The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2013 ceremony happened last night at Guildhall in London. There was a lot of drama and hype surrounding the list this year and I think the list is quite interesting. There are some new entries and some from last year have disappeared. In my view, more importantly, there are more entries from developing nations.

The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2013 were sponsored by Diners Club International; which proclaims, “If you believe culture can be tasted, you belong.” The top 50 list is a reflection of the finest dining establishments in the World and is selected by The Diners Club Worlds 50 Best Restaurants Academy, comprised of more than 900 leading chefs, food journalists and gourmands around the world.

The night went off without a hitch. I was following the events here in Southern Africa and only wish I could have been at such a unique event.

I was really happy to see El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain reach lofty heights as the best restaurant in the world. I ate there last fall and the food was obviously delicious. Noma in Copenhagen didn’t fall much from last year, only down to #2 on the list and most surprisingly to me was Eleven Madison Park in New York City ranked in at #5 on the list and as the top American restaurant.

This year 37 of the 50 restaurants were from Europe, America and Japan; which is down from 42 last year. It is nice to see some more recognition going to developing nations like Peru, Mexico and Brazil. I was also pleased to see Hong Kong and Australia both had two restaurants that made the list.

Then of course there was Alain Ducasse, who received a lifetime achievement award for innovation in French cuisine and indisputable influence over today’s generation of chefs and restaurateurs around the globe.

Alain accepted the award with humility, graciously stating, “My first thought goes to Paul Bocuse, this award’s very first recipient. Through him, I also think of the generations of chefs who have preceded me and to whom I feel the heir and successor. At the same time, I still feel like a young man and remain much more interested by the work to be done than by that already accomplished.”

If you also want to be on the top list, upgrade your whole restaurant system, you may even use restaurant pos systems-built to simplify operations and delight your customers.

So now that there is a new worlds 50 best restaurants 2013 list, I am going to start planning my trips around where I want to eat. This list gives me something to shoot for as well. A few of the restaurants from the 2012 list that I had been to have dropped off this year so I have some new work to do!

What are your thoughts on the list? How many have you been to? What’s your favorite restaurant?

Disclaimer: I did receive financial compensation for writing this article. All words and opinions are mine and written by me.

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