Chef Rene Redzepi’s restaurant has topped the list four times before, which has been compiled annually since 2002 by more than a thousand culinary experts from around the world. Due to the Corona pandemic, the last winner was chosen in 2019. Noma then took second place. The restaurant Mirazur, from the French city of Menton, won.
Chef Mauro Collagreco’s restaurant couldn’t defend the title this year. A new rule states that previous winners will not be allowed to participate again unless the restaurant changes its location. The latter is the case with Noma. The world-famous restaurant was renovated and moved within the Danish capital in 2018. Last month, the restaurant received its third Michelin star for the first time.
“Improve”
“The great thing about Noma is that they keep reinventing themselves,” he says. Mara Grimm, a culinary critic from Het Parool, who has sat there several times at one of the coveted tables. “All major restaurants looked alike: I saw chandeliers, white gloves and the same fancy ingredients almost everywhere. Chef Rene Redzepi was one of the first to show that fine gastronomy was no longer about lobster, truffles and foie gras. He just wanted his guests to be aware of the location. And the season. That’s why it works so locally. For example, I ate ants and live shrimp. Noma has also contributed to penetrating the formality of gastronomy, for example by offering steak rice that you have to eat with your hands.”
Grimm asserts that anyone who thinks Noma relates only to this type of “spielerei” is wrong. “The flavors are incredibly well thought out and everything has tremendous depth. Not least thanks to their brewing lab. But the best thing about dining at Noma is that it’s always fresh, always better, more exciting and more surprising than last time. That means You always have to come back.”
no dutch
The entire list of the fifty best restaurants does not contain a Dutch company. “While we definitely have restaurants that belong on that list,” Grimm says. On the other hand, Denmark, Spain and Peru rank in the top ten twice. “These countries are investing heavily in the promotion of gastronomy, which helps in this case. In my opinion, the Netherlands should do the same for our restaurants.”
In September, Joris Bedendek, chef at Amsterdam restaurant Rijks en Columnist at Het Parool, still Ranked 46th in The Best Chef 2021. Spanish Chef Dabiz Muñoz of Diverxo Restaurant took first place in that competition. His restaurant took the 20th place in the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world for 2021.
top ten
1 – Noma (Copenhagen, Denmark)
2 – Geranium (Copenhagen, Denmark)
3 – Asador Etxebarri (Atxondo, Spain)
4 – Central (Lima, Peru)
5. Enjoy (Barcelona, Spangy)
6 – Franzen (Stockholm, Sweden)
7 – Maido (Lima, Peru)
8. Odette (Singapore)
Pujol (Mexico City, Mexico)
10 – The President (Hong Kong, China)