Kiwi chef celebrates success at World's 50 Best Restaurants awards

New Zealand chef Ben Shrewry, owner of Attica Restaurant in Melbourne. Photo / Supplied

The world's 50 best restaurants have been announced today – and while no New Zealand venues made the list, Kiwi chef Ben Shewry is celebrating a huge success. His Melbourne restaurant Attica was named at number 20, jumping from its number 32 place in last year's awards. Attica was also named The Best Restaurant in Australasia.

The stars of the restaurant world gathered at Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, Spain to hear the results of The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, which saw 23 countries across six continents honoured with a place.

Those keen to tick the best in the world off their bucket list will need to head to Italy – where the top spot was taken out for the second year in a row by Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana.

Massimo Bottura, chef patron of the three-Michelin-star restaurant Osteria Francescana. Photo / Getty Images

The small, discreet restaurant in Modena, Italy, mixes tradition with modernity, serving dishes created with ingredients from the surrounding Emilia-Romagna region. One of the most famous courses, "Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano", introduces diners to the regions most esteemed cheese, served with different temperatures, textures and tastes.
Osteria Francescana was joined in the top three by El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, and Mirazur in Menton, France.

"We applaud all those involved in this list of inspiring restaurants, which is constantly redrawing and reflecting the global gastronomic map," said William Drew, Group Editor of The World's 50 Best Restaurants.

Spain was well represented in the rankings, with seven restaurants on the list and three in the top ten: El Celler de Can Roca (2); Mugaritz (9) and Asador Etxebarri (10).

Another classic food and wine destination, France had five restaurants on the list, with two in the top ten Mirazur in Menton (3) and Arpège (8) in Paris.

Away from Europe, Peru also boasted three restaurants on the list, with two in the top seven alone: Central (6) and Maido (7), both in Lima.

The South American country has been lauded for its cuisine and last year was named the "World's Leading Culinary Destination" for the sixth year in a row by the World Travel Awards.

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goose barnacles and “ piure y yuyo “ , sargassum. Percebes yuyo piure y sargazo @centralrest

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Aside from ceviche and roasted guinea pig, Peruvian cuisine gets its flavours from bountiful seas, Amazonian and Andean traditions, as well as influences from its sizable Chinese, African and Japanese populations.

A notable new entry was Odette in Singapore at No.28, which opened only three years ago, serving refined French cuisine from chef and co-owner Julien Royer.

Slovenia made its first appearance on the list, with Hiša Franko at No.48. Its head chef Ana Ros put the country on the culinary map when she was voted The World's Best Female Chef in 2017, and has also starred in an episode of Netflix's Chef's Table.

And if all of that has made you hungry, it might be time to start planning your next trip. See the full list here.