Few of us get to experience these global culinary gems, but every year S Pellegrino puts its stamp on the "World's 50 Best Restaurants". Some of our international recommendations found in The Carlton Files come from current and past S Pellegrino winners in the top 100 restaurants in the world. Face it, if you get to dine in one of the top 100 restaurants in the world, you're having a good meal. It doesn't have to be number 1.
This year, although not getting top honors, Spain has done very well in S Pellegrino's 50 Best Restaurants In The World, 2011. Spanish chefs took 2 of the top 3 listings (as well as number 50). Here is a sample of "must eat" restaurants, if you find yourself in the native country:
No. 1
Noma
Strandgade 93
Telephone: 3296 3297
www.noma.dk
Copenhagen, Denmark
Noma, Copenhagen's culinary star, has again won top prize for the best restaurant in the world. A title it has held since 2009. Noma is best known for its fanatical approach to foraging and presenting dishes like "Dirt" but there is much more to this ground-breaking restaurant than sous-chefs foraging Mother Nature's unknown bounty: It's the entire package - from its ingredient ingenuity to flawless execution. Many have copied chef Rene Redzepi's approach, but sadly most have failed. For the best in class, Noma really is the number one place to go.
No. 2
El Celler de Can Roca
Can Sunyer 48
Telephone: +34 97 222 21 57
www.cellercanroca.com
Girona, Spain
El Celler de Can Roca is possibly the least well-known restaurant to have ever held the much-vaunted number-two spot on the list, a quirk which, far from being a hindrance, has allowed the three brothers of Roca to get on with what they do best. Cellar de Can Roca delivers "emotional cuisine" based on traditional, intellectual ideas and an academic approach to cooking to "create new ways to awaken customer's taste memory: forgotten flavors and aromas that bring to mind moods and personal memories otherwise distant in time and space." Is the chef a philosopher or has he watched Ratatouille too many times?
No. 3
Mugaritz
Otazulueta Baserria, Aludura Aldea 20, 20100, Errenteria, Spain
Telephone: +34 943 522 455
www.mugaritz.com
Errenteria, Spain
Mugaritz has two menus that change daily - according to what chef Andoni Luis Aduriz can get his hands on at the street markets and what's growing in the restaurant's herb garden. Classic locavore. Whatever happens, you can expect to sample the team's intricate dishes that seek to reconnect diners with nature. His self-dubbed 'techno-emotional' approach sees the appliance of science and a rigorous understanding of ingredients jostle with produce-driven cuisine. This year, the Spanish seem to be about emotions and science.
No. 50
Asador Etxebarri
Plaza San Juan 1, 48291 Axpe-Marzana
Telephone: +34 9465 83042
www.asadoretxebarri.com
Atxondo-Bizkaia, Spain
To see a true culinary workshop in action, head to Asador Etxebarri where part chef, part blacksmith Victor Arguinzoniz deals almost exclusively in grilled food. If you can eat it, he'll grill it: Caviar, cockles and even milk are cooked over locally felled oak and unlike at many Asadors (country style barbeque popular in Spain and South America), few of the ingredients arrive charred or blackened. If you're in Basque country, Asador Etxebarri is a destination.
This year, although not getting top honors, Spain has done very well in S Pellegrino's 50 Best Restaurants In The World, 2011. Spanish chefs took 2 of the top 3 listings (as well as number 50). Here is a sample of "must eat" restaurants, if you find yourself in the native country:
No. 1
Noma
Strandgade 93
Telephone: 3296 3297
www.noma.dk
Copenhagen, Denmark
Noma, Copenhagen's culinary star, has again won top prize for the best restaurant in the world. A title it has held since 2009. Noma is best known for its fanatical approach to foraging and presenting dishes like "Dirt" but there is much more to this ground-breaking restaurant than sous-chefs foraging Mother Nature's unknown bounty: It's the entire package - from its ingredient ingenuity to flawless execution. Many have copied chef Rene Redzepi's approach, but sadly most have failed. For the best in class, Noma really is the number one place to go.
No. 2
El Celler de Can Roca
Can Sunyer 48
Telephone: +34 97 222 21 57
www.cellercanroca.com
Girona, Spain
El Celler de Can Roca is possibly the least well-known restaurant to have ever held the much-vaunted number-two spot on the list, a quirk which, far from being a hindrance, has allowed the three brothers of Roca to get on with what they do best. Cellar de Can Roca delivers "emotional cuisine" based on traditional, intellectual ideas and an academic approach to cooking to "create new ways to awaken customer's taste memory: forgotten flavors and aromas that bring to mind moods and personal memories otherwise distant in time and space." Is the chef a philosopher or has he watched Ratatouille too many times?
No. 3
Mugaritz
Otazulueta Baserria, Aludura Aldea 20, 20100, Errenteria, Spain
Telephone: +34 943 522 455
www.mugaritz.com
Errenteria, Spain
Mugaritz has two menus that change daily - according to what chef Andoni Luis Aduriz can get his hands on at the street markets and what's growing in the restaurant's herb garden. Classic locavore. Whatever happens, you can expect to sample the team's intricate dishes that seek to reconnect diners with nature. His self-dubbed 'techno-emotional' approach sees the appliance of science and a rigorous understanding of ingredients jostle with produce-driven cuisine. This year, the Spanish seem to be about emotions and science.
No. 50
Asador Etxebarri
Plaza San Juan 1, 48291 Axpe-Marzana
Telephone: +34 9465 83042
www.asadoretxebarri.com
Atxondo-Bizkaia, Spain
To see a true culinary workshop in action, head to Asador Etxebarri where part chef, part blacksmith Victor Arguinzoniz deals almost exclusively in grilled food. If you can eat it, he'll grill it: Caviar, cockles and even milk are cooked over locally felled oak and unlike at many Asadors (country style barbeque popular in Spain and South America), few of the ingredients arrive charred or blackened. If you're in Basque country, Asador Etxebarri is a destination.
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