The restaurant Belcanto (Lisbon), of the Portuguese José Avillez rose 21 positions to the 25th place in the list of the 50 best in the world, which this year is headed by the Central (Lima, Peru), announced today the organization.
“José Avillez offers a vision of contemporary Portuguese cuisine, in which each dish tells a story, whether about the country, the restaurant’s origins, or the chef himself,” defined the World’s 50 Best list, at a ceremony held tonight in Valencia, Spain.
The Belcanto, also awarded two Michelin stars (“excellent cuisine, worth the detour”), had been ranked 46th in last year’s edition. It entered the top 50 list in 2019, to 42nd place, a position it held in 2021 (in 2020 the list was not released, due to the covid-19 pandemic).
The Lisbon restaurant remains the only Portuguese restaurant in the list of the 50 best, as well as in the second half of the list, from 51st to 100th.
“We work hard every day and feel that we are getting better and better, more creative, more consistent, more united as a team. But to climb more than 20 positions in the most important restaurant list in the world is something incredible. Being the 25th best restaurant in the world I don’t even know what that means”, José Avillez told Lusa.
For the chef, this award and rise also reflect “the growing relevance that Portugal, its gastronomy and chefs have had.
“As always, it is a distinction from my whole team, my city and the whole country, and all the Portuguese cooks around the world,” he pointed out.
First on this year’s list is the Peruvian restaurant Central (2nd last year), owned by Virgilio Martínez and Pía León.
“For more than a decade, it has been promoting its country’s products, celebrating its diversity and creating a sweet and deeply memorable memory for its customers,” the organizers described.
Virgilio Martinez, who took the stage with part of his team, said that in today’s world, “things are moving very fast,” but Central’s focus is “to give consistency and credibility to this industry, from South America, from Peru.”
“This is not about being number one, it’s not about competition or being the best, it’s about what we do every day, we love what we do, and [about] continuing to conquer our beautiful goals and simply seeking the truth,” said the chef.
Second place went to Disfrutar (Barcelona) by chefs Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas, and Eduard Xatruch (third place in last year’s edition), while Dabiz Muñoz’s DiverXo (Madrid) rose to third place (4th in 2022).
In this year’s edition, the restaurant Table by Bruno Verjus (Paris) went straight into 10th place on the list, which earned it the distinction of the highest new entry. Elena Reygadas of Rosetta restaurant (Mexico City) received the award for best female chef.
Created in 2002 by the British magazine Restaurant, the choice of the best restaurants in the world relies on the contributions of 1,080 gastronomy experts, and seeks to “reveal some of the best destinations for unique culinary experiences, as well as being a barometer for global gastronomic trends,” according to the promoters.
