The World's 50 Best Restaurants, the Academy Awards of the fine dining world, was forced to take a pause due to the pandemic. 15 months after the last edition in Singapore, the gala for 50 best was finally held on 5 October 2021 in Antwerp, Belgium. Although the organizers kept the number of invitees to the black-tie gala in check due to concerns for safety, the event was a smashing success and an inspiration to a sector still reeling due to the pandemic.

Before counting down the top 50 restaurants in the world, William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, started the event with a somber dedication to the gastronomic figures and restaurants we have lost due the pandemic. As we know, the pandemic has had a brutal effect on the hospitality industry, and The World’s 50 Best Bars and Restaurants stepped up to the plate by launching the 50 Best Recovery program. Funds are being raised through donations from 50 Best’s partners as well as a range of initiatives through which consumers can give back to their beloved bar community. As of September 1, the Recovery Fund had raised €1.1 million through its fundraising activities, of which at least 50% is going directly to independent bars and restaurants via grants, with additional donations being made to non-profits around the world supporting the industry, while feeding the most vulnerable in society.

Building on 50 Best Recovery, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants together with main sponsor San Pellegrino, are spearheading other important initiatives aiming to bring a positive change to the hospitality industry. With Champions of Change, they pay homage to the unsung heroes of the hospitality sector who have used the extraordinary events of the last 18 months as a catalyst to drive meaningful action. One of the Champions of Change is Italy’s very own Viviana Varese. The chef of Michelin-starred restaurant Viva in Milano faced considerable obstacles entering the world of haute cuisine as a young cook. Despite being discriminated against in the restaurant sector for being a woman, a lesbian and from the south of Italy, Varese persevered, taught herself how to cook and found success with her restaurant Alice in Milano, opened in 2007. Varese revealed her plans on how to use the substantial donation. “The donation that Champions of Change will be used towards a small project I will launch this autumn. It’s a small ice cream shop where women who were victims of domestic violence will come to work. Sadly in recent years, especially during the pandemic, the number of women that have suffered violence within their home has increased substantially. I believe that through work, a simple job like ice cream making, can restore the dignity and freedom that they deserve.”

Another project led by San Pellegrino is the prestigious Young Chef program, designed to identify, connect and nurture the next generation of chefs, no matter where they are from, their gender or their ethnicity. Italy’s Paolo Griffa was the Italian finalist at the San Pellegrino Young Chef competition in its first edition in 2015. Fast forward to 2021 and Paolo Griffa is no longer just one of the young talents to watch, but one of the leading chefs in Italy, having been awarded a Michelin star for the Petit Royal of Courmayeur, where he has been a chef since 2017. Paolo Griffa was present in Antwerp for multi-chef dinners organized by San Pellegrino and he shared his thoughts with us on the Young Chef program. “I was only 23 years old when I competed in Young Chef, the first ever competition for rising stars in the culinary world. At the time, all of us competing were highly motivated but it wasn’t until Young Chef that we had the chance to compare ourselves with our peers on the international stage. Although we were all competing to win, Young Chef was more about expanding our culinary horizons and building long lasting friendships. Young Chef was a springboard for our careers and it was great to meet up with my friends here six years later here at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.”

To come up with a list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, the organization relies on their Academy, an influential group of more than 1,000 leaders made up of food writers and critics, chefs, restaurateurs and international culinary experts, with a 50/50 gender balance. As of 2019, restaurants which take home the top spot are excluded from participation in future rankings. Instead, those in the elite group of No. 1 ranked restaurants are honored in the Best of the Best hall of fame.

Noma, #1 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021

It may have come as a surprise to some when previous winner Noma was announced in the first position of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021. Chef and founder René Redzepi was able to participate in the 2021 event because the present day Noma is actually in a different location than the original ground-breaking restaurant. One of the most coveted restaurants on the planet, Noma is known for creating New Nordic Cuisine and inspiring an entire generation of chefs, bartenders and even distillers. Noma was voted The World’s Best Restaurant in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, before it closed in 2016 and moved to a new location in 2018. Now back on top form with a seasonal dining structure, Noma 2.0 is wowing diners again with its innovative tasting menus. Noma offers three menus at different times of year, with seafood season from January to June, vegetable season during the summer and game and forest in the winter. Noma’s new digs in Copenhagen include a state-of-the-art fermentation kitchen, where the team experiments with koji, garum and miso to create fascinating flavor combinations.

René Redzepi reflected on the tough times faced by the restaurant industry. "If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's how fragile our dreams can be, how incredibly grueling and difficult this industry can be," he said. "I want to recognize all the restaurants and industry people who have fought for survival. It feels a little weird to be standing on this stage knowing there are so many people still fighting." Ending on a hopeful note, he said of the Noma team, "We spent the last year and a half dreaming of something. We're going to go build it now."

William Drew gave us further encouragement at the post-countdown press conference: “It is wonderful to see eight new restaurants making their debut as well as two re-entries after one of the most challenging periods the sector has seen. It has been an honor to witness the resilience and community spirit of so many restaurants on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list and beyond.”

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021 award winners

The World's 50 Best Restaurants /October 29, 2021 by shane eaton