Once again, no Canadian restos make the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants
With dramatic action-movie music and a little smug British humour, the much-anticipated S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants were announced at an awards ceremony at the Guildhall in London, U.K. last night. Just like last year, no Canadian restaurants made the Top 50, but unlike last year, Canada was also a no-show in the second-tier 51-100 list (Cambridge’s Langdon Hall and Calgary’s Rouge made it onto 2010’s list at 77 and 60, respectively, but didn’t place this year.)
Rene Redzepi’s Noma from Copenhagen took first place again this time around. Redzepi and the team accepted the prize with plenty of man-love (a theme in this year’s ceremony) and Viking hats, followed by an emotional speech from the Danish chef.
With more room at the top after the withdrawal of Ferran Adria’s El Bulli from the list (it’s closing in 2012), Spanish restaurants El Celler de Can Roca and Mugaritz secured the second and third spot. Other awards included: Best Female Chef to Anne Sophie Pic of France’s Maison Pic; the One To Watch award to Stockholm’s Frantzén/Lindeberg; and the Lifetime Achievement award to Juan Mari Arzak, the pioneer of new Basque cuisine who was Spain’s first chef to win three Michelin stars. The competition is organized by Restaurant magazine, and voted on by 800 restaurant industry insiders.
Despite Canada’s poor showing, Toronto diners can still get excited that American David Chang, who will be opening a pair of restaurants in Toronto next year, snagged the 40th spot for his Momofuku Ssäm Bar and 65th for his tiny Momofuku Ko.
The entire Top 50 List:
- Noma (Denmark)
- El Celler de Can Roca (Spain)
- Mugaritz (Spain)
- Osteria Francescana (Italy) – Chef’s Choice
- The Fat Duck (U.K.)
- Alinea (U.S.) – Best restaurant in North America
- D.O.M. (Brazil) – Best restaurant in South America
- Arzak (Spain)
- Le Chateaubriand (France)
- Per Se (U.S.)
- Daniel (U.S.)
- Les Creations de Narisawa (Japan) – Best restaurant in Asia
- L’Astrance (France)
- Atelier de Joel Robuchon (France)
- Hof van Cleve (Belgium)
- Pierre Gagnaire (France)
- Oud Sluis (Netherlands)
- Le Bernadin (U.S.)
- L’Arpege (France)
- Nihonryori Ryugin (Japan)
- Vendome (Germany)
- Steirereck (Austria)
- Schloss Schauenstein (Switzerland)
- Eleven Madison Park (U.S.)
- Aqua (Germany)
- Quay (Australia) – Best restaurant in Australasia
- Iggys (Singapore)
- Combal Zero (Italy)
- Martin Berasategui (Spain)
- Bras (France)
- Biko (Mexico)
- Le Calandre (Italy)
- Ristorante Cracco (Italy)
- The Ledbury (U.K.) – Highest new entry
- Chez Dominique (Finland)
- Quartier Francis (South Africa) – Best restaurant in Africa + Middle East
- Amber (Hong Kong)
- Dal Pescatore (Italy)
- Il Canto (Italy)
- Momofuku Ssam Bar (U.S.)
- St. John (U.K.)
- Astrid Y Gaston (Peru)
- Hibiscus (U.K.)
- Maison Trois Gros (France)
- Alain Ducasse, Plaza Athenee (France)
- De Librije (Netherlands)
- Restaurant Hotel de Vie (Switzerland)
- Varvary (Russia)
- Pujol (Mexico)
- Asador Extebarri (Spain)
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/once-again-no-canadian-restos-make-the-s-pellegrino-worlds-50-best-restaurants/&title=Once again, no Canadian restos make the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/50-best-Restaurant-Chefs-1.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_65930" align="aligncenter" width="655" caption="The 50 best chefs in the world. No, really (Image: The S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants 2011)"]
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With dramatic action-movie music and a little smug British humour, the much-anticipated S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants were announced at an awards ceremony at the Guildhall in London, U.K. last night. Just like last year, no Canadian restaurants made the Top 50, but unlike last year, Canada was also a no-show in the second-tier 51-100 list (Cambridge's Langdon Hall and Calgary’s Rouge made it onto 2010’s list at 77 and 60, respectively, but didn’t place this year.)
Rene Redzepi’s Noma from Copenhagen took first place again this time around. Redzepi and the team accepted the prize with plenty of man-love (a theme in this year’s ceremony) and Viking hats, followed by an emotional speech from the Danish chef.
With more room at the top after the withdrawal of Ferran Adria’s El Bulli from the list (it’s closing in 2012), Spanish restaurants El Celler de Can Roca and Mugaritz secured the second and third spot. Other awards included: Best Female Chef to Anne Sophie Pic of France’s Maison Pic; the One To Watch award to Stockholm’s Frantzén/Lindeberg; and the Lifetime Achievement award to Juan Mari Arzak, the pioneer of new Basque cuisine who was Spain’s first chef to win three Michelin stars. The competition is organized by Restaurant magazine, and voted on by 800 restaurant industry insiders.
Despite Canada’s poor showing, Toronto diners can still get excited that American David Chang, who will be opening a pair of restaurants in Toronto next year, snagged the 40th spot for his Momofuku Ssäm Bar and 65th for his tiny Momofuku Ko.
The entire Top 50 List:
Noma (Denmark)
El Celler de Can Roca (Spain)
Mugaritz (Spain)
Osteria Francescana (Italy) – Chef’s Choice
The Fat Duck (U.K.)
Alinea (U.S.) – Best restaurant in North America
D.O.M. (Brazil) – Best restaurant in South America
Arzak (Spain)
Le Chateaubriand (France)
Per Se (U.S.)
Daniel (U.S.)
Les Creations de Narisawa (Japan) – Best restaurant in Asia
L’Astrance (France)
Atelier de Joel Robuchon (France)
Hof van Cleve (Belgium)
Pierre Gagnaire (France)
Oud Sluis (Netherlands)
Le Bernadin (U.S.)
L’Arpege (France)
Nihonryori Ryugin (Japan)
Vendome (Germany)
Steirereck (Austria)
Schloss Schauenstein (Switzerland)
Eleven Madison Park (U.S.)
Aqua (Germany)
Quay (Australia) – Best restaurant in Australasia
Iggys (Singapore)
Combal Zero (Italy)
Martin Berasategui (Spain)
Bras (France)
Biko (Mexico)
Le Calandre (Italy)
Ristorante Cracco (Italy)
The Ledbury (U.K.) - Highest new entry
Chez Dominique (Finland)
Quartier Francis (South Africa) – Best restaurant in Africa + Middle East
Amber (Hong Kong)
Dal Pescatore (Italy)
Il Canto (Italy)
Momofuku Ssam Bar (U.S.)
St. John (U.K.)
Astrid Y Gaston (Peru)
Hibiscus (U.K.)
Maison Trois Gros (France)
Alain Ducasse, Plaza Athenee (France)
De Librije (Netherlands)
Restaurant Hotel de Vie (Switzerland)
Varvary (Russia)
Pujol (Mexico)
Asador Extebarri (Spain)
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Obviously. Even comparing all the best restuarants in all of Canada to just the amazing ones Chicago has is a complete joke.
No. Obviously S.Pellegrino doesn’t think Canadian restaurants sell enough S.Pellegrino.
That is all.
We don’t put nearly the amount of emphasis on good food and dining that European countries do. They raise their children with a deep respect of food, terroir and tradition. We raise ours to respect fast, easy and convinient food. Our food beliefs and culture have to grow up before we see World Class restaurants appear in our city/country.
@Michael,
Your “insight” in the situation is “dead on”…
: )
(all the restaurants in T-dot should, from now on, only serve Pellegrino as the only choice of non-alcoholic drinks…) lol
Boo hoo…the world doesn’t like us. Boo hoo famous chefs don’t want to open restaurants here. Get over it.
Actually if Toronto Chef’s cooked with passion rather than trying to ‘make the next big thing’ perhaps they would make a list like this….T.O Chef’s need to have some compassion, passion and self-creativity. Quit being the ‘look at me’ idiot and start being the ‘my food tastes good’ God
CANADIANS DONT KNOW GOOD FOOD IF IT WAS GIVEN TO THEM FOR FREE, THEY THINK PIZZA PASTA AND PULLED PORK SADWICHES IS GOOD FOOD , THATS COMFORT FOOD THERE IS A DIFFERENCE
ANOTHER REASON WHY MOST GOOD RESTAURANTS DONT LAST MORE THAN 2 YEARS IN CANADA , CANADIANS ARE CHEAP AND DONT UNDERSTAND FINE FOOD
THATS WHY
I think in terms of food quality there are some Canadian establishments that can hold their own with any in the world. Service, however, sucks in this country. Do they take good service into account?
THERES EATING AND THEN THERES DINING
EATING IS FOR SUSTANCE , DINING IS AN EXPERIENCE
FIGURE THAT OUT
S. Pell’s lists mean nothing to gastronomes of the first order. But, all too often air-headed reporters like to quote from it as the bible, the unquestionable truth.
I’ve been to most restaurants listed above (as well as the 51 to 100, add-on list), and, well, one can see why they’re all listed, for PR agencies work wonders… Further, what fundamentally bothers me about this list, is the fact that they number restaurants from 1 thru 50, then, 51 thru 100 (as if the list is a result of some sort of Olympic race), is about as useless as it gets in the world of restaurant listings/guides/et cetera. Michelin got it right with their amazingly simple restaurant rating system: 1 star, 2 stars, or 3 stars = logical organization of an immense amount of data, concerning ‘how to’ rank restaurant cuisine, wine lists, service, ambience, décor and architecture across many nations. To recap, as a Canadian, S. Pell’s list means nothing to me, and not seeing any Canadian restaurant of note listed that I know deserving to be mentioned, is actually a good thing. Cheers, R.M.
@Michael – Do you have attention deficit disorder?