Frequently Asked Questions
When and where did The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023 take place?
The awards ceremony for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, was hosted on Tuesday, 20th June in Valencia, Spain.
Why have you chosen to host the awards in Valencia?
As The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is a global brand, the awards have been held all over the world – in New York in 2016, Melbourne in 2017, the Basque Country in 2018, Singapore in 2019, Antwerp in 2021 and London in 2022. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants creates a fantastic opportunity to bring an incredible community of chefs and food lovers together from around the world and we were excited to host the awards in Valencia and also see what other destinations are in store for the future.
How does publishing a list help the restaurants?
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants believes the publication of the list is part of an overall drive to support the international restaurant scene. Moreover, the global gastronomic community sees the announcement of this list as a way to generate awareness around restaurants while also restoring confidence in the hospitality sector as a whole. Ultimately, the list also serves as an economic stimulus for those restaurants featured by helping drive business into their establishments.
What has 50 Best done to support the industry during the pandemic?
Having built up a profile and platform in the international restaurant and hospitality industry over 20 years, 50 Best has an important role to play in helping to boost the recovery of the sector, given how heavily it has been impacted. In 2020 it launched 50 Best for Recovery, an overarching program to help provide tangible financial relief for the industry, as well as helpful resources for restaurant businesses as they emerge from the pandemic and seek actionable advice and support. Read more about 50 Best for Recovery here.
How does a restaurant make it onto the list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants?
The list is the result of a poll of 1,080 independent experts, who each cast 10 votes for establishments where they have enjoyed their best restaurant experiences during the previous 18 months. Members of the 50 Best organisation do not vote and do not control the composition of the list; that is the collective role of the voting Academy. This means that restaurants cannot apply to be on the list. Equally, no sponsor has any influence on the voting process. To find out more about the voting process, click here.
Does a restaurant have to fit a certain criteria?
No. They do not have to sell a certain product, they do not have to have been open a certain number of years and they do not have to have won any other culinary accolades. Any restaurant in the world is eligible to be voted for by our Academy so long as it has been open during the voting period, and so long as it is not planning on closing shortly after we publish the results (although we cannot always know this, of course). From 2019, members of the Best of the Best group, which is made up of former No.1 restaurants on the list, are not eligible in the annual ranking.
50 Best reserves the right to remove restaurants from the list where there may be reputational issues that discredit the 50 Best organisation by way of these venues' inclusion.
What is Best of the Best?
The Best of the Best group was introduced in 2019 and is formed of those restaurants that have been named No.1 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants since the list’s inception. These venues have more than proved their worth and are now honoured as iconic dining destinations in the Best of the Best 'hall of fame', making them ineligible to be voted in the annual World's 50 Best Restaurants ranking. To discover the venues that make up the group, click here.
What are the voting criteria for the Academy?
Academy members cannot vote for any restaurant in which they have a financial interest. They must have dined there in the 18 months prior to the voting period. Panelists are asked to submit a choice of the top 10 restaurants they have dined in during the voting period in order of preference. To discover the full voting rules, click here.
How do we know these votes are valid?
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ voting process and results are subject to independent adjudication by world-renowned professional services consultancy Deloitte. Deloitte has been granted full and independent access to The World’s 50 Best Restaurants voting process and data and has performed procedures to confirm the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting list.
How are the Academy regional panels assembled?
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy contains 27 regions around the world. Each region has a chairperson, and that chairperson assembles 40 people (including themselves) to vote. This panel is a gender-balanced mix of leading chefs and restaurateurs in that region, food journalists and critics, and well-traveleled gourmets. At least 25% of the panelists from each region change each year.
Who are the Aademy Chairs?
The Chairs are selected for their prominent position within the gastronomic sphere in their region. They are in a position to best select an appropriate panel and their expertise is valued in developing the future strategy for the 50 Best brand. Meet our Academy Chairs.
Can a restaurant be taken off the list?
Not until the following year – and even then it will only be the results of the voting that determines this, or if we are advised that it will be closed.
Why do restaurants drop on the list or fall off it?
If a restaurant falls from the top 50 or the top 100, it does not necessarily represent a decline in the standards of that restaurant. It could be an indication of shifting culinary tastes, or it could also represent that a geographical area is becoming more important.
Who organises The World’s 50 Best Restaurants?
The results and the awards are organised and published by William Reed. None of the sponsor partners has any involvement with the compilation of the results or awards. None of our commercial partners, nor any of the employees of William Reed, votes in the poll.
How did the list start?
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list first appeared in Restaurant magazine in 2002 as a feature. Soon afterwards, an awards night was established to celebrate the results and so was born one of the most extraordinary gatherings of chefs on the planet. The results are now eagerly awaited and are published via our social media channels and on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants website (www.theworlds50best.com) on the awards night. However, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is now run entirely independently of Restaurant magazine.
What does ‘best’ actually mean?
That is up to each voter to decide – as everyone’s tastes are different, so everyone’s idea of what constitutes a great restaurant experience is different. Of course the quality of food is going to be central, as is the service – but the style of both, the surroundings, atmosphere and indeed the price level are each more or less important for each different individual. We allow our 1,080 experts to make up their own minds, and we simply collate their votes.
