Our gastronomy has a reputation for being excellent, and Spanish restaurants are also among the best in the world. The International Academy that selects the 50 best restaurants in the world every year (included in the list ‘50 best‘) has crowned the Italian Osteria Francescana, from Modena, as the best this year, closely followed by the Spanish El Celler de Can Roca, which secured second place. However, among these 50, seven of the best restaurants in the world are Spanish.
The gala at which the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world has been announced was held at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao. The Italian chef Massimo Bottura again achieved, as in 2016, first place on the ranking, followed by the restaurant of Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca and the local French restaurant Mirazur, which received third place.
On the list of the 50 best, seven Spanish restaurants ranked very highly:
2 – El Celler de Can Roca
9 – Mugaritz
10 – Asador Etxebarri
18 – Disfrutar
31 – Arzak
32 – Tickets
43 – Azurmendi
Of these seven Spanish restaurants, Arzumendi, with Basque chef Eneko Atxa, has been awarded for being one of the most sustainable restaurants. However, there have been some disappointments. For example, Etxebarri has not maintained its high ranking that it has had for the past few years, instead dropping down to position 10. The attendees expected the restaurant to be among the top positions, since last year it was ranked in 6th place.
Spanish restaurants are also known for being ranked between the top 51 to 100 restaurants. In total, there are 13 Spanish restaurants that have managed to be among the best in the world. Of these, seven are in the Basque Country and four in Catalonia:
57 – Nerua
68 – Quique Dacosta
76 – Martín Berasategui
77 – Elkano
96 – Enigma
97 – Diverxo
Text: María Jesús Colombo