Ahead of the unveiling of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in New York next week, numbers 51 to 100 have been revealed, and the results are bound to have Australian chefs in a stir. Sepia and Brae, two Australian restaurants that débuted on the list last year, will be the main cause for chatter.
Brae in Birregurra, which launched a new accommodation offering on-site earlier this year, has jumped a solid 22 spots, now ranked at 65 equal with Lyle’s in London, while last year it débuted in the 87th spot. Brae chef and co-owner, Dan Hunter, is “very happy, obviously”.
“As a business it means a lot to us. Being listed is basically a worldwide ad for what we do. We are certainly ambitious, and we just try to present the best hospitality possible.”
Quay in Sydney has dropped 40 spots to number 98 this year; it was ranked at 58 last year. Burnt Ends, Dave Pynt’s modern Australian barbecue restaurant, which opened in 2013 in Singapore, comes in at number 70.
Absent from the back 50 is Martin Benn’s Sepia in Sydney. Last year Sepia was placed at 84 and took out the award for Restaurant to Watch, but it is noticeably absent from the ranking that was revealed overnight. One to watch out for next week, perhaps.
No doubt there’ll be some controversy over chef Thomas Keller’s Per Se and The French Laundry, which have both fallen into the back 50 for the first time this year. Laundry, now at number 85 (it was previously 50 in 2015), occupied the number-one spot in 2003 and 2004, while Per Se, now 52 (it ranked 40 in 2015), was number six in 2013.
Other major international restaurants to have fallen off the top 50 include Inaki Aizpitarte’s Le Chateaubriand, now number 74, and Restaurant Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée in Paris, now number 58.
The full list will be revealed next week in New York. Until then, here are numbers 51 to 100.
Maní, São Paulo, Brasil
Per Se, New York, USA
Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium
The Jane, Antwerp, Belgium
Nerua, Bilbao, Spain
Mikla, Istanbul, Turkey
L’Astrance, Paris, France
Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, Paris, France
Martín Berasategui, Lasarte-Oria, Spain
Hedone, London, UK
Maeemo, Oslo, Norway
La Grenouillere, La Madelaine Sous Montreuil, France
Aqua, Wolfsburg, Germany
Lasai, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
65 (equal). Brae, Birregurra, Australia
65 (equal). Lyle’s, London, UK
The Restaurant at Meadowood, St.Helena, USA
Tegui, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Epicure, Paris, France
70. Burnt Ends, Singapore
Daniel, New York, USA
Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris, France
Hertog Jan, Bruges, Belgium
Le Chateaubriand, Paris, France
Twins, Moscow, Russia
La Colombe, Cape Town, South Africa
Den, Tokyo, Japan
Belcanto, Lisbon, Portugal
DiverXO, Madrid, Spain
L’atelier Saint-Germain de Joël Robuchon, Paris, France
Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, New York, USA
Hajime, Osaka, Japan
Manresa, Los Gatos, USA
Reale, Castel di Sangro, Italy
The French Laundry, Yountville, USA
86. 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong, China
Indian Accent, Delhi, India
Die Schwarzwaldstube, Baiersbronn, Germany
89 (equal). Benu, San Francisco, USA
89 (equal). Zuma, Dubai, UAE
- St John, London, UK
92. Quintessence, Tokyo, Japan
Daniel Berlin, Skåne Tranås, Sweden
Bras, Laguiole, France
L’Effervescence, Tokyo, Japan
Cosme, New York, USA
Momofuku Ko, New York, USA
98. Quay, Sydney, Australia
99. La Petite Maison, Dubai, UAE
- Chestnaya Kuhnya, Moscow, Russia
Pat Nourse, GT’s deputy editor and chief restaurant critic, is the chair of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ Oceania, Australia and New Zealand voting panel.
