Spain's El Celler De Can Roca named world's best restaurant

n">(Reuters) - Spain's El Celler De Can Roca edged past Denmark's Noma and Italy's Osteria Francescana to be named the world's best restaurant on Monday in a ceremony in London.

The restaurant owned by the three Roca brothers Joan, Jordi and Josep, captured the top spot on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list organized by Britain's Restaurant magazine and sponsored by the mineral water company S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.

Another Spanish eatery, Mugaritz, in San Sebastian, and New York's Eleven Madison Park rounded out the top five.

"El Celler de Can Roca in Girona has long been hailed as one of Spain's most exciting places to eat, and having spent two years at No. 2 on the list, the three brothers have swapped places with Denmark's Noma, which held the top ranking for the last three years," organizers said in a statement.

"The Roca brothers' restaurant has gained global acclaim for its combination of Catalan dishes and cutting-edge techniques and the passion that they share for hospitality," it added.

Spanish restaurants captured three of the top 10 spots and five on the entire list announced at London's Guildhall. Arzak, also in San Sebastian, came in at No. 8, just behind London's Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, which was seventh.

D.O.M. in Sao Paulo, Brazil, placed sixth, while Steirereck in Vienna, Austria, was ninth and Vendome in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, was tenth.

Chef Grant Achatz, from Alinea in Chicago, which was 15th on the list, was presented with the Chef's Choice Award.

Britain's Restaurant Magazine has published the annual list since 2002.

In addition to Eleven Madison Park and Alinea, the United States had four other restaurants on the list, including Per Se at No. 11, Le Bernardin at 19 and Daniel at 29, all in New York City, and The French Laundry in Yountville, California.

L'Arpege in Paris was France's top restaurant, coming in at No. 16. Like the United States, France had six restaurants on the list, the highest number.

Astrid y Gaston in Lima, Peru, was the top South American restaurant at No. 14, having risen 21 places since last year, while Narisawa in Tokyo topped Asian eateries at No. 20.

Australia's Attica in Melbourne was 21 and a new entry on the list.

Nadia Santini from the Dal Pescatore restaurant in Italy was named The Veuve Clicquot World's Best Female Chef.

The One To Watch Award was given to South Africa's The Test Kitchen in Cape Town.

The list is compiled from the votes of The Diners Club World's 50 Best Restaurants Academy, which includes 900 international leaders in the restaurant industry.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Philip Barbara)

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Spanish eatery hopes world best restaurant award boosts tourism

By Inmaculada Sanz

MADRID | Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:26pm EDT

MADRID (Reuters) - An avante-garde restaurant run by three brothers in north-east Spain hopes that being crowned the world's best restaurant will boost food tourism in recession-bound Spain.

El Celler de Can Roca in Girona scooped the prestigious prize from Britain's Restaurant magazine on Monday, making Spain's coastal region north of Barcelona the top place in the world to eat once again.

The restaurant ended Danish experimental eatery Noma's three-year run in the No. 1 slot. Noma took the title from Catalan chef Ferran Adria's El Bulli, which is 30 miles from El Celler, and held the crown for four years.

El Celler, which the Roca brothers opened in 1986 and boasts three Michelin stars, favors Catalan ingredients such as fresh seafood and playful presentation, serving caramelized olives on bonsai trees to diners.

Dishes at the avant-garde restaurant include desserts based on perfume ingredients, including Calvin Klein's Eternity, ice cream that tastes like smoke from Cuban cigars, and "Dublin Bay prawns with curry smoke".

"The prize means we can strengthen our brand and in terms of promoting our country it's extremely important," sommelier Josep Roca told radio station Cadena Ser on Tuesday.

"We have to take advantage of this to show off our country, philosophy, way of being, living, eating and in some way use it to our advantage in terms of tourism."

Josep and his brothers Joan and Jordi run the restaurant after learning the trade at their parents' Can Roca restaurant, also in Girona.

Joan, who spent one season under Adria at the now closed El Bulli, is head chef, while Jordi takes care of desserts.

The eatery, which has been ranked among the world's top five restaurants for the last five years, offers two tasting menus featuring over 20 dishes for 135 euros ($180) and 165 euros.

"The Roca brothers have managed to reach an extraordinary level based on dialogue, between the sweet, the savory and wine, in a way no other restaurant in the world has managed," said Adria, who cried when the award was announced on Monday.

Two restaurants in Spain's northern Basque Country, Mugaritz and Arzak, came in at No. 4 and No. 8 on the list, making Spain the world's top ranking gastronomic destination with three of the top 10 slots.

Elena Arzak, named the best chef in the world two years ago, told Reuters she also thought the rankings could help lift Spain's depressed economy.

Tourism is one of the only bright spots in Spain's economy, which has shrunk for seven consecutive quarters with record unemployment of 27 percent.

"Getting on the list has a major international impact because it encourages food tourism and generates excitement among people who like fine dining," Arzak said.

"People come from all over the world ... recently we've been seeing lots of visitors from Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Canada. It's like you get to travel all over the world without leaving the restaurant, just talking to the people who come in."

(Writing by Clare Kane, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

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