Disfrutar becomes the third best restaurant in the world

The Barcelona restaurant Disfrutar, by former elBulli head chefs Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, and Mateu Casañas, has become the third best restaurant in the world. This was revealed this Monday night in London, the city that hosted the gala for The World's 50 Best ranking. Until now, Disfrutar occupied the fifth position in the classification. The organization has highlighted that it is an "ingenious, fun, experimental, and tremendously delicious" restaurant.

The winner of this edition has been Geranium, from Copenhagen, and completing the podium are the restaurant Central, from Lima, in second position; Diverxo, from Madrid, in fourth; and Pujol, from Mexico City, in fifth position. The strong ascent of the establishment led by Dabiz Muñoz, which until now occupied the 20th position, stands out.

In total, in the top 50 there are six Spanish restaurants; in addition to Disfrutar and Diverxo, these include Asador Etxebarri (drops from 3 to 6), Elkano (16),  Mugaritz (drops from 14 to 21) and Quique Dacosta (rises from 74 to 42). If the list is extended to the 100 best restaurants, we find a seventh establishment, Azurmendi (which drops from 49 to 55). Nerua Guggenheim, Aponiente, and Arzak, which were part of the Top 100 in 2021, have been left out.

Josep Roca, from El Celler de Can Roca, has won the award for Best Sommelier in the world; and Aponiente, by Ángel León, has been chosen as the Most Sustainable Restaurant in the world.

Until now, the number 1 in the ranking was occupied by the also Danish Noma, by chef René Redzepi, which now becomes part of the lifetime classification Best of the Best, which also includes restaurants that had led the classification in the past such as El Celler de Can Roca, Osteria Francescana, or The Fat Duck. Since 2019, all those restaurants that have once been number 1 cannot be part of the ranking again and must move to that superior category.

The World's 50 Best, which has reached its 20th edition, is a product of the British publishing group William Reed that premiered in 2002, when it crowned elBulli as the best restaurant in the world. This year's gala was supposed to be held in Moscow, but London was finally chosen as a consequence of the War in Ukraine. It had not been held in the capital that saw the birth of this event since 2015, as in recent years the event has opted for itinerancy and has traveled to New York, Melbourne, Bilbao, Singapore, and Antwerp. The jury is made up of 1,080 experts from all over the world, although their names are anonymous.