What will be the new number one restaurant in the world? And which Italians will be among the 50Best? We will find out soon, live from Antwerp, where the ceremony for The World's 50 Best Restaurants is taking place. Here is the live report as it happened.
Gabriele Zanatta wrote here that he's in Antwerp like Paolo Marchi: "Only a few hours to go and we'll find out the name of the 19th winner of the World’s 50Best Restaurants. This will be 2 years and 3 months after the last edition, when Singapore crowned Mauro Colagreco's Mirazur which at the time had just won the third Michelin star too. Trivia fact, the same could apply to René Redzepi's Noma, which got the (late) third star from the French guide little over two weeks ago, and is at the top according to the exit polls of the first post-pandemic Fifty Best. In Antwerp, in the Flanders, there's no official news, but the feeling is that the restaurant from Copenhagen, which has already won the title 4 times not in a row, and was second in 2019, could end up in the Olympus of the so called “Best of the Best”, the restaurants that won in the latest editions (including Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana), which can no longer compete according to the new rules. Difficult to think that Asador Extebarri (3rd in 2019), Geranium (5th) or Central (6th) can beat René Redzepi. But everything is possible, in theory".
4.37 pm: live photos a few minutes before the ceremony begins.
Massimo Bottura and Eleonora Cozzella
Enrico Crippa and Norbert Niederkofler
4.45 pm: we start with Massimo Bottura in the original role of "special correspondent" in Antwerp and behind the scenes («Which is always the funniest part», he says) of the ceremony.
"Reporter" Bottura interviews Joan Roca
16.58 pm: Massimo Bottura with Massimiliano Alajmo and his wife Mariapia. Alajmo: «We're finally here, with plenty of friends, after three years of grief. Hurray for Italy!».
5.05 pm: the ceremony begins. William Drew, content director at The World's 50 Best Restaurants speaks from the stage. He thanks the sponsors, starting from S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. With a mention to the pandemic and its difficulties.
5.08 pm:
Drew asks to applaud
Viviana Varese, who's already won the
Champions of
Change award from the
50 Best for her social commitment. Well done
Viviana!
Jeremy Chan, in the centre, on the stage of Antwerp
: The
One to watch award goes to
Ikoji in London, with chef
Jeremy Chan, and old (but he's very young) acquaintance of
Identità Golose.
Will Goldfarb's exultation
: the best pastry chef for the
50Best 2021 is
Will Goldfarb, who has also participated in our congress.
5.40 pm: the "Sustainable Restaurant" award goes to
Rodolfo Guzman's
Borago in Santiago del Chile (guess what? He also participated in
Identità Milano).
5.45 pm:
Pía Leon wins
The World's Best Female Chef award.
5.48: NIKO ROMITO'S REALE IS 29th! (It was 51st, a nice leap)
5.51 pm: MASSIMILIANO ALAJMO'S LE CALANDRE IS 26th (it was 31st in 2019, another nice improvement)
5.55 pm:
Victor Arguinzoniz's
Asador Etxebarri in the Basque Country wins the
Chefs' Choice Award.
5.58 pm: ENRICO CRIPPA OF PIAZZA DUOMO IN ALBA IS ALSO SMILING: 18th (he was 19th)
The applause of Riccardo and Giancarlo Camanini
(15th, it was 78th in 2019, but it also won the
One to watch Award at the time. Indeed).
Winner René Redzepi gives a speech to the audience and his team
:
Asador Etxebarri is third.
Geranium in Copenhagen is second.
Noma is once again first. As forecasted.
THE FINAL LIST:
1 - NOMA - Copenhagen, Denmark
2 - GERANIUM - Copenhagen, Denmark
3 - ASADOR ETXEBARRI - Atxondo, Spain
4 - CENTRAL - Lima, Peru
5 - DISFRUTAR - Barcelona, Spain
6 - FRANTZEN - Stockholm, Sweden,
7 - MAIDO - Lima, Peru
8 - ODETTE - Singapore
9 - PUJOL – Mexico City, Mexico
10 - THE CHAIRMAN - Hong Kong, China
THE ITALIANS:
15 - LIDO 84 in Gardone Riviera, Brescia
18 - PIAZZA DUOMO in Alba, Cuneo
26 - LE CALANDRE in Rubano, Padua
29 - REALE in Castel di Sangro, L'Aquila
52 - ULIASSI in Senigallia, Ancona
54 - ST.HUBERTUS in San Cassiano, Bolzano
73 - IL RISTORANTE LUCA FANTIN in Tokyo, Japan
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
