Spain claims top restaurant

A Spanish chef picked up an award for the world's best restaurant at an awards ceremony in Kensington with a warning that his country's food did not travel well.

Ferran Adria's Costa Brava restaurant El Bulli was named top of the 50 leading restaurants in the world. He paid tribute to English chefs in Spain but said that anyone wanting to sample his country's delights would have to travel there.

Adria said: 'While we have lots of great English chefs working in Spain, traditional Spanish food doesn't translate or even travel well outside Spain.

'A lot of Spanish chefs won't leave their country because they make a lot of fish-based dishes which are better from local sources.'

But the Barcelona-born cook added that Britain has a wealth of strength in its cuisine and has produced some great chefs.

He had nothing but praise for last year's winner, Heston Blumenthal, chef at The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, saying he had created a 'very strong and great example for many young chefs to follow'.

Blumenthal, who left a friend's wedding in Hawaii to fly to London for the awards, was gracious in missing out on regaining the top restaurant title, saying it was a big achievement to have come second, especially to Adria.

He said: 'This year the list has produced the crème-de-la-crème of chefs and restaurants, and I know Ferran, I love his food.

'Cooking is fun and in that respect, Ferran is a genius.'

But anyone else wishing to sample the delicacies at El Bulli will be hard-pressed to do so this year. It is only open for six months of the year and is already fully booked for this year.

Other big winners included Michel and Albert Roux, who were jointly awarded the lifetime achievement award, presented to them by Albert's son, Michel Roux Junior, who said that the two chefs had shaped the way people ate in Britain.

Roux Junior, whose restaurant Le Gavroche came 27th in the list and won the award for outstanding value, added: 'Their legacy of teaching and sharing knowledge is renowned. They are tireless perfectionists. I can vouch for that.'

The top 50 restaurants

1 El Bulli, Spain (Penfold's world's best restaurant, best in Europe)
2 The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire
3 Pierre Gagnaire, France (Chef's Choice)
4 French Laundry, US (Best Restaurant in the Americas)
5 Tetsuya, Australia (Best in Australasia)
6 Bras, France
7 Restaurant Le Louis XV, Monaco
8 Per Se, US
9 Restaurante Arzak, Spain
10 Mugaritz, Spain (Highest new entry)
11 Can Fabes, Spain
12 Nobu, London
13 Gambero Rosso, Italy (Highest climber)
14 Gordon Ramsay, Royal Hospital Road, UK
15 Restaurant Alain Ducasse, France
16 Jean Georges, US
17 Le Cinq, France
18 Daniel, US
19 Oud Sluis, The Netherlands
20 Chez Panisse, US
21 El Celler de Can Roca, Spain
22 L'Astrance, France
23 Hof van Cleve, Belgium
24 La Maison Troisgros, France
25 L'Atelier, France
26 Charlie Trotter's, US
27 Le Gavroche, London (Outstanding value)
28 La Colombe, South Africa (Best restaurant in Middle East and Africa)
29 Enoteca Pinchiorri, Italy
30 Rockpool, Australia
31 Le Calandre, Italy
32 Le Bernardin, US
33 Noma, Denmark
34 Restaurant Dieter Muller, Germany
35 St John, London
36 Hakkasan, London

37 Martin Berasategui, Spain
38 Le Quartier Francais, South Africa
39 Chez Dominique, Finland
40 L'Ambroisie, France
41 Die Schwarzwaldstube, Germany
42 Dal Pescatore, Italy
43 Bocuse, France
44 L'Arpege, France
45 Gramercy Tavern, US
46 Bukhara, India
47 De Karmeliet, Belgium
48 Oaxen, Sweden
49 Comme Chez Soi, Belgium
50 DOM, Brazil

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in