World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2014: Will El Celler de Can Roca retain top spot?

24-Apr-2014 - Last updated on 10-Jul-2024 at 15:03 GMT

The Roca brothers - Joan, Jordi and Josef - celebrate winning the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2013

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, takes place on Monday (28 April) and speculation is beginning to mount - will Spanish restaurant El Celler de Can Roca hold off the likes of Noma and Osteria Francescana to stay at number one?

Last time around, the three brothers of El Celler de Can Roca - Joan (executive chef), Josep (head sommelier) and Jordi (pâtissier) Roca - jubilantly took to the stage to collect the top award of the night, having seen the three-Michelin-starred Catalonian restaurant place second on the list for the previous two years in a row. Read how it happened in 2013.

"We don't think we are the best in the world," Joan Roca told BigHospitality after winning the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards in 2013 (video below). "We are flattered for the recognition that being on the list brings; what it represents and for the recognition from our industry colleagues.

"We must continue to work to the highest possible standards and not think in any way that we are the best restaurant in the world."

Video interview: El Celler de Can Roca

Danish restaurant Noma, led by René Redzepi, was unable to match El Bulli’s record of four years in a row as the World's Best Restaurant, dropping to number two on the list in 2013, while Italy’s Osteria Francescana moved up two places to take third spot.

The below graph demonstrates the shear impact that winning the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards can have on a restaurant. It shows the interest generated for ‘El Celler de Can Roca’ (blue line) and ‘Noma restaurant’ (red line) through Google searches, over the past 10 years.

The number 100 represents the peak search interest, with the highest points for both venues coming when they took top spot on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list.

Readers' Poll: Who will win?

Organised by BigHospitality’s sister publication Restaurant magazine and sponsered by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, The World's 50 Best Restaurants brings together the opinions and experiences of over 900 international restaurant industry experts, with judges including journalists, restaurateurs and chefs and food lovers from across the globe.

It has become one of the most recognizable international restaurant ranking systems; while Michelin offers a city-wide guide around the world and Zagat covers the U.S and the UK separately, neither attempts to rank the world in one list.

So, on Monday evening, chefs, academy members and sponsors will gather at The Guildhall in London to hear the unveiling of the 12th list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards. Will El Celler de Can Roca scoop the number one spot for the second year running; or will Noma or Osteria Francescana beat them to it? Or perhaps we'll see another restaurant snatch top spot this year...

Cast your vote and leave a comment below to let us know your predictions.