Europe leads the way in the world's best restaurants (for now)

Europe is home to the largest number of fine dining restaurants featured in the "World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024" 51-to-100-place list. Image: Shutterstock

At a time when restaurants are creating culinary experiences for which travelers are ready to cross the globe, it seems that the Old Continent is the region best placed to offer the widest choice of prime fine dining options. Indeed, Europe dominates the 51-to-100-place ranking released ahead of the 2024 list of the "World's 50 Best Restaurants," 2024.

Before revealing its top 50 ranking, the "World's 50 Best Restaurants" has unveiled its 51-to-100 list for 2024, featuring the world's best restaurants ranked 51st to 100th. This preview sets the tone for what the top 50 might look like. Indeed, this year's appetizer gets things rolling by downgrading a number of the world's biggest names in gastronomy, such as Spanish chef Andoni Luis Aduriz's Mugaritz, ranked 81st, down from 31st in 2023. Meanwhile, Isaac McHale, the Scottish chef behind London's The Clove Club, drops from 38th to 80th place. A final surprise: the downgrading of chef Massimiliano Alajmo's Italian restaurant, Le Calandre, from 41st to 51st.

While this news is bound to heighten the tension ahead of this year's "World's 50 Best Restaurants" list, due to be unveiled on June 5 in Las Vegas, a first lesson can already be drawn: despite several of its flagship fine dining establishments falling down the list, Europe clearly stands out as a hotbed of gastronomy. From the UK to Spain, via Belgium, the Old Continent is represented by no fewer than 21 restaurants in the 51-to-100 list. This presence is supported by six new entries, including Germany's Coda in Berlin (62nd) and Restaurant Jan in Munich (84th). The most striking entry in this list is found in Italy: Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico lands directly into 52nd place.

But it's France that really shines in this selection. Five of the country's restaurants feature in this list, including one brand new one. The restaurant, guesthouse and farm, Le Doyenné, located in Saint-Vrain in the Essonne region, took 70th place. This unassuming restaurant, not far from Paris, ranks higher than the triple-Michelin-starred chef Emmanuel Renaut's Flocons de Sel (Megève, 76th) or the two-starred chef Alexandre Gauthier's Grenouillère (La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil, 77th), which is currently closed indefinitely due to the bad weather that flooded this iconic Relais & Châteaux establishment in northern France at the end of last year. Even Yannick Alléno's prestigious triple-Michelin-starred Pavillon Ledoyen is behind it, in 79th place.

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But while France leads the way in this list, Germany and the UK aren't far behind, each with four representatives in this rundown of restaurants ranked 51st to 100th best in the world.

The list of the "World's 50 Best Restaurants" is drawn up after a vote by 1,080 restaurant experts, ie, connoisseurs who regularly visit fine dining restaurants, as well as journalists and food industry professionals.