50 best restaurants

Yesterday Restaurant magazine and S. Pellegrino announced its famed list of the world's 50 best restaurants. The list is developed by a large panel of well-regarded international judges consisting of 806 chefs, restaurateurs, food critics, and journalists.

For the fourth year in a row, Ferran Adriá's experimental Spanish restaurant, El Bulli, has been named the best eatery in the world. Coming in at sixth, Thomas Keller's Per Se is the highest-ranking US restaurant.

The most shocking news, however, is that Gordon Ramsay's flagship London establishment, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which was number 13 on last year's list, is totally absent from this year's. To check out the complete list, read more

if you're wondering what eating at El Bulli — the best restaurant in the world — is like, be sure to check out this account. It describes the four hour, once in a lifetime, too many courses to count dining experience. — Boarding Area via Bitten

Every year San Pellegrino and Restaurant magazine releases a list of the 50 best restaurants in the world. The list is put together by The Nespresso World's 50 Best Academy, a group that consists of over 650 chefs, restauranteurs, food writers and critics. There is no list of nominees, each member of the voting panel votes for their favorite five restaurants. They can't vote for their own restaurant, and they have to have eaten at their nominees within the past 18 months. So after 3,410 votes, who came out on top?

The top three are unchanged from last year, with Ferran Adria's El Bulli ranking number one. There are also four re-entries and two new entries. To discover the whole list, read more

Last night Restaurant Magazine announced their annual list of the world's 50 best restaurants and I am ridiculously embarrassed to say that even though two of them are really close by (Chez Panisse and the French Laundry), I have not been to any of the ones on the list. While I go hang my head in foodie shame, you can check out the list. Oh and it's worth noting that the top 6 are the same as last year and there are only 5 new entries and one that has re-entered. And finally, if you don't recognize him, that's El Bulli's head chef Ferran Adria in the photograph.

1 - El Bulli, Spain - Best in Europe
2 - The Fat Duck, UK
3 - Pierre Gagnaire, France
4 - The French Laundry, USA - Best in the Americas
5 - Tetsuya’s, Australia - Best in Australasia
6 - Bras, France
7 - Mugaritz, Spain
8 - Le Louis XV, Monaco
9 - Per Se, USA
10 - Arzak, Spain

To see the rest of the list, none of which I've eaten at either, read more