The new world's best restaurant 2019 was revealed - and it isn't the one that many were expecting

Restaurant magazine and its World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards are one of the most influential forces in modern gastronomy. The awards are arguably the most coveted accolade in the world of gastronomy. The 2019 list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants was announced on 25 June from Singapore.

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This year’s edition was the first to benefit from a series of voting changes, including the creation of the Best of the Best category and a gender-balanced voting Academy, with a 50/50 split of female to male voters.

“The list, wrote eater.com, which has faced years of criticism for acting as a self-perpetuating collection of expensive, European-leaning tasting menu restaurants run by white men, finally overhauled its rules this year to encourage more diversity among the restaurant picks and gender balance among its voting body.”

Mauro Colagreco’s Mirazur in Menton, France, was crowned The World’s Best Restaurant 2019. According to theworlds50best.com, one of the elements that makes Mirazur one of the most unique restaurants in the world is its three-tiered gardens which Colagreco has been progressively expanding and developing since he opened the restaurant in 2006. Facing in the same direction as the restaurant, perched over the rocky coast and overlooking the Menton marina with stunning views, the gardens look south out towards Corsic

Receiving the double honours for Mirazur as The World’s Best Restaurant and The Best Restaurant in Europe 2019, La Plata-born Colagreco brought with him on stage four flags, representing Argentina, France, Brazil and Italy. “Argentina is my roots, Brazil is the country that gave me the love of my life, France represents my culinary training, and more than half of my team comes from Italy,” says Colagreco.

Spreading a message of acceptance across barriers, the chef says: “But the flags represent more than that. They symbolyse that cuisine doesn’t have borders. Through cuisine, everyone can express themselves, wherever they are.”

“Mexico made a particularly strong showing; Enrique Olvera’s Pujol in Mexico City earned the top ranking of any North American restaurant, at No. 12, and his New York City restaurant Cosme, run with this year’s “best female chef” Daniela Soto-Innes, was the top-ranked USA restaurant at No. 23,” added eater.com.

According to time.com, the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 list is more controversial than ever.

“More controversial, however, is the decision to remove previous number #1s from subsequent competitions. The organization presented the move as part of its efforts to diversify the list’s upper echelons. “There was some stagnation in the top 10,” said Hélène Pietrini. World’s 50 Best Restaurants Brand Director. “We don’t want to artificially skew it, but we think it’s a healthy decision to make sure we’ve got a new dynamic every year.”

Daniel Humm, chef at New York’s Eleven Madison Park, told CNN they didn’t mind the new rule. “It’s much more important to have amazing chefs to be involved and that is good for everyone and I think everyone wants that. It can’t be our moment forever, and we are happy to not compete every single year,” Humm said.

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Top 10 Restaurants in The 2019 World’s 50 Best Restaurants List:

1. Mirazur Restaurant (Menton, France) Chef: Mauro Colagreco;
2. Noma Restaurant (Copenhagen, Denmark);
3. Asador Etxebarri Restaurant (Atxondo, Spain) Chef: Victor Arguinzoniz;
4. Gaggan Restaurant (Bangkok, Thailand) Chef: Gaggan Anand;
5. Geranium Restaurant (Copenhagen, Denmark);
6. Central Restaurant (Lima, Peru);
7. Mugaritz Restaurant (San Sebastian, Spain);
8. Arpège Restaurant (Paris, France);
9. Disfrutar Restaurant (Barcelona, Spain);
10. Maido Restaurant (Lima, Peru).