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Spain knocked off top spot for world's best restaurant

Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones - [email protected]
Spain knocked off top spot for world's best restaurant
Chef Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca. Photo: AFP

Spain's El Celler de Can Roca has lost its crown and been relegated to second place in the newly-released World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, beaten by Italian restaurant Osteria Francescana.

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But fear not, Spain still dominates the list with three entries in the top ten, compared to one entry each for Italy, the USA, Peru, Denmark, France, Japan and Austria.

At number two is El Celler de Can Roca, run by the three Roca brothers in Girona, northeastern Spain.

"The three Roca brothers are each global leaders in their respective fields – Joan as a chef, Josep as a sommelier and Jordi as a patissier – so their combined creativity is almost overwhelming. But their warm fraternal dynamic also pervades the whole atmosphere of this unique, and hugely popular, restaurant," said the World’s 50 Best Restaurants guide, released on Tuesday.

The Catalan eaterie had reclaimed the title last year, knocking Denmark's Noma off the top spot, after taking the number one spot in 2013.

This year's list puts are two other Spanish restaurants in the top ten, both Basque, proving that the cuisine of the northern Spanish region is one of the best in the world. And Spain maintains a total of seven restaurants on the top 50 list.

GALLERY: Spain's seven best restaurants in the world

In at number seven is Mugaritz in San Sebastián: "a powerhouse of activity hidden in the green hills of the Basque Country", explains the guide.

The restaurant is run by chef Andoni Luis Aduriz, known simply as Andoni who, according to the World’s Best Restaurants guide, "iis the natural heir to Spain’s most pioneering chef after Ferran Adrià (formally of elBulli).

And at number ten is Asador Etxebarri, described as a "Basque barbecue master cooking up meat feast in the countryside".

The Basque barbecue master in question is chef, Victor Arguinzoniz who was born in the very same village where the restaurant is now located, around an hour from San Sebastián.

Arguinzoniz worked in a flag factory for years before buying the restaurant in the town with his father and uncle and teaching himself to cook.

The World’s Best restaurant list 2016 is topped by Italian restaurant Osteria Francescana, run by chef Massimo Bottura in Modena. 


A dish from the Mugaritz, the Basque restaurant ranked number seven in 2016.

GALLERY: Spain's seven best restaurants in the world

 

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