S. Pellegrino’s World’s Best Restaurants 2009 Winners and Results

Do you like this post?

The S. Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2009 has just recently concluded. The winners were announced last April 20, 2009 at the Freemason’s Hall in Covent Garden. This ceremony is without a doubt the most prestigious event in the culinary industry. The world’s best chefs including Ferran Adria, Joel Robuchon, Marcus Wareing and Tetsuya Wakuda were in attendant during the ceremony. The event is sponsored by S. Pellegrino. The winners were chosen by a total of 837 food critics, connoisseurs and writers. A total of 26 panels convene to create the list of the best restaurants in the world.

People from the culinary world have expressed varying reactions to this year’s surprises; although admittedly, Ferran Adria’s El Bulli winning the top spot didn’t come as a surprise. Everyone was wondering, “Will El Bulli win this year?” The fact that Adria and El Bulli managed to grab the top spot once again, however, was met with a resounding applause, but everyone kind of expected the same. After all, this North Barcelona’s restaurant had topped the list before.

Struggling to reach the top spot is Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck. It must be tough to come in second for the fourth year in a row – being “almost there but not quite enough”. It topped the list in 2005 and it started losing to El Bulli starting 2006l. This position is great for Fat duck however. Blumenthal’s restaurant was forced to close its doors for two weeks after diners got sick due to norovirus Winter Vomiting Disease – and this 2^nd place position serves as a reaffirmation to the world that Fat Duck is still one of the best! Indeed, this is a great honor for Fat Duck. .Perhaps, it will get the top spot next year. Who knows? After all, the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant list has been surprisingly and unapologetically unpredictable.

One of this many surprises is the fall from grace – or rather the fall of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants off the list. This is quite significant considering the fact that he had snatched the 13^th spot last year. His latest controversy concerning his bulk meal production must have really taken its toll because his flagship restaurants did not make the Top 100 list! He had a small consolation, however, with Maze’s 91^st position. Still, the fall of Ramsay’s is quite surprising considering the fact that the flagship London restaurant boasts of three Michelin stars. He also came in second to El Bulli in 2002. Some argue, however, that Gordon Ramsay should have seen this coming.

To add insult to injury, Marcus Wareing’s new restaurant got the 52^nd spot. His new restaurant, Petrus, also won the Breakthrough Restaurant award. Wareing was a friend of Ramsay. They had a falling out last year and they had parted ways since then.

There were some significant changes to the list. Rene Redzepi’s Noma, for instance, bagged the third place. It jumped seven places from its 10^th position last year and it knocked Pierre Gagnaire from the latter’s comfortable position in 2008. Aside from that, Redzepi also won the Chef’s Choice Award. One of the biggest surprises this year though is El Celler de Can Roca’s rise to the 5^th place. It jumped 21 places from its position in 2008.

Several U.S. restaurants made the top 50 list. Thomas Keller’s Per Se retained its 6^th position from last year. Everyone’s favorite, French Laundry, unfortunately lost seven points to only come in at 12^th this year. To think, that it bagged the top spot in 2004. Other winners include Alinea which came in at 10. It moved 11 places from its 22^nd place in 2008. Another big winner is Le Bernardin which moved from its 20^th place in 2008 to 15^th place this year. Another US restaurant that made the list is Jean Georges which unfortunately lost its 17^th position last year and came only at 19^th this year.

The most significant change in this year’s awards is the number of Asian restaurants that made it to the list. In fact, Singapore’s Iggy restaurant bagged the 45^th position. You can say that S. Pellegrino is following suit after the new Miele Guide named Iggy’s as Asia’s best restaurant. There were actually two restaurants that made the list. The other one is Les Amis which managed to grab the 60^th place.

If there were movers, there are restaurants that managed to retain their 2008 position in the top 20 list. These restaurants include Spain’s Mugaritz at 4^th, France’s Bras at 7^th, Spain’s Arzak at 8^th, France’s L’Astrance at 11^th and United States’ Daniel at 41^st.

Other significant movers in the top 50 positions include United Kingdom’s St. John which moved two spots up from it’s previous 16^th position, United States Le Bernardin which moved five spots up to the 15^th place and Switzerland’s Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville which moved 11 places up from its previous position to 16^th place. Italy’s Ristorante Cracco managed to 22^nd position. Finland’s Chez Dominique took the 21^st spot from its 39^th position last year and Germany’s Die Schwarzwaldstube secured the 23^rd position, an improvement from its 34^th position last year.

Other upward movers in the top 50 list include Brazil’s D.O.M. which took the 24^th position and Germany’s Vendome which grabbed the 25^th position, moving nine places up from its previous 34^th position in 2008. Belgium’s Hof van Cleve moved two places upwards and landed on the 26^th place. Netherland’s Oud Sluis moved 13 places up to snatch the 29^th place. Sweden’s Oaxen Skaergaardskrog got the 16^th place while South Africa’s Le Quartier Francais land itself on the 37^th place. Other upward movers include Spain’s Asador Etxebarri and Germany’s Tantris which each got the 39^th and 44^th place respectively.

If there are restaurants that found themselves in good – albeit precarious positions, there are restaurants that failed to retain good spots. One of this is Australia’s famous Tetsuya which lost its position last year and only got the 17^th position this year. Surprisingly, Joel Robuchon’s L’ Atelier only got the 18^th position. It was in the 14^th position last year. Italy’s Gambero Rosso fell 16 places to the 28^th position. Spain’s Martin Berasategui fell a few notches to the 33^rd position. United Kingdom’s Nobu fell to the 34^th position. Another United Kingdom restaurant, Hakkasan, fell several notches to the disappointing 36^th position from its 19^th position last year. Other big downward movers include France’s Le Louis XV which fell to the 43^rd position, France’s Les Ambassadeurs which fell two places to this years 47^th position and finally, Italy’s Le Calandre which barely made the 50 best restaurants list at the 49^th position.

The S. Pellegrino World Best Restaurants 2009 results were surprising. There were new entries that made it to the top 50 list. These entries include Italy’s Osteria Francescan which surprisingly landed the 13^th spot, Japan’s Les Creatinos de Narisawa which got the 20^th spot, Austria’s Steirereck which secured the 30^th spot, United States’ Momofuku Ssam Bar which ended up in the 31^st spot, France’s Mirazur and Le Chateaubriand which got the 35^th and 40^th position respectively, Australia’s Quay which secured the 46^th spot and Sweden’s Mathias Dahlgren that managed to grab the 50^th position. Re-entries include United State’s Masa at the 27^th position, South Africa’s La Colombe which secured the 38^th spot and finally, Italy’s Combal Zero which grabbed the 42^nd position.

There were several restaurants from China that made the Top 100 list. These restaurants include Zuma (51^st), L’ Atelier de Joel Robuchon (55^th), Caprice (78^th), Maison Boulud (88^th) and Bo Innovation (97^th). Other Asian restaurants that made the top 100 list include India’s Bukhara and Wasabi which landed the 65^th and 70^th spots respectively, Japan’s Ryugin which got the 68^th spot and Japan’s Quintessence which landed the 75^th spot.

There were other restaurants from the United Kingdom which made the Top 100 list. They include Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley (52^nd), Hibiscus (56^th), Le Gavroche (58^th), The River Café (71^st) and Zuma (92^nd). Of course, several other restaurants from the United States also managed to get in the top 100. They include Chez Panisse (59^th), L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (82^nd), Babbo (92^nd), Manresa (93^rd), Del Posto (99^th).

Culinary arts have always been associated with the French, so it is not surprising that there are several French restaurants that got on this year’s list. They include L’Arpege (54^th), Maison Pic (62^nd), Le Maurice (64^th), La Maison Troisgros (69^th). Le Cinq (73^rd), Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee (86^th) and L’Ambroisie (87^th).

A couple of Russian restaurants made the list – Café Pushkin which landed the 63^rd spot and Varvari which nabbed the 66^th position. On the other hand, four German restaurants managed to get in the top 100 list. These include Aqua which secured the 57^th spot, Schauenstein which managed to grab the 67^th position, Restaurant Dieter Mueller which nabbed the 76^th spot and finally, Amador which got the 80^th position. There were three restaurants from South Africa that impressed the panel of judges enough to get into this year’s list. They include Jardines (79^th), Aubergine (96^th) and Rust en Vrede (98^th).

The rest of the 100 spots were secured by several restaurants from all over globe. They include Greece’s Spondi (53^rd), Spain’s El Poblet (61^st), Italy’s Enoteca Pinchiorri (72^nd), Czech Republic’s Allegro (74^th), Denmark’s Geranium (77^th), Mexico’s Biko (81^st), Brazil’s Fasano (83^rd), Bali’s Mosaic (84^th), Austria’s Obauer (85^th), Netherlands’ De Librije (89^th), Australia’s Pier (94^th), Belgium’s De Karmeliet (95^th) and finally, UAE’s Reflets par Pierre Gagnaire which managed to grab the 100^th spot.

This year’s S. Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants 2009 results have been surprising especially with the new entries and with several Asian restaurants making the list. We can only conclude that there is more that we can look forward to from this event. Perhaps, we will have more surprises next year. For the meantime, we need to tie our aprons once again and get back to cooking and satisfying our customers. After all, that’s what chefs do.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Currently 0 comment - But what do you think?