Attica makes it to the World’s Top 50 list
The news is that only one Australian restaurant has made it to the World’s 50 best Restaurants list.
The list, when it’s announced next week, will name Attica, located in the quiet Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea.
In the second tier of restaurants, ranked between 51 and 100, the organisers had named Brae. It had been ranked at 58. Last year, it was ranked 44.
Now its 14th year, the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list has always been controversial. How do you measure something that’s unmeasurable? But it’s influential, and that’s where its power lies.
For restaurants, it comes down to getting jurors to pay a visit and vote.
With its 17 course tasting menu running to $275 per head plus drinks, Attica has had good fortune of attracting many votes over the past 10 years.
Attica’s staying power in the World’s Top 50 is nothing short of extraordinary given the way some of the world’s most prestigious restaurants, such as The Fat Duck in England and the French Laundry in California, have fallen off the list.
The announcement will be made at a ceremony in Bilbao, Spain, next Wednesday in the early morning Australian time. New Zealand born chef owner Ben Shewry will be there to acknowledge the gong.
“Of course, we’d all like to see more of our restaurants on the list but, importantly World’s 50 Best Restaurants has helped increase international food and wine spending and improved the perception of Australia’s food and wine overseas,” Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan told The Australian.
“Off the back of the awards and the program of events and activities we arranged around them, these people left Australia with a much improved appreciation of Australia’s food and wine story. Most of them have shared their own personal culinary experiences with their fans and followers on social media and through the more than 4,000 media articles by a global audience of 5.5 billion people. Ultimately, that’s what the Restaurant Australia campaign has always been about.”
Leon Getler 14th June 2018.
