50 Best Restaurants, disappointment for Italians who lose positions. Barcelona wins
In The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024 Lido 84 ranks first Italian, but drops from seventh to 12th place. Only Crippa with Piazza Duomo rises to 39th, no new entries. First the Spanish Disfrutar
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3' min read
The 2024 edition of The World's 50 Best Restaurants brought back European restaurant supremacy: in first place is Barcelona's Disfrutar, which, second in 2023, took the baton from Central in Lima (Peru) at the Las Vegas ceremony. It should be remembered that winners from previous years are no longer allowed to be ranked. This is the case for example of Massimo Bottura, the only Italian to win the '50 Best'.
Chef Riccardo Camanini with the Lido 84 restaurant in Gardone Riviera confirms first place in the Italian ranking but drops from seventh place in 2023 to 12th. Disappointment at the tricolour dining end is general: Niko Romito's Reale in Castel di Sangro is in 19th place (it was 16th) and Uliassi di Senigallia remains in the rankings by a hair's breadth at 50th (minus 16 places). The only exception is the Piazza Duomo in Alba of chef Enrico Crippa, which rises three places to number 39. Disappearing from the Enrico Bartolini radar is Enrico Bartolini, for whom some were hoping for an entry in the top 50 after he failed to make the 51-100 list (he was 85th in 2023).
In 51st and 52nd place (the list up to number 100 was unveiled two weeks ago) are Le Calandre of the brothers Massimiliano and Raffaele Alajmo (which, however, last year was at 41st) and the Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Bruneck (new entry higher up in the 51-100 ranking).
On the podium of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, now recognised by most experts as the most important ranking in haute cuisine at international level, Disfrutar is followed on the podium by Asador Etxebarri in Atxondo, also in Spain (Basque Country) and Table by Bruno Verjus in Paris. Disfrutar, run by the chef trio Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas "is known for its innovative techniques and the excellence of its ingredients, which translate into an experience that shatters the traditional canons of a fine dining restaurant in a totally unexpected way," says a note. The tasting menu is characterised by a Mediterranean identity to which avant-garde flavours are grafted to offer a contemporary and daring cuisine capable of surprising.
The event, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, honoured the best gastronomic talents from 26 countries on 5 continents. The ranking is voted by 1,080 international experts in the restaurant industry and "travelling gourmet experts who make up The World's 50 Best Restaurants Academy". With equal representation of women and men, the Academy divides the world into 27 zones ('regions'), each with 40 members including an Academy Chair. The 50 Best ranking differs from guides, such as that of the Michelin, because it identifies an order of preference of the experts and does not establish a 'grade' or 'award' that can be the same for several establishments. Moreover, the 50 Best is generally more open to innovation and novelty than Michelin, which generally rewards more traditional fine dining.
