Once again, Noma in the Danish capital Copenhagen has been named the best restaurant in the world.
The ranking of The World’s Best Restaurant 2021 includes the 50 best restaurants from 26 countries around the world. More than 1,000 culinary experts take part in the selection, and the ranking has been made since 2002 and is considered a barometer of global gastronomic trends.
The legendary restaurant with chef Rene Rexhepi has been number one in the world 4 times.
“Noma is the most influential restaurant of its time, setting new standards in researching and finding new ingredients, developing dishes and presenting,” said William Drew, director of content management.
Noma and Rene Rexhepi are known as one of the creators of the so-called new Nordic cuisine and inspire a whole generation of chefs around the world, the ranking notes. The restaurant was first number one in 2010.
In 2016 it closed and moved to a new location, opening in 2018 as Noma 2.0. Now he is on top again.
The restaurant offers three menus at different times of the year. From January to June is the seafood season, summer is the vegetarian season and game is for the winter. Before each season, Noma closes so that the team can develop a new menu.
Rexhepi and his people constantly surprise customers with unexpected ingredients. The previous season, for example, included vegetarian shawarma with celery, duck leg, brain and heart, served with claw, feather and beak, and crab meat served on flat bread in the form of crab.
The team is constantly experimenting with new foods, including deer penis and roe deer brain and all sorts of bugs.
In the previous ranking – for 2019, Noma was in second place, preceded by the French Mirazur.
Here are the runners-up from the top 10, who collected a total of about 20 Michelin stars.
Second is another restaurant from Copenhagen – Geranium. The seasonality of the menu here is at the next level, as chefs like to say. The latest “Autumn Universe” selection begins with Jerusalem artichoke leaves and pickled walnuts, goes through a series of seafood, and quail with thyme seeds, berries and pickled pine are the only meat dishes on the menu.
Asador Etxebarri is third and one of several representatives in the top 50 of the place with the most Michelin stars per capita – the Basque Country in Spain.
Chef Victor Arginsonis is known for being able to grill absolutely anything and extract amazing flavors from seemingly simple ingredients. He is also the author of the restaurant’s kitchen design and designed the grills himself. Coal is also made on site, in its own furnace at 750 degrees. Even desserts are kissed by at least one hint of smoke.
At Central in Lima, Peru, guests peek into the diverse culinary world of the place from the front door, which takes them to a vegetable garden with over 100 species of plants. The restaurant is an ode to Peru, and the dishes pay homage to the country’s landscape, history and traditions. The menu includes the best of the local land and sea – mussels, squid, tripe and goat’s neck.
Maido, again in Lima, offers nikei – Peruvian products made with Japanese techniques. For example, Paracas mussels with green butter beans and miso.
Disfrutar in Barcelona is “an exciting fast fire, a train of food horrors”.
Dishes like panchino – a fluffy bun filled with caviar and cream, or multi-sphere pesto with pistachios and eels are made to pamper, surprise and excite. In 2021, the team showed a new type of table – during the meal it comes to life with secret compartments in which delicious bites are hidden.
