Ben Shewry’s Attica the only Aussie restaurant in World’s 50 Best list

And even Attica, run by chef Ben Shewry, slipped, from 21st last year to 32nd this year. Attica was, however, awarded Best Restaurant in Australasia. (See Attica’s entry in our Hot 50 2013 list here .)

Sydney’s Quay has always been ranked by critics among Australia’s best and for the past several years has been a stalwart of the S. Pellegrino list, the equivalent of the Oscars. However, it disappeared from the top 50, from 48th last year to 60th today.

“Any list like this is going to be a bit controversial,” Quay’s Peter Gilmore told The Australian. “I feel more Australian restaurants deserve to be in it. We are very proud to have represented Australia for the previous five years. And a big congrats to Ben from Attica.”

According to one influential voter, who chairs a voting panel for the awards: “It’s all about travel and where the voters have travelled in the 18 months prior to the voting in December. If a restaurant hasn’t scored well, it’s because the voters haven’t been through the place.”

She asked not to be identified.

Denmark’s weird and wonderful Noma surprised everyone when it was again named the World’s Best Restaurant, the fourth time it has taken the coveted title. The Spanish restaurant El Celler de Can Roca has swapped positions with the Copenhagen restaurant to be named number two. Hot pre-awards favourite Osteria Francenscana, in Modena, Italy, was ranked third for the second consecutive year.

In a post-award speech, Noma’s Rene Redzepi mocked his early detractors who referred to him and his chefs as “seal f..kers”, a reference to the restaurant’s distinctly Nordic focus.

But he was also careful not to place too much emphasis on the award. “The world’s best?” he asked. “Is the colour red the best colour in the world this year? Of course I don’t believe Noma is the best in the world and the day you believe that… you’re a pompous arsehole.

“Success comes and goes, but you can’t allow it to be like a fourth child. You cannot focus on success like that.”

Redzepi plans to close Noma and relocate his entire staff to Tokyo for two months in 2015.

“Japan is very important for my plans for Noma long term,” he said.

The big winners with an Australian connection were expats.

David Thompson’s Nahm, in Bangkok, which was this year anointed Asia’s Number One restaurant under by the affiliated Asia’s Best Restaurants Awards, came in at 13.

Expat Aussie Brett Graham, chef at Notting Hill’s The Ledbury, was the highest placed Australian, his restaurant entering the top 10 for the first time.

Australia’s favourite Japanese expat, Tetsuya Wakuda, picked up massive credibility for his Singapore restaurant Waku Ghin, which for the first time climbed into the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, but only just. It is number 50.

In other news Australia can take succour from, Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner, a restaurant that will be replicated in Melbourne mid 2015. It came in at number five while its progenitor, The Fat Duck, was ranked 47.

The announcement was made in London at an event packed with the elite of the world’s restaurant scene.

The list is created from votes of more than 900 individuals associated with the restaurant industry from 26 regions around the world, each of which has 36 members, including a chairperson, and each member can cast seven votes. Of those seven, at least three votes must recognise restaurants outside their own region.

The panel in each region is made up of food critics, chefs, restaurateurs and highly regarded gastronomes. Members list their choices in order of preference, based on their best restaurant experiences of the previous 18 months. There is no predetermined checklist of criteria.

Source:  The Australian - 29th April 2014