The S. Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurant List

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There are so many talks about the top 50 World’s Best Restaurant List that the S. Pellegrino hands out yearly, and even if you search about the S. Pellegrino, you will automatically be directed to the lists that they have made this year, last year, and a few years back. However, do you know about the history of this prestigious title, why it was started, what its aims and purposes are, the people behind it, and, more importantly, how they come up with the list?

So, before we get too excited about next year’s list, let us take a quick look at the S. Pellegrino list and its background.

Brief History of S. Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurant List

It was actually in 2002 that the list was first envisioned, and the idea came from Restaurant Magazine when they came up with a list of the top 50 restaurants in the globe at that time. The list sparked the interest of many, particularly those who are in the culinary industry, that there was no other way but to make the list again, only this time, at a much grander scale with an awards night to honor those who got into the list.

At first, the young “title” or the academy was made up of European “critics,” scrutinizing European restaurants, but as the list grew to encompass countries outside Europe, so did the members of the team. The members were made up of food critics as well as gourmands, and it also included chefs from all over the world as well as international restaurateurs. With its eclectic mix of members, the academy is still the first to acknowledge that their criteria in choosing the top 50 or top 100 restaurants in the world is far from perfect. However, they promise to judge the restaurants fairly, taking into consideration the location of the restaurant as well as its unique dining style.

In the end, what is important for Restaurant Magazine, the organizer of the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, is to give people a venue where they could praise their favorite restaurants as well as recognize them for their excellence and creativity when it comes to food.

The Aims and Purposes of S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants

For the eight years that the Restaurant Magazine has been creating the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, they have stayed true to its aims and purposes.

To become a credible source of the best restaurants in the globe where food lovers can have the best meal with excellent restaurant service.
To spark interest in chefs, restaurateurs, and restaurant staffs to perform exemplary well to get into the prestigious list and generate massive interest for their restaurant as well.
To spark interest in food lovers as they hope that their favorite restaurants get into the list.
To help fight hunger and malnutrition, especially in children living in developing countries.

The Academy did all these. The restaurant and the chefs who got into the list enjoy praise and accolades from their peers and food gourmands, and the list has also catapulted new chefs to fame and celebrity status, earning their new restaurant recognition and, of course, enormous interest from the food lovers. But the most important thing is that the prestigious title helps in the eradication of hunger and malnutrition among children, especially those who are living in developing and third world countries. The Academy has teamed up with Action Against Hunger, its official charity. Together, they are giving help to poor children.

The People Behind S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants

As stated above, the Academy is made up of critics from all over the globe. There is one chairperson for each “region” of the world, and the chairperson gets to select a voting panel consisting of 30 individuals coming from the restaurant industry like chefs, food critics, restaurant writers, restaurateurs, and gourmands. They will cast the votes as to who among the restaurants in their region and outside of it deserves to be on the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant list.

The Top People of the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants:

Nathan Garnett. He is the director of The World’s 50 Best.
William Drew. He is the editor of the Restaurant Magazine.
Mark Durden-Smith. He is the Awards Night Presenter.
Niget Barden. He is the interviewer.
The Academy. The academy is made up of 27 chairpersons with 30 voting panels each.

The chairpersons of the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants are:

Andrea Petrini for France. He is a food and travel writer.
Andrey Zakharin for Central Asia and Russia. He is the editor in chief of Russia’s Gastronom Magazine.
Bianca Otero for Eastern Europe. She is the visual as well as content editor of Hungary’s The Dining Guide and Where Magazine.
James Brennan for Middle East and North Africa. He is a freelance food writer based in Dubai.
Dimitris Antonopoulos for Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and Georgia. He is based in Greece and is Athinorama Magazine’s restaurant editor as well as wine critic.
Dirk de Prins for Benelux. He is from The Netherlands and is the editor of Ambiance Magazine.
Eleonora Cozzella for Italy. She is a journalist as well as a food writer.
Grant Thatcher for Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. The founder of The LUXE City Guides as well as its publishing editor.
Hannes Konzett for Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He is the editor in chief of the Gourmet & Pleasure Destinations.
Lars Peder Hedberg for Denmark, Norway and Sweden. He is from Sweden and is the editor at large of The White Guide.
Jay Rayner for UK and Ireland. He is based in the UK and is The Observer’s restaurant critic as well as feature writer.
Mitchell Davis for the USA and the East. He is the Vice President of the James Beard Foundation.
Thomas Rhul for Germany. He is Port Culinaire Magazine’s publisher and editor in chief.
Pablo Banos for Central America and Mexico.
Josimar Melo for Brazil. He is based in Brazil and is the food critic of Folha de S.Paulo.
Kenneth Nars for NE Europe, Iceland, and Greenland. He is based in Finland and is Hufvudstadsbladet’s restaurant critic.
Tamsin for Southern Africa. She is a culinary consultant.
Leisa Tyler for South-East Asia (South). She is a photographer who is also a food and travel writer.
Mason Florence for South-East Asia (North). He is a photographer as well as a travel writer.
Albert Wong for China and Korea. He is an author and a columnist for major publications in China as well as Hong Kong.
Pat Nourse for Australasia and Oceania. He is Australian Gourmet Traveller’s features editor.
Rafael Anson for Spain and Portugal. He is the founder of Academy of Gastronomy. He is also a freelance writer as well as publisher.
Rashmi Uday Singh for India and Subcontinent. He is a food writer.
Raquel Rosemberg for South America except Brazil. She is based in Buenos Aires and is a food editor for El Conocedor.
S. Irene Virbila for the USA (West). She is the restaurant critic of Los Angeles Times.
Steve Dolinsky for the Mid USA and Canada. He is a food and lifestyle reporter of Chicago’s ABC7.
Yumiko Inukai for Japan. She is the country’s foremost restaurant writer.

Behind the Scenes – Creating the List

Now, for the most important question – how exactly do they come up with the list? And what are the usual criteria to be included in the list?

Each panelist is asked to give seven names of the best restaurants in the globe, four of those situated within their regions and three of those located outside their regions. They should have eaten at those restaurants within the last one and a half years. They should list the seven restaurants in order of their preferences, in case there will be a tie. Panelists are to choose restaurants, not the names of the chefs or of the restaurateurs.

Panelists are not allowed to vote for restaurants and establishments that they own, nor are they allowed to vote for one that they have staked an interest in. Furthermore, panelists should consider the nomination as confidential, and they are urged not to disclose anything about it without consent.

Just about any restaurant is eligible to make it into the list, however big or small it might be, and what is important is the opinion of the panelist regarding the restaurant.

Note: Restaurants cannot submit an application to get into the list nor can they be nominated into the list. The organizers of the list as well as its sponsors and partners must never influence the outcome of the list to ensure fair weighting of the restaurants.

Image Credit: nileguide.com

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