The time has once again arrived for the new edition of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants to be released. The extended 51-100 list was published last week, and the annual top 50 restaurant ranking, sponsored by San Pellegrino, will be released on Wednesday, June 5th, 2024. This year, the awards will take place in Las Vegas, and the event will also be live-streamed virtually for those who can’t physically be present. As is our annual tradition, we have made some predictions about this year’s awards. Keep reading to see who we think will be on the 2024 World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/7u3Dff6N8AQ?si=YpKLA8ENouO88b5_” /]
If you want to hear our live updates with all the last-minute rumors, industry secrets, and insights, be sure to join The Hungries! Like last year, we will be having a virtual watch party together and discussing all things 50 Best on the forum. #TheHungriesKnowFirst
AD
Join Our Food Community!
Join our members-only, worldwide food club – The Hungries! Our community of international food lovers is made up of hundreds of members, based all over the world. Chat with us daily on our online forum, ask for travel tips and recommendations, and join us for meals at some of the world's best restaurants!
The 50 Best Voters
The World’s 50 voters are anonymous, they are 50% male and 50% female, and at least 25% of the voters are rotated every year in order to keep the list fresh. There are over 1,000 industry experts who vote on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list every year – they are chefs and restaurateurs, food writers, and well-traveled gourmets. For more information on how the voting works, click here. A reminder: we are NOT voters and we have no insight into which restaurants will top this year’s highly anticipated list. We are just making our best guesses! To read more about our role as 50 Best TasteHunters, click here.
The Best of the Best
In 2019, The World’s 50 Best organization implemented a new rule to change up the list and bring in more diversity. Restaurants who have topped the 50 Best list are no longer eligible to win again. Instead, these winners move into the “Best of the Best” list, a hall of fame for all of the previous number one restaurants. Restaurants in this category include Central, Geranium, Noma, Mirazur, Osteria Francescana, Eleven Madison Park, The French Laundry, El Celler de Can Roca, and The Fat Duck. Which restaurant will join the “Best of the Best” this year?
[arve url=”https://youtu.be/J_Et8UKP_S4?si=rL4Sp1hLOdtm15SS” /]
As we are based in Copenhagen, we dine most frequently around Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. However, we tend to travel quite a bit, and the driving force behind any trip for us is food. In the past year, we have also visited the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Austria, Slovenia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Singapore. As always when we travel, we try to go to all the best restaurants in these destinations, so our thoughts and opinions are primarily based on these recent trips.
Predictions: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024
At last year’s awards, Central in Peru claimed the title of the World’s Best Restaurant 2023. Disfrutar in Barcelona, Spain rose from third to second place, so we are crossing our fingers that chefs Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, and Mateu Casañas will take home the top prize and Disfrutar will be crowned the best restaurant in the world this year. Disfrutar (which means “to enjoy” in Spanish) opened in 2014 in Barcelona. Anders and I both had visited once before we met, and finally went together for the first time this year. It was a truly stunning meal – one that made us think, encouraged us to play and have fun, and pushed us outside our comfort zone. From the creative dishes to the extremely hospitable staff, this was an exceptional experience from start to finish. We also love the passion of the chefs to spread their culinary knowledge – they write all their recipes in cookbooks and make videos to teach others the new techniques they’ve created. That’s what this industry is all about!
Se dette innlegget på Instagram
No matter what happens, it seems chances are very high for a Spanish restaurant to take the number one spot, since no. 2, 3, and 4 on the 2023 list are all Spanish. Currently ranked no. 3 is DiverXO in Madrid, which jumped from no. 75 in 2019, to no. 20 in 2021, and right up to no. 4 in 2022. What an insane trajectory! This extremely popular restaurant from chef Dabiz Muñoz has won the hearts of many diners and voters alike – and we think it’s likely that DiverXO could take the silver medal at this year’s awards. Asador Extebarri (currently ranked no. 4) is another fierce contender and equally popular restaurant, beloved by many. The only question is if Alchemist will leapfrog over any of these Spanish restaurants from its no. 5 ranking…
Impossible-to-book restaurant Alchemist first entered the list in 2021 at no. 58, and in 2022 they slingshotted up to no. 18, jumping forty spots! Then, they skyrocketed into the top five last year. Alchemist is the most mind-blowing dining experience we’ve had, with absurdly delicious and thought-provoking dishes from chef Rasmus Munk. We know it’s just a matter of time before Alchemist is crowned the best restaurant in the world.
[arve url=”https://youtu.be/ZtzrZxtRDPM” loop=”no” muted=”no” /]
In 2022, we predicted that Lido 84 (the 2021 Highest Climber Award) would enter the top ten – and they did! Lido 84 jumped to no. 8 in 2022, and continued to no. 7 in 2023. This gem of a restaurant in Italy is one of our all-time favorite dining destinations, located right on the spectacular Lake Garda. Giancarlo Camanini is a world-class restaurant host, and his brother Riccardo is a master in the kitchen. We think these lovable Italian brothers are only headed one direction – up! Could Lido 84 sneak into the top five this year?
Our favorite restaurant in the world, Frantzén, jumped from no. 21 in 2019 to no. 6 in 2021, but dipped back to no. 25 in 2022, and no. 30 in 2023. This has been the biggest shock for us at the awards ceremonies the past few years. Björn Frantzén and his team make some of the tastiest food we’ve ever had, in one of the most luxuriously relaxing restaurant settings ever. We hope that more voters have been able to visit Sweden in the last year, and that we’ll see Frantzén continue to climb in the top half of the list.
One of our favorite restaurants in the U.S., Atomix, jumped a whopping 25 spots last year, from no. 33 to no. 8, securing its title as the “Best Restaurant in North America.” We are crossing our fingers that Junghyun ‘JP’ and Ellia Park will continue to climb and get recognition for the incredible Korean-inspired food they are serving, and their uniquely personal style of hospitality. We can’t wait to return to Atomix later this year during our Best of New York food tour! (And there are still a few limited seats left if you want to join us!).
Se dette innlegget på Instagram
We also expect Ikoyi, our favorite fine dining restaurant in London, to continue to climb on the list this year. It entered the top 50 at no. 49 in 2022 and climbed to no. 35 last year, and we think chef Jeremy Chan’s powerful cooking will continue to amass votes.
Other restaurants on the rise include chef Pía León’s restaurant Kjolle in Peru (ranked no. 68 in 2022 and and no. 28 last year), Santiago Lastra’s London restaurant Kol (ranked no. 73 in 2022 and no. 23 last year), and Daniel Calvert’s new Tokyo hotspot Sézanne (ranked no. 82 in 2022 and no. 37 in last year). All three of these restaurants climbed 40-50 spots on the list in just one year, which is an insane feat. These spots in particular have been receiving a lot of buzz and media attention as of late (Sézanne most recently being crowned no. 1 on Asia’s 50 Best List 2024), so it’s safe to assume their positions on the top 50 list are secure. Our guess is that these hotspots will continue their upward trends.
Two other top meals of ours last year were at Quique Dacosta (no. 20 in 2023) and Hiša Franko (no. 32 in 2023). In fact, at both of these meals, we enjoyed one of our Best Dishes of 2023. These restaurants are mainstays on the 50 Best list with good reason, and remain must-visit restaurants for all passionate food lovers.
50 and Beyond…
As is tradition, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants released the 51-100 list a couple weeks ahead of the awards ceremony. This extended list gives us some clues about which restaurants could have jumped into the top fifty this year. A few of our favorites, Jordnær in Copenhagen (ranked no. 38 in 2022 and no. 57 in 2023), SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, California (ranked no. 50 in 2022 and no. 68 in 2023), and Zén in Singapore (ranked no. 69 in 2023) are all noticeably missing from the bottom half of the 50 Best list. We would not be surprised if these restaurants soared into the top fifty restaurants, and since these culinary addresses are missing from the 51-100 list, it’s a good guess to assume that they did.
We were thrilled to see Mérito, one of our favorite restaurants in Peru, enter the list for the first time at no. 59 last year, and continue the rise to no. 55 this year. Chef Juan Luis Martínez previously worked at Central before opening his tiny, two-story restaurant in Lima. Next year, we’re confident that Mérito will soar into the top 50 – we had one of our best meals ever here.
A top meal of ours so far this year was at Burnt Ends, our favorite restaurant in Singapore. Chef Dave Pynt’s barbecue restaurant is holding steady on the 51-100 list (no. 65 in 2023 and no. 68 this year), but we’d love to see it climb higher. Our guess? It’s too tough of a table to snag, and voters can’t get in!
Se dette innlegget på Instagram
Another restaurant that is close to our hearts is Kadeau, located here in Denmark. Chef Nicolai Nørregaard and his Bornholm boys were spotted on the list at no. 105 in 2019, last year they climbed up to no. 91, and this year they shot up to no. 54. We hope this trend only continues – Kadeau is an absolute gem of a New Nordic restaurant.
Will Los Angeles ever get the culinary credit it deserves? For the first time in a decade, 50 Best awarded a Los Angeles restaurant – Kato received the coveted “One to Watch” title this year. This is completely deserved – Kato is our favorite fine dining restaurant in L.A. Fingers crossed we see some more West Coast representation on the 50 Best list soon. Chef Jordan Kahn’s culinary playground and spaceship restaurant Vespertine just recently reopened, and chef Aitor Zabala’s dream restaurant, Somni, is set to reopen later this summer. Further down the coast, we expect to see three-Michelin-starred restaurant Addison in San Diego find its rightful spot on this list. Chef William Bradley’s cooking is right up there with the best of them.
Se dette innlegget på Instagram
Newcomer Delta in Athens is another restaurant to be on the lookout for. Helmed by chefs Thanos Feskos (formerly of Geranium) and George Papazacharias (formerly of Maaemo, L’Air du Temps, and Under), this restaurant will be the one to put Greece on the map as a culinary destination. Delta hasn’t made it to the 51-100 list yet, but, with the amount of talent in that kitchen, we’re sure it’s just a matter of time.
We also had one of the best meals of last year at Milka in Slovenia. Chef David Žefran crafts a tasting menu that’s Nordic-inspired, with a focus on foraging, fermentation, and sustainability. This world-class eatery is set in a luxury boutique hotel in Kranjska Gora, nestled in the Alps – it’s one to watch in Slovenia, and we’d love to see it make it’s way to the 50 Best list one day.
One last shout-out goes to L’Enclume, where we enjoyed our absolute best meal of 2022. Simon Rogan’s farm-to-table fine dining restaurant is a special place, a true culinary oasis in the Lake District of the UK. We had an absolutely unforgettable experience in Cartmel, and we rank our meal at L’Enclume as a top meal of our life.
Who do you think will be in the top five this year? Let us know in a comment below.
I always love your predictions! Thank you!