4 of the Top 10 Restaurants in the World are in Spain!

Four of the top ten restaurants in the world are in Spain: El Bulli in Rosas, Gerona; El Celler de Can Roca in Gerona; Mugaritz in Rentería, Guipúzcoa; and Arzak, in San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa.


No.2 – El Bulli

2010 Awards – Chef of the Decade

2009 Awards – The World’s Best Restaurant, Best Restaurant in Europe

Ferran’s generous willingness to share his knowledge means his influence now spans the globe. Many of those who have worked with him have taken his techniques and ideas back to their part of the world. Maybe this is what drives Adria to surpass himself each year, in the knowledge that the people who have worked for him are one day capable of topping this list themselves.

Ferran Adria continues to tear up the fine dining rule book, presenting customers with food that often defies description, and maybe even defies the laws of physics too.

El Bulli won the S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant Award no less than 5 times in the last decade. This achievement earnt Ferran Adria the accolade of Chef of the Decade in 2010.


No.4 – El Celler de Can Roca

2009 Awards – Highest Climber

El Celler de Can Roca is the work of three brothers: head chef Joan Roca, maitre d’ and head sommelier Josep and pastry chef Jordi. Such a meteroric climb into the top 10 might be attributed to their move and new state-of-the-art kitchen-cum-lab, a wine cellar that offers customers an audio-visual journey through five key wine regions and a breathtaking dining space created with natural, organic materials and an abundance of natural light. Spain has yet another top 10 masterpiece restaurant in El Celler De Can Roca.



No.5 – Mugaritz

Andoni Luis Aduriz is often portrayed as the quiet man of Nueva Cocina. His food is less flamboyant than that of many modern Spanish chefs, and, ostensibly, he is less driven by new technology and kitchen science. But it is all a matter of degree. Aduriz spent two years studying the chemistry of coagulation in order to produce the perfect poached egg. Clearly, he is a chef in possession of a fathomless curiosity and a razor-sharp cutting-edge. “I encourage my team to make an individual effort to explore the origin of everything they touch and transform over fire.”

Where Aduriz veers away from molecular gastronomy, however, is that this learning and technical wizardry very much plays a support role in the Mugaritz kitchen. From baking carrots in clay and ash to creating “crunchy milk sheets”, technique and technology are very much a means to an end.

And what is that end? Well, it’s about coaxing the best flavour from the ingredients. It’s also about paying a creative homage to the natural world. This often involves exploring obscure ingredients, such as winter purslane, roasted acorn skins or amaranth grains, and making original, daring marriages on the plate. At a more profound level, it’s about attempting to produce food which resonates on an emotional as well as sensual level.

Mugaritz’s Naturan menu is full of arresting ideas: warm lettuce hearts soaked in vanilla brine; sheep’s milk curd seasoned with hay and toasted fern; beef roasted with the embers of vine cuttings. It is subtler, earthier, less sexy even, than what is going on at El Bulli, but, be in no doubt, Mugaritz is playing a pivotal role in the great global shift away from tradition, orthodoxy and dull restaurant food.
Mugaritz, Otzazulueta Baserria, Aldura Aldea 20, 20100 Errenteria Gipuzkoa, Spain



No.9 – Arzak

Juan Mari Arzak serves dishes to amaze and amuse the senses. His family have occupied the same site in San Sebastian since 1897, and it remains a family affair with his talented daughter Elena at his side now.

Together they offer a modern interpretation of classic Basque cuisine, including such delights as Lobster with white olive oil and smoked white tuna with figs and pine nuts.


Read the entire article and all the Ratings here:
www.theworlds50best.com/awards/1-50-winners