World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2016: Joy for The Clove Club but Heston takes a hit
Three London venues made the list, revealed at the awards ceremony in New York last night (13 June), an increase from two in 2015.
The Clove Club in Shoreditch was the highest new entry, rising from 55th to 26th place.
The Isaac McHale-led venue has been steadily making its way up the list for the past two years after it debuted at 87th in 2014.
There was also good news for Notting Hill’s The Ledbury, which rose from 20th to 14th place after impressing judges with Australian chef Brett Graham’s creative use of British produce.
However, Blumenthal took the most notable hit on this year’s list.
The TV personality’s Knightsbridge venue Dinner by Heston Blumenthal dropped a whopping 38 places from seventh to 45th after four years in the top 10.
Blumenthal’s Bray restaurant The Fat Duck – which was number one in the world in 2005 –also fell off the top 100 list completely after closing for refurbishment in 2014.
The Fat Duck temporarily flew its snail porridge and meat fruit to Melbourne for nine months last year, before reopening in the UK in September with a revamped £255, four-hour menu.
It is the first time since 2004 that the chef has had no restaurants ranked in the top 10 in the world.
Three UK venues also made the top 100-51 list this year.
Lyles in Shoreditch debuted at 65th, Mikael Jonsson’s Hedone in Chiswick held its 60th place for another year, while Clerkenwell’s St John rose one spot to 92nd place.
The World’s 50 Best list is voted for by almost 1,000 leading chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and critics across the world based on their restaurant experiences over the last 18 months.
In a bid to counter local favouritism, each voter must recognise at least three restaurants outside their own region.
Previous UK entrants in to 50 Best include London’s Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which was named second Best in the World in 2002. The three Michelin-starred venue has since fallen off the list altogether, meaning that none of the Ramsay’s 29 global restaurants are in the top 100.
To view this year’s full top 50 list click here.
For the top 100-51 in 2016 see here.
