Top 7 Best Restaurants in the World in 2011

Posted by victorcorreia on May 9, 2011 in Lifestyle | 0 comments

Back in December 2010 when we started our blog, this was one of the first and most popular post: Top 7 Best Restaurants in the World in 2010. Last month the S. Pellegrino publication gave the award to the Best Restaurants in 2011. The biggest absence is obviously El Bulli (which won the award for the Best Restaurant 5 times!), since it will close in July 30, 2011, and the cannot take more reserves! There is also interesting that this year a Latin American Restaurant make the cut for the Top 7 (since 2002 no other Latin American Restaurant made it), climbing 11 positions from last year’s ranking:

7. D.O.M.

Rua Barao de Capanema, 549 Jardins, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Tel: +551130880761

http://www.domrestaurante.com.br

2010 rank: 18

D.O.M has become a priority destination for all globe-hopping gastronomes, not that chef Alex Atala is resting on his laurels. Instead he scours the Amazon to pepper his with indigenous ingredients, from the staple manioc tuber and its tupuci juice to Amazonian herbs and the huge white-fleshed pirarucu fish to ensure his restaurant is unlike any other on the list.

6. Alinea

1723 North Halstead, Chicago, Illinois 60614, USA

Tel: +13128670110

http://www.alinea-restaurant.com

2010 rank: 7

Alinea represents one of the most radical re-imaginings of fine food by any chef in American history and has propelled Grant Achatz to chef superstardom.

Everything about his restaurant is unique, from the deconstructed food, unfamiliar flavour combinations and theatre to the tableware, with dishes served in and on all manner of implements: test tubes, cylinders, multi-layered bowls that come apart. It’s boundary-shifting stuff.

5. The Fat Duck

High Street, Bray, Berkshire, SL6 2AQ, England

Tel: +441628580333

http://www.thefatduck.co.uk

2010 rank: 3

Heston Blumenthal’s world-famous, but still tiny restaurant in Bray, has blazed a trail for experimental cooking in this country, but one of its enduring features is also that it is brilliant fun. Sure, guests’ sensory perceptions are challenged, their notion of possibility expanded, but never in a po-faced way.

Instead, gourmand pilgrims can be witnessed smiling and laughing their way through a foodie marathon.

4. Osteria Francescana

22 Via stelle, Modena, Italy

Tel: +39059210118

http://www.osteriafrancescana.it

2010 rank: 6

Much of the food at Osteria Francescana takes its inspiration from the art world, but this is only half the story.

The unrivalled culinary heritage of the Emilia-Romagna region is chef Massimo Bottura’s other great muse, and the kitchen offers a menu of traditional food alongside more left-field creations. The cooking is exciting and gratifying, the overall experience progressive and relaxed.

3. Mugaritz

Otzazulueta baserria. Aldura aldea 20 zk. – Errenteria 20100. Gipuzkoa, Spain

Tel: +34943522455

http://www.mugaritz.com

2010 rank: 5

Mugaritz has two dégustation menus that change daily according to what chef Andoni Luis Aduriz can get his hands on at the street markets and what’s growing in the restaurant’s herb garden.

Whatever happens, you can expect to sample the team’s intricate dishes that seek to reconnect diners with nature. His self-dubbed ‘techno-emotional’ approach sees the appliance of science and a rigorous understanding of ingredients jostle with produce-driven cuisine.

2. El Celler de Can Roca

Ctra. Taialà, 40, 17007 Girona, Spain

Tel: +34972222157

http://www.cellercanroca.com

2010 rank: 4

El Celler de Can Roca is possibly the least well-known restaurant to have ever held the much-vaunted number-two spot on the list, a quirk which, far from being a hindrance, has allowed the three brothers Roca to get on with what they do best. Their ’emotional cuisine’ with different ingredients and combinations can trigger childhood memories or take you back to a specific place in your past.

1. Noma

Strandgade 93, 1401 Copenhagen K, Denmark

Tel: +4532963297

www.noma.dk

2010 rank: 1

Noma is best known for its fanatical approach to foraging but there is much more to this ground-breaking restaurant than the mere picking of Mother Nature’s pocket.

It’s the entire package, from its ingredient ingenuity to flawless execution, that makes it a beacon of excellence and which leads to an emotive, intense, liberating way of eating, unlike any other. Many have copied chef Rene Redzepi’s approach, most have failed. For the best in class, Noma really is the number one place to go.