World's Best Restaurant: El Celler de Can Roca tops tasty list

Spanish restaurant El Celler de Can Roca regained its title as the world's best restaurant on Monday (1 June), fending off previous winner Noma, with which it has alternated the top honour in recent years.

The Copenhagen restaurant dropped two places to No. 3, knocking chef-owner Rene Redzepi off the top spot he had held last year and for three previous years at the annual fine dining ceremony held in London's Guildhall.

The world's best chefs gathered at the Guildhall in the City for the yearly ceremony, considered to be the most important in the gastronomical world.

"This is where you see the fashion of cooking and what's in vogue. Most of the chefs who want to be here, who are here, are saying 'wow I'm here', and those who can't, they want to be here so it's a prestige of every chef to be here," explained Gaggan Anand, whose restaurant Gaggan placed tenth.

El Celler de Can Roca, run by three brothers in Girona, Spain, since 1986, was described as "hospitality at its finest" by organisers and took second place in 2014 after knocking Noma from the top perch in 2013.

While the brothers admitted that there is competition among the top chefs, they said, "We are friends and obviously any of the fifty restaurants that are on this list have the chance to be in the top positions. This list contains a selection of great restaurants. These past years we have been among these positions. We hope to stay. But anyway, this is not an aggressive rivalry but kind and friendly."

Italy's Osteria Francescana in Modena was the near winner this year, moving up one place to No. 2, while Central in Lima climbed 11 places to settle in at No. 4, pushing New York's Eleven Madison Park to fifth place.

European restaurants dominated the top 50, taking 18 of the remaining 25 places for popular locations in Spain and France, along with White Rabbit, a new entry from Russia.

The awards, now in their 14th edition, have become a coveted honour for high-end restaurants around the world, rivalling the longstanding Michelin guides.