World’s 50 Best Restaurants

The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the British magazine Restaurant, based on a poll of international chefs, restaurateurs, gourmands and restaurant critics. In addition to the main ranking, the Chef's Choice list is based on votes from the fifty head chefs from the restaurants on the previous year's list. The top restaurants are often forerunners of molecular gastronomy. Most of the restaurants serve haute cuisine, which is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food.

The first place on the list has been dominated by elBulli and Noma. In 2002 and 2006–2009, elBulli was determined to be the world's best restaurant, winning more times than any other restaurant. In 2010, Noma received the first place award. It was maintained in 2011 and again in 2012. After defending its title for the third time, chef René Redzepi said that 1,204 customers were wait-listed for the evening, compared to 14 customers from two years before. However, in 2013 El Celler De Can Roca took over the first position before Noma regained it in 2014. Eleven Madison Park in New York City is the current top restaurant, the first American restaurant to top the list since Thomas Keller's The French Laundry in 2004.

The list originated as a one-off stunt by the staff of Restaurant magazine, who came up with the idea at the Shaston Arms public house in London's Carnaby Street. It was more successful than they expected and soon became established as a major event in the culinary world.

The World's 50 Best Restaurants list is compiled from the votes of the "World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy", a group of 27 panels established to make the ranking. The world is divided into regions, with a chairperson in each region appointed for their knowledge of their part of the restaurant world. These chairs each selected a voting panel of 35 members, who cast a total of 5,859 votes.

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