Great Danes reclaim top spot in restaurant Oscars

Danish restaurant Noma was tonight named the finest place to dine on the planet at the restaurant industry’s most prestigious awards held in London’s Guildhall.

The self-styled Oscars of the fine dining world saw the experimental Copenhagen restaurant run by 36-year-old chef Rene Redzepi regain the top spot it lost to Catalan restaurant El Celler de Can Roca last year. It has been voted number one in three of the last four years.

Italy's Osteria Francescana which is home to the avant-garde genius of Massimo Bottura finished in the bronze position.

While a Spanish restaurant may have lost its top spot, nationally the country fared well at the San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna World’s 50 Best Restaurants, produced by Britain’s Restaurant Magazine. Three Spanish restaurants finished in the top 10 while the UK had two in the top 10, as did the US.

It was a mixed year for Heston Blumenthal. His Dinner restaurant, which is based at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in central London, rose two places to fifth spot, but his better known restaurant, the Fat Duck in Berkshire, did not perform so well.

It was named the world’s best restaurant in 2005 and runner up to El Bulli for the next four years, but it barely made it into the top 50 finishing in 47th - 14 places lower than last year.

The Ledbury in Notting Hill was the only other British restaurant to finish in the top 50. Run by Australian chef Brett Graham, it climbed three places to finish in 10th position.

The awards are based on the votes of 900 leading chefs, restaurateurs, food critics and gastronomes from 26 regions around the world.

Winning the top prize can have a huge impact on a restaurant. El Cellar de Can Roca was overwhelmed after it won last year and the waiting list for tables quickly grew to one year, while three people were employed merely to turn down requests. The day after Noma won in 2010, about 100,000 people tried to book online.

TOP FIVE

1. Noma (Denmark)

2. El Celler de Can Roca (Spain)

3. Osteria Francescana (Italy)

4. Eleven Madison Park (USA)

5. Dinner (UK)