents, they turned it into a “wine inn and tavern.” At the time, the village of Alza was separate from San Sebastián. When the next generation took over, it was turned into a restaurant. Kitchen duties are now shared between Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena.

Juan Mari Arzak serves dishes to amaze and amuse the senses. His family have occupied the same site in San Sebastian since 1897, and it remains a family affair with his talented daughter Elena at his side now.

Together they offer a modern interpretation of classic Basque cuisine, including such delights as Lobster with white olive oil and smoked white tuna with figs and pine nuts.

Awards
1989-Present, Michelin Guide, Three Stars
2003-2009, Top 50 Restaurants in the World, Restaurant Top 50
2009, 8th Best Restaurant in the World, S. Pellegrino

9. Pierre Gagnaire – France

Pierre Gagnaire is a well known French chef, and is the Head Chef and owner of the eponymous Pierre Gagnaire restaurant at 6 rue Balzac in Paris. Gagnaire is an iconoclastic chef who was at the forefront of the fusion movement. Beginning his career in St. Etienne where he won three Michelin Stars, Gagnaire tore at the conventions of classic French cooking by introducing jarring juxtapositions of flavours, tastes, textures, and ingredients.

This is masterful French food – Pierre Gagnaire’s Paris restaurant is a homage to art in cooking, literature and design.

Gagnaire’s focus and determination are summed up in a comment made on his journey to the UK when opening Sketch in 2003. Gagnaire admitted a lack of knowledge of the British restaurant scene. “I don’t have enough time to look at what other people are doing” he said, and why should he when he is this good.

10. Alinea – USA

Alinea is a restaurant in Chicago that opened in 2005. Its head chef and owner, Grant Achatz, is known for his preparations and deconstructions of classic flavors. It has included a peanut butter and jelly composed of a single, peeled grape, still on the stem, encased in peanut butter and wrapped in paper-thin brioche.

“Alinea is a chef driven restaurant – we live and die by the work, cuisine and vision of Grant Achatz”. That is the view of Grant’s Business partner in Alinea.

Judging by our Academy’s opinions, the Chicago staff of Alinea can rest assured their lives are in safe hands with Achatz at the helm. And you’ll know why if you ever get to try dishes such as the all American peanut butter and jelly sandwich, served with bread wrapped round a grape on a specially made spike.

This is arguably the most cutting edge food in America.

Awards
In 2008, Gayot put the restaurant on its “Top 40 Restaurants in the United States.”
AAA Five Diamond Award, AAA, 2007
Mobil Five Star Award, Mobil Travel Guide, 2007
Jean Banchet Award – Best Celebrity Chef, 2007
San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants – Tenth Best Restaurant in the World

Courtesy of theworlds50best.com & Wikipedia