US, European domination of World’s 50 Best Restaurants list ends with No 1 spot in 2023 for Peru’s Central, while in Asia Odette in Singapore places 14th, Le Du in Bangkok 15th
- Announced in Valencia, Spain, the annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for the first time has a South American restaurant, Central in Lima, in top spot
- The Chairman remains Hong Kong’s sole representative on the list, in last place, while a Singapore-based chef takes the Chef’s Choice award
Peruvian restaurant Central won the title of best restaurant in the 2023 World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards held in Valencia, Spain.
The result ends 20 years of dominance of the top position by Western restaurants. The crown passed to Central from 2022 winner Geranium, which is based in Copenhagen.
While not based in Asia, modern Korean restaurant Atomix in New York won the Highest Climber Award, rising from 33rd last year to No 8 for 2023.
In 2022 Central, based in Lima, the Peruvian capital, became the first restaurant not in Europe or the US to be named in the top three in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, which launched in 2002.
Central’s chef-proprietors, husband and wife Virgilio Martínez and Pía León, said they were honoured to receive the accolade.
“Thank you to everyone here and far away who support us, to the city of Valencia and to 50 Best,” said Martínez. “The world is moving too quickly and sometimes there is no consequence to what is said and done.
We’re a melting pot of cultures, and Asia is important to us, and Asia is very powerful in terms of philosophy
“We want to bring more credibility and accountability to our sector. It’s not about being the best or No 1, it’s about doing what we do every day, trying to achieve our goals, and looking for the truth.”
The groundbreaking restaurant is an ode to its mother country, celebrating the unique landscapes, history and traditions of Peru using locally sourced produce.
The restaurant has a vegetable garden with more than 100 plant species that supplies the kitchen, and recycling and composting is built into Central’s processes.
The kitchen is informed by the research undertaken at Mater Iniciativa, an interdisciplinary organisation that explores Peruvian culture and ingredients which Martínez and León set up along with Martínez’s sister, Malena, in 2013.
“We’re filled with gratitude,” said Malena Martínez. “This is [an] especially meaningful award to represent South America.”
While Central is a Peruvian restaurant through and through, Martinez, in his acceptance speech, gave a nod to the cuisines of Asia that have informed Peru’s culinary history over the centuries.
“We’re a melting pot of cultures, and Asia is important to us, and Asia is very powerful in terms of philosophy. In Peru, we have 500 years of fusion, not only Asian, but Asian is very strong,” he said.
Seventeen of the past 20 winners of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards have been based in Europe, while the other three have been US-based.
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The restaurants in the US that have been No 1 are The French Laundry, twice, and Eleven Madison Park. Osteria Francescana in Italy earned the most votes twice, while The Fat Duck in the UK and Mirazur in France have each won the title once.
Tatiana by Chef Kwame Onwuachi, which celebrates the food of the African diaspora and takes inspiration from Onwuachi’s New York heritage, took home the One to Watch Award, given to restaurants with superstar potential.
The World’s Best Pastry Chef award went to Pia Salazar of Nuema in Quito, Ecuador, while Leonor Espinosa of restaurant Leo in Bogota Colombia, the 2022 recipient of the World’s Best Female Chef award, handed this year’s trophy to Elena Reygadas of Rosetta in Mexico City.
Massimo Bottura, chef patron of Osteria Francescana, which won World’s Best Restaurant in 2016 and 2018, handed the Icon award to Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz in Spain, who described winning the award as an “extraordinary honour”.
After its success in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards earlier in 2022, Singapore has four restaurants in the 51-100 list: Burnt Ends (65), Zén (69), Meta (84) and new entry Labyrinth (97). Shanghai is represented by Fu He Hui (99).
Held in the seaside city of Valencia, home of the traditional Spanish rice dish, paella, the awards ceremony attracted chefs, restaurateurs and journalists from across the world.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is voted for by 1,080 international restaurant industry experts, who make up The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy. The gender-balanced academy represents 27 regions around the world, each of which has 40 members including a chairperson.
