Barcelona is Home to the 2024 World’s Best Restaurant

by David Klemt

Revealed at an awards ceremony hosted by Wynn Las Vegas, The World’s Best Restaurant—and The Best Restaurant in Europe—is located in Barcelona, Spain.

Helmed by three incredible chefs, Disfrutar earned the number-one spot on the 2024 World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Providing a hint of what guests can expect, the restaurant’s name translates to “Enjoy.”

Interestingly, the trio of chefs—Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas and Eduard Xatruch—were members of the senior creative team at El Bulli. To provide a measure of context, El Bulli clinched the top spot on the very first World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2002. The legendary restaurant would go on to earn number one again in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

So, it’s not a stretch to say that when Chefs Oriol, Casañas, and Xatruch opened Disfrutar in 2014, the restaurant world expected amazing achievements. By 2018, the three chefs led their restaurant to a debut on the 2018 World’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking, finding themselves at number 18. Just a year later, Disfrutar reached number nine on the list.

For our Canadian and American readers, I’m going to reveal two bits of news now. First, there are no Canadian restaurants on this year’s top 50 list. That means that taken together with the expanded, 51 to 100 ranking, Canada is a no-show.

Second, only two American restaurants landed among the 50 best restaurants in the world. One is in New York, the other, California. There are three other American restaurants—two in New York City and one in Chicago—on the expanded list. However, a Los Angeles restaurant, Kato, bagged the Resy One To Watch Award 2024.

In contrast, Mexico City is home to three restaurants in the top 50, as Lima and Tokyo. Paris and Bangkok each boast four restaurants, grabbing the most spots.

Salud to Disfrutar, and cheers to every restaurant team that earned their way onto the 2024 list!

World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024: 50 to 11

50. Uliassi (Senigallia, Ancona, Italy)
51. La Colombe (Cape Town, South Africa)(New entry)
52. Hiša Franko (Kobarid, Gorizia, Slovenia)
53. Schloss Schauenstein (Fürstenau, Graubünden, Switzerland)
54. SingleThread (Healdsburg, California, US)(Re-entry)
55. Arpège (Paris, Île-de-France, France)(Re-entry)
56. Mingles (Seoul, South Korea)(New entry)
57. Nobelhart & Schmutzig (Berlin, Germany)(Sustainable Restaurant Award 2024)
58. Ikoyi Restaurant St. James’s (London, England, UK)
59. Mayta (Lima, Peru)
60. Le Du (Bangkok, Thailand)
61. Piazza Duomo (Alba, Piedmont, Italy)
62. Sorn (Bangkok, Thailand)(Re-entry)
63. Oteque (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)(Re-entry)
64. The Jane (Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium)
65. Frantzén (Stockholm, Södermanland and Uppland, Sweden)
66. Rosetta (Mexico City, Mexico)
67. Pujol (Mexico City, Mexico)
68. Den (Tokyo, Kantō, Japan)
69. Belcanto (Lisbon, Portugal)
70. Restaurant Tim Raue (Berlin, Germany)
71. Boragó (Santiago, Chile)
72. Elkano (Getaria, Gipuzkoa, Spain)
73. A Casa do Porco (São Paulo, Brazil)(The World’s Best Female Chef 2024: Chef Janaína Torres)
74. The Chairman (Hong Kong)(Highest Climber Award 2024)
75. El Chato (Bogotá, Distrito Capital, Colombia)
76. Odette (Singapore)
77. Sühring (Bangkok, Thailand)(Re-entry)
78. Steirereck (Vienna, Austria)
79. Floriège (Tokyo, Kantō, Japan)
80. Wing (Hong Kong)(New entry)(Highest New Entry Award 2024)
81. Reale (Castel di Sangro, L’Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy)
82. Plénitude (Paris, France)(Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award 2024)
83. Kol (London, England, UK)
84. Kjolle (Lima, Peru)
85. Sézanne (Tokyo, Kantō, Japan)
86. Quique Dacosta (Dénia, Alicante, Spain)
87. Trèsind Studio (Dubai, UAE)
88. Lido 84 (Gardone Riviera, Brescia, Lombardy, Italy)
89. Septime (Paris, France)

World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 10 to 1

10. Don Julio (Buenos Aires, Argentina)(Beronia World’s Best Sommelier Award 2024: Pablo Rivero)
11. Gaggan (Bangkok, Thailand)
12. Alchemist (Copenhagen, Denmark)
13. Quintonil (Mexico City, Mexico)
14. Atomix (New York City, New York, US)
15. Maido (Lima, Peru)(Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award 2024: Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura)
16. Diverxo (Madrid, Spain)
17. Table by Bruno Verjus (Paris, France)
18. Asador Etxebarri (Atxondo, Biscay, Spain)
19. Disfrutar (Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain)

DISFRUTAR, BARCELONA, IS NAMED NO.1 IN THE LIST OF THE WORLD’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS 2024

• Disfrutar in Barcelona is named The Best Restaurant in Europe and The World’s Best Restaurant 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna
• Announced this evening at an awards ceremony in Las Vegas, the 2024 ranking includes restaurants from 26 territories in five continents worldwide and introduces three restaurants making their list debut
• Neil Perry, original founder of Rockpool Group in Australia and current chef-owner of Margaret in Sydney, receives the Woodford Reserve Icon Award
• Paris-based Nina Métayer wins The World’s Best Pastry Chef Award 2024, sponsored by Sosa
• The Beronia World’s Best Sommelier Award 2024 is presented to Pablo Rivero of Don Julio, Buenos Aires
• Wing in Hong Kong earns the Highest New Entry Award
• The Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Highstreet World, goes to The Chairman, Hong Kong
• Nobelhart & Schmutzig in Berlin is announced as the winner of the Sustainable Restaurant Award
• Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura from Maido in Lima receives the Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award 2024

5 June 2024 – The world of gastronomy came together in the neon-lit city of Las Vegas in the United States this evening to celebrate and recognise The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, with Barcelona’s Disfrutar named The World’s Best Restaurant and The Best Restaurant in Europe. The awards ceremony, hosted at Wynn Las Vegas, honours the very best gastronomic talent from 26 territories across five continents.

Disfrutar, the Barcelona restaurant run by the skilled chef trio of Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, is named The World’s Best Restaurant 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua
Panna, succeeding the 2023 winner, Central in Lima, which now enjoys an elevated position in the Best of the Best hall of fame

Ranked at No.2 in the 2023 list, Disfrutar is famed for modern techniques and beautiful ingredients, resulting in an experience that subverts traditional fine dining in a completely surprising way. The tasting menu showcases a Mediterranean identity with avant-garde flavours to deliver daring contemporary food that is truly thought-provoking. Disfrutar is followed in the ranking by Asador Etxebarri (No.2) in Atxondo and Table by Bruno Verjus (No.3) in Paris.

William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, comments: “It is with great excitement that we announce the list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, and honour the iconoclastic Disfrutar as The World’s Best Restaurant. The team, led by Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, has shown extraordinary dedication to its craft, amazing and delighting diners with every dish on its extensive menu. This year sees the culinary community celebrate a truly global list featuring restaurants across 26 territories, demonstrating that the appetite for diversity and excellence in hospitality shows no sign of waning.”

Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura, the chef-owner of Maido in Lima, wins the Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award 2024, the only award to be voted for by his peers, in light of his dedication to putting Peru onto the world culinary stage, evidenced by Maido’s position as No.1 on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2023.

Australian chef and restaurateur Neil Perry – whose restaurant portfolio has included the legendary Rockpool Bar & Grill, Rosetta and Spice Temple, as well as his latest venture, Margaret – has enjoyed a career spanning more than 45 years and is now rewarded with the Woodford Reserve Icon Award. Perry is arguably his country’s most influential chef and is known for his visionary interpretations of Modern Australian and Asian cuisines.

Nina Métayer is named The World’s Best Pastry Chef 2024, sponsored by Sosa. Métayer’s sculptural creations have garnered attention the world over and her beautiful work is inspiring a new generation of pastry chefs.

Restaurants from four new cities have entered or re-entered the list, with La Colombe in Cape Town (No.49), SingleThread in Healdsburg (No.46), Oteque in Rio de Janeiro (No.37), and Mingles in Seoul (No.44), showing the awards’ ever-expanding international footprint in recognising the best restaurants across the globe.

Based in Hong Kong, chef Vicky Cheng’s Wing (No.20) is recognised with the Highest New Entry Award 2024, and The Chairman (No.26) – also in Hong Kong – bags the Highest Climber Award 2024, sponsored by Highstreet World. The Chairman moves up 24 spots from the 2023 list and was also recognised as The Best Restaurant in Hong Kong by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024.

The Beronia World’s Best Sommelier Award is presented to Pablo Rivero, sommelier and owner of Don Julio, Buenos Aires. Previously recognised as Latin America’s Best Sommelier 2022 as part of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, Rivero is known for his championing of the region’s wine and his thoughtful pairings with local produce.

Berlin’s Nobelhart & Schmutzig (No.43) is announced as the winner of the Sustainable Restaurant Award, in recognition of its unerring advocacy for better agricultural policies and the voices of producers. Its ‘brutally local’ ethos is testament to its personal relationships with farmers and growers, allowing the team to offer a truly regional and seasonal menu.

The evening also celebrated those honoured with pre-announced special awards. These included: Champions of Change winners Jessica Rosval and Caroline Caporossi – founders of Roots in Modena, a social enterprise restaurant that hosts a training programme for migrant women – and João Diamante of Diamantes Na Cozinha in Rio de Janeiro, founder of a culinary initiative which creates opportunities for young people in vulnerable situations; Janaína Torres, winner of The World’s Best Female Chef Award; Plénitude in Paris, which was presented with the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award; and Kato, Los Angeles, which picked up the Resy One To Watch Award.

The Voting Process

The list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 is created from the votes of 1,080 international restaurant industry experts and well-travelled gourmets who make up The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy. The gender-balanced Academy is comprised of 27 separate regions around the world, each of which has 40 members including an Academy Chair. No sponsor from the event has any influence over the voting process.

Professional services consultancy Deloitte independently adjudicates The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, including the ranking from 1-50. This adjudication ensures that the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting lists are protected.

Best of the Best

Those in the elite group of No.1 ranked restaurants (listed below) have delivered on their exemplary reputations time and again and will be forever honoured as iconic dining destinations in the Best of the Best hall of fame. The chefs and restaurateurs who have led these restaurants to the pinnacle of the list have expressed their desire to invest in the future of the sector and ‘give back’ to the food world through new projects and innovation. The following restaurants have been named No.1 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants since the list’s inception and were therefore not eligible for voting in 2024:

• El Bulli (2002, 2006-2009)
• The French Laundry (2003-2004)
• The Fat Duck (2005)
• Noma – original location (2010-2012, 2014)
• El Celler de Can Roca (2013, 2015)
• Osteria Francescana (2016, 2018
• Eleven Madison Park (2017)
• Mirazur (2019)
• Noma – current location (2021)
• Geranium (2022)
• Central (2023)

See above for the 2024 one through fifty ranking.

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