COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s capital has made headlines once again and this time for being the home to the top two restaurants in the world.
Noma, the three-Michelin-star restaurant run by star chef Rene Redzepi, and Geranium, which offers multiple courses tasting menus and is headed by Rasmus Kofoed, grabbed the top positions in the 50 best eateries awards recently published by British magazine Restaurant.
World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards, which was not announced last year in the wake Covid pandemic, is back and picked the two Copenhagen-based restaurants. However, there is nothing new for Noma as it had already bagged the top title in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014 and came second in 2019.
The chef of Noma garnered international attention for his foraging and fermenting techniques. The Danish restaurant was closed in 2016 only to reopen around two years later at a new location in the country’s capital.
In 2019, organizers introduced a rule that barred previous winners to appear again at the position. They introduced ‘best of the best’ category for them.
Some reports in international media cited that, the current ‘game & forest season’ menu costs around $450, which features raw sumac, bear, and reindeer brain and tongue.
A statement issued by World’s 50 Best of the winner cited “No trip to Noma is ever the same, with René Redzepi and team constantly foraging for unexpected ingredients and turning them into beautiful plates”.
It further added, “Highlights from previous seasons include a groundbreaking vegetarian celeriac shawarma, a duck dish of leg, brain, and heart served with claw, feather, and beak, and sweet crab meat served on a flatbread cut into the shape of a crab.”
The top restaurant was also awarded three Michelin Stars for ‘strong connection to nature and its holistic approach sees unusual seasonal ingredients showcased in creative and complex dishes’.
The restaurant owner commenting after achieving the feat said it means a lot to him and his staff as they spent a challenging 18 months in the industry.
Let it be known that the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy ranked these restaurants. Around 1,000 food critics, top chefs, restaurateurs other than international culinary experts are a part of this group.
The third place is taken by Spain’s Asador Etxebarri which is located in Larrabetzu. All dishes, even dessert, are flame-grilled at this eatery. Central restaurant of Peru got the fourth spot while another Spanish restaurant Disfrutar, which is located in Barcelona, clinched 5th spot.
Here’s the list of the world’s 50 best restaurants of 2021
- Noma, Copenhagen
- Geranium, Copenhagen
- Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain
- Central, Lima
- Disfrutar, Barcelona
- Frantzén, Stockholm
- Maido, Lima
- Odette, Singapore
- Pujol, Mexico City
- The Chairman, Hong Kong
- Den, Tokyo
- Steirereck, Vienna
- Don Julio, Buenos Aires
- Mugaritz, San Sebastian
- Lido 84, Gardone Riviera, Italy
- Elkano, Getaria, Spain
- A Casa do Porco, São Paulo
- Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy
- Narisawa, Tokyo
- Diverxo, Madrid
- Hisa Frank,oKobarid, Slovena
- Cosme, New York
- Arpège, Paris
- Septime, Paris
- White Rabbit, Moscow
- Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy
- Quintonil, Mexico City
- Benu, San Francisco
- Reale, Castel di Sangro, Italy
- Twins Garden, Moscow
- Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin
- The Clove Club, London
- Lyle’s, London
- Burnt Ends, Singapore
- Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet, Shanghai
- Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium
- SingleThread, Healdsburg
- Boragó, Santiago
- Florilège, Tokyo
- Sühring, Bangkok
- Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris
- Belcanto, Lisbon
- Atomix, New York
- Le Bernardin, New York
- Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Berlin
- Leo, Bogotá
- Maaemo, Oslo
- Atelier Crenn, San Francisco
- Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Spain
- Wolfgat, Paternoster, South Africa
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