50 World's Best Restaurants Awards Announced in London

The S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards now in it's eighth year, is an internationally recognized event that has established itself as the most credible guide to the best places to eat on earth.

Year after year, the global pool of voters expands, this year by almost 20%. It also refreshes with a third of voters never having voted before. To arrive at this year's results a total of 4,185 votes will have been cast by 837 restaurant experts - all well-travelled restaurant commentators, chefs or restaurateurs. Emanating from a unique polling of world's best travelled and most polished palates the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards has proved itself time and again to be an insightful barometer of culinary trends.

In addition to the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list, other announcements on the night will include the Lifetime Achievement award - which last year went to the legendary Italian chef Gualtiero Marchesi -, the Chef's Choice, the Breakthrough Award and the Acqua Panna Best Continental Awards all of which carry almost as much cache as the number one spot itself. The Acqua Panna Awards are bestowed upon the highest ranking restaurant in Europe, Asia, The Americas, Australasia and (forming one category) The Middle East and Africa.

How the list is compiled.
For the purposes of compiling the list, the world has been divided into 26 regions each with a regional chair who presides over a panel of judges - together they form The Nespresso World's 50 Best Academy. More representative of the world restaurant industry than ever before, the USA & Canada now comprise of 3 regions instead of one, whilst South East Asia has been split in two, a northern region and a southern region. In recognition of its mature restaurant industry Japan is a region of its own whilst China and Korean voters sit together to form a new region. Each panel member is allowed 5 votes, of which a maximum of three may be for restaurants within their own region. Any restaurant voted for must have been visited within the last 18 months and no-one is allowed to vote for their own restaurant.
This invite only event, where the 2009 ranking is revealed for the first time, will be attended by international restaurant royalty as well as the chefs and restaurateurs from the top 50 restaurants.

www.theworlds50best.com

The Top 50 (parentheses shows position as compared with last year's results):

1 El Bulli, Spain (=)
2 The Fat Duck, U.K. (=)
3 Noma, Denmark (+7)
4 Mugaritz, Spain (=)
5 El Celler de Can Roca, Spain (+21)
6 Per Se, U.S. (=)
7 Bras, France (=)
8 Arzak, Spain (=)
9 Pierre Gagnaire, France (-6)
10 Alinea, U.S. (+11)
11 L’Astrance, France (=)
12 The French Laundry U.S. (-7)
13 Osteria Francescana, Italy (New Entry)
14 St. John, U.K. (+2)
15 Le Bernardin, U.S. (+5)
16 Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville, Switzerland (+11)
17 Tetsuya’s, Australia (-8)
18 L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, France (-4)
19 Jean Georges, U.S. (-2)
20 Les Creations de Narisawa, Japan (New Entry)
21 Chez Dominique, Finland (+18)
22 Ristorante Cracco, Italy (+21)
23 Die Schwarzwaldstube, Germany (+12)
24 D.O.M., Brazil (+16)
25 Vendome, Germany (+9)
26 Hof van Cleve, Belgium (+2)
27 Masa, U.S., (Re-entry)
28 Gambero Rosso, Italy (-16)
29 Oud Sluis, Netherlands (+13)
30 Steirereck, Austria (New Entry)
31 Momofuku Ssam Bar, U.S. (New Entry)
32 Oaxen Skaergaardskrog, Sweden (+16)
33 Martin Berasategui, Spain (-4)
34 Nobu U.K. (-4)
35 Mirazur, France (New Entry)
36 Hakkasan, U.K. (-17)
37 Le Quartier Francais, South Africa (+13)
38 La Colombe, South Africa (Re-entry)
39 Asador Etxebarri, Spain (+5)
40 Le Chateaubriand, France (New Entry)
41 Daniel, U.S. (=)
42 Combal Zero, Italy (Re-entry)
43 Le Louis XV, France (-28)
44 Tantris, Germany (+3)
45 Iggy’s, Singapore (New Entry)
46 Quay, Australia (New Entry)
47 Les Ambassadeurs, France (-2)
48 Dal Pescatore, Italy (-25)
49 Le Calandre, Italy (-13)
50 Mathias Dahlgren, Sweden (New Entry)