A great Bottura in the day of Rocas

Massimo Bottura and his Osteria Francescana arrived third in the 2013 edition of the World's 50 Best (he’s the first Italian chef to earn a medal) on a Monday when the Italian flag was waving for some other Italian chefs as well. And for those who are rejoicing, there are those who notice that after the world football championships next year, and the Olympics in 2016, Brazil still needs to wait to step on the podium of the world's restaurant scene: Alex Atala, his D.O.M. in Sao Paolo, not only does wake up from a dream, once again off the podium, but it is also far away, since he has moved from No. 4 to No. 6.

When the speaker of the World’s 50 Best ceremony, in the historic Guildhall in London, pronounced his name, a bewildered ohhhhh rose from the audience, so strong was the belief that D.O.M. would have gained positions, perhaps reaching the first place too. Ironically, tomorrow, on Tuesday 30th April, the traditional lunch of the day after, for chefs, organisers, managers of the various voting panels, will be held in a Brazilian restaurant, following the theme of sushi with samba playing in the background.

And from the hypothesis of a South-American success, which becomes impossible even next year, as the media repercussion will be strong, one has one year of time to re-programme all the strategies in order to capitalise on the influence of the two most important sport events, we move to a (once again) totally European podium. With some news: after two identical podiums in 2011 and 2012, Noma at No. 1, Celler de Can Roca at No. 2 Mugaritz at No.3, Spain moves a step forward and one back because the sadness for Andoni who arrived 4th is compensated by the total joy for the success of the Roca brothers, Joan, Josef and Jordi. The role of constant seconds was too small for them, and not quite right. In other words, we've moved the hands on the clock and Spain can celebrate. It's not just the Adrià brothers, Ferran and Albert, who have won with El Bulli (and 4 times too, before closing down and changing products and horizon).

With Redzepi still happy after three successes, a second place is not dishonourable, the other happy face is that of Massimo Bottura, at No 3. No Italian restaurant had ever reached the top 3, and hitting the target, for Osteria Francescana, is a great achievement considering this season it had been closed first for refurbishments and then for complications after the earthquake in Emilia.

While last year the Italian team suffered a bitter disappointment, with only three restaurants among the top 50, Bottura arriving fifth (from the fourth place in 2011), with Alajmo (Le Calandre) and Lopriore (Il Canto a Siena) far away, not to mention Cracco (Ristorante Cracco) and Scabin (Combal.zero) who didn't get to the 50 Best, and all of them were moving backwards, in other words, this time they've all moved up again: Alajmo to No 27 (+5 versus last year), Scabin to No. 40 (and back among the 50 Best) and Enrico Crippa to No. 41, a very nice news.

The news isn't over for Italy, and I don't refer to the Best Female Chef prize assigned to Nadia Santini (Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull’Oglio in the province of Mantua). We also find Umberto Bombana back in the list, at No. 39, with his 81/2 in Hong Kong, three Michelin stars, just like Bottura, Alajmo and Crippa. It's a pity Lopriore managed the closing of his restaurant in Siena without thinking of his colleagues. Voted by many, so much so that he confirmed his presence among the 50 Best, at the end of the voting session he announced that after ten years of happiness and disappointments he's giving up. The organisers, the staff of the English magazine The Restaurant, took notice of this and had everyone move one place ahead. Had the chef from Como announced his intentions in advance, though, everyone would have placed their votes on another chef, Cracco, for instance, who only got to No. 82, and perhaps yesterday we would have celebrated an even happier team result.

Of course, despite this our restaurant scene scored an important point and for us at Identità this is something great, since we try to do our best so that Italian cuisine can grow even more, inside and outside the borders of Italy. Shanghai, during the 2010 Expo, New York, where we will be back in October (4-6th), and London, with the lunch event held last Sunday at Harrods, are among the pieces of a mosaic in which all the cuisine is represented. It’s important to respect everyone, whereas not always, in Italy, those who are entrepreneurs of quality food are respected for their work.

WORLD'S 50 BEST 2013
1 El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain ▲1
2 Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark ▼ 1
3 Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy ▲2
4 Mugaritz, San Sebastián, Spain ▼ 1
5 Eleven Madison Park, NewYork,USA ▲5
6 D.O.M., São Paulo, Brazil ▼ 2
7 Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London, UK ▲2
8 Arzak, San Sebastián, Spain =
9 Steirereck, Vienna, Austria ▲2
10 Vendôme Bergisch, Gladbach,Germany ▲13
11 Per Se, New York, USA ▼ 5
12 Frantzén/Lindeberg, Stockholm, Sweden▲8
13 The Ledbury, London,UK▲1
14 Astrid y Gastón, Lima, Peru ▲21
15 Alinea, Chicago, USA ▼8
16 L’Arpège, Paris, France =
17 Pujol, Mexico City, Mexico ▲19
18 Le Chateaubriand, Paris, France ▼3
19 Le Bernardin, New York, USA =
20 Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan ▲7
21 Attica, Melbourne, Australia NEW ENTRY
22 Nihonryori RyuGin, Tokyo, Japan ▲6
23 L’Astrance, Paris, France ▼5
24 L’Atelier Saint-Germain de Joël Robuchon, Paris, France ▼12
25 Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium ▲17
26 Quique Dacosta, Dénia, Spain ▲14
27 Le Calandre Rubano, Italy ▲5
28 Mirazur, Menton, France ▼4
29 Daniel, New York, USA ▼4
30 Aqua, Wolfsburg, Germany ▼8
31 Biko, Mexico City, Mexico ▲7
32 Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand ▲18
33 The Fat Duck, Bray, UK ▼20
34 Fäviken, Järpen, Sweden =
35 Oud Sluis, Sluis, Netherlands ▼14
36 Amber, Hong Kong, China ▲8
37 Vila Joya, Albufeira, Portugal ▲8
38 Restaurant Andre, Singapore NEW ENTRY
39 81/2Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong, China NEW ENTRY
40 Combal.Zero, Rivoli, Italy RE-ENTRY
41 Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy NEW ENTRY
42 Schloss Schauenstein, Fürstenau, Switzerland ▼12
43 Mr & Mrs Bund, Shanghai, China NEW ENTRY
44 Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain ▼13
45 Geranium Copenhagen, Denmark ▲4
46 Mani, São Paulo, Brazil NEW ENTRY
47 The French Laundry, Yountville, USA ▼4
48 Quay, Sydney, Australia ▼19
49 Septime, Paris, France NEW ENTRY
50 Central Lima, Peru NEW ENTRY