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The “invasion” of the cooking Vikings: Rene Redzepi’s Noma from Denmark has been crowned the Best restaurant in the world for the second year in a row.
Redzepi’s Nordic gastronomic revolution took top spot again this year, beating the Spanish Roca brothers, from the restaurant El Celler de Can Roca, and the Mugaritz from the Basque Country. Basque cuisine was highly credited on the night with Juan Mari Arzak awarded the Lifetime Achievement award.
His daughter and co-chef, Elena, called him on the stage to receive the prize, after a very touching speech that affected all those attending the awards. During the evening Anne-Sophie Pic was also awarded with the first ever Veuve Clicquot, Best Female Chef Award.
Juan Mari Arzak, a Life in Pictures
From further afield, this year’s 50 Best saw Chinese restaurant, Amber, at 37th place. The Peruvian, Astrid Y Gaston make 42nd on the list and Anatoly Komm’s, Varvary from Russia make the list at 48.
50 Best 2011: the Winners List
ENJOY THE LIVE BLOG FROM THE 2011 EVENT
21:34 So there it is - we hope you enjoyed the show - see you tomorrow where you can watch it all again if you'd like...
21:31 Rene Redzepi makes a speech. Emotional, he thanks his staff, many of whom have been with him since day one.
21:29 Aside from being famous for being the best restaurant in the world, Noma is perhaps best known for its fanatical approach to foraging. From the ingredient ingenuity to flawless execution, it is a beacon of excellence. it provides an emotive, intense and liberating way of eating, unlike any other.
21:26 Noma in Denmark takes top spot for the second year in a row..The Noma team all wear viking helmets.
21:25 At 2, El Cellar de Can Roca - possibly the least high-profile restaurant to have ever held the much-vaunted number two spot on the list. At number 3, itàs Magaritz. San Sebastian based restaurant changes its menus according to what chef Aduriz can get his hands on at the street markets and whatàs growing in his herb garden.
21:25 No 4 goes to Osteria Francescana. Massive applause as Massimo Bottura goes to collect the award from Head of Communications at Electrolux, Cecillia Oester. As Massimo walks down the aisle, he's given another bout of applause. "The place is going wild!"
21:24 No. 5 goes to Fat Duck. Sensory perceptions are challenged, but it also brilliant fun.
21:23 Last five countdown.
21:22 Acqua Panna Award for Best Restaurant in North America goes to Alinea - "boundary-shifting stuff"
21:18 8, Arzak. At seven it's the Acqua Panna Continental Restaurant Award for Best Restaurant in South America. A lot of excitement here - big applause as D.O.M is given the prize. DOM in Sao Paolo has become the priority desitination for all globe-hopping gastronomes, scouring the Amazon for ingredients to cook with.
21:16 Into the top ten now: US's Per Se comes in at 10 At number 9, Le Chateaubriand "effortlessly cool" restaurant in Paris
21:14 GMT L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon at 14, L'Astrance at 13 and the Acqua Panna Best Asian Restaurant goes for the third year running to Yoshihiro Narisawa. Themes of soil, water, fire, charcoal and forest permeate Narisawa's work...
21:09 GMT One of the most vaunted restaurants to eat in the French capital, Pierre Gagnaire, comes in at 16.
21:07 GMT Number 19 goes to veg centric L'Apege in Paris. Passard's light touch and flawless presentation earns him unrivaled respect from other chefs - a well-deserved win.
21:05 GMT Lifetime achievement goes to Juan Mari Arzak, given to him by his daughter after a very emotional speech. Standing ovation given by all.
21:03 GMT At 20, this year's Highest Climber is Nihonryori Ryugin. Head chef, Seiji Yamamoto told us earlier how he was motivated to keep creating jobs in his kitchen, in spite of the tragedy that has befallen Japan. He'll be pleased with this award, which is given by Lavazza.
21:00 GMT Schloss Schauenstein in Switzerland comes in at 23. With only 26 covers one of the smallest restaurants on the list. Chef Andreas Caminada is a major talent who eschews whiz-bang cuisine, preferring to tease out the potential of simple ingredients to create masterpieces of craft, taste and colour in Switzerland.
20:57 GMT The second Acqua Panna Continental Award for Best Restaurant in Australasia is awarded by Antonella Stefanelli from San Pelligrino and goes to Quay.
20:56 GMT At 28, another Italian restaurant, Combal Zero. Based in Turin, chef Davide Scabin is out to blow his customer's minds and challenge perceptions with hyper-creative conceptual dishes served with incredible creativity - including Around the World in Five Soups.
20:54 GMT Biko comes in at 31. "Biko's tasting menu is a snip at just under 40 euros: the gentle appliance of science gets the best out of the local produce, and combines them with big, concentrated flavours."
20:52 GMT Good news for Italy's chefs: both Cracco and Le Calandre come in at 33 and 32 respectively.
20:50 GMT The first of the Acqua Panna continental awards goes to Le Quartiere Francais. A rousing reception is given to Margot Janse, as she is given the award by Acqua International Business Unit Panna Marco Barbieri. This award is great news for Margot, who said earlier how important it was in a country where there are no Michelin stars at all.
20.48 GMT At 39: Il Canto and at 38 - Dal Pescatore in Mantua, Italy
20.47 GMT At 41, it's the British institution St John - and the applause and cheers last for a good minute. "Here you can eat some of the best meat dishes in London, from whole suckling pigs, to roast mutton, in refreshingly unfussy surroundings.
20.45 GMT The best female Chef goes to Anne Sophie Pic
20.43 GMT 43. First British entry of the night is Hibiscus. There's a huge applause - the biggest yet of the evening. "Claude Bosi treads a fine line between classic and modern"
20.40 GMT 48. New entry:Anatoly Komm's restaurant, Vavary. An important award for Komm, who earlier told us how hard is was to run a fine dining restaurant in Russia.
20:38 GMT The number 50 restaurant is announced Asador Etxebarri. "If you can eat it he will grill it" - Pujol comes in at 49.
20:35 GMT The One to Watch Award goes to Bjorn Frantzén and Daniel Lindenberg
20.26 GMT Sue Woodward from The World's 50 Best Restaurants, says a special thank you to all the chefs who have come over from Japan, given the terrible situation caused by the earthquake there.
20.23 GMT The event is now being streamed live - Enjoy!
20.13 GMT The last remaining guests are finding their places for this year's 50 Best Restaurant Award. The atmosphere is charged with excitement.
20.10 GMT Organisers are saying that within few minutes the ceremony will begin...Are you all excited? The live streaming has begun...
19.46 GMT - Eric Ripert from New York says the evening is going to be a fun party and is a great way of celebrating the industry and bringing everyone together.
19.40 GMT - Margot Janse from Le quartier francais says the 50 best is really important to her, she came 31st on the list last year and in South Africa there are no Michelin stars - so to be in the 50 best is incredibly important....
19.35 GMT - Atala from the D.O.M Restaurant in Brazil says it's a unbelievable, dream event and she's really proud to be here - she predicts Noma is going to win - she says she eats there all the time, it's so simple, so powerful and so impressive.
19.00 GMT - Seiji Yamamoto from the Ryugin Restaurant has arrived. He says he's really pleased to be here - the situation in Japan is very tough and his motivation to cook well is to make people happy in these bad times - he adds that if he can make his mark on the list for the Japanese's people he'd be very happy...
18:50 GMT - Yoshihiro Narisawa from Tokyo says he is so excited to see so many of his friends from the restaurant world...
18:44 GMT - Just spoken with Davide Scabin from Italy (on the left), he's really excited to be here and says this is without a doubt the most important evening for chefs - he's getting really excited and above all says he's really happy to be amongst so many good friends... Also another Italian has just arrived, Carlo Cracco (on the right)
18:43 GMT - There's around 200 people at the venue, 50 journalists and camera men and it's a beautiful evening
18:25 GMT - The final touches are being made to the main room at the Guildhall. The weather couldn't be more perfect: it's a lovely spring day in London. Any moment now the first guests are starting to arrive.
18:12 GMT - Under a thousand places left for the live stream of tonight's event. If you want to watch the entire event live make sure you reserve your spot fast - here. Are you ready?
16:32 GMT - Just under three and a half hours left - chefs should start arriving in the next couple of hours - Wonder what the canapés will be?
15:36 GMT - Just getting all the cameras ready and testing connections for tonight's live stream - hope to see you all there attending virtually - it's getting very exciting...
14:00 GMT - The grand doors of the Guildhall will be officially opened at 18:30 - just over six hours until chefs from all over the world begin to arrive, the atmosphere is great inside the hall as teams are busy preparing for this evenings event.... Who will be in the S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2011? Today’s the day we find out! Fine Dining Lovers everywhere: register here and you can follow the London Guildhall event streamed live! Don't miss the chance to attend for free this exclusive event: for the first time you can participate in the most important gastronomic in the world! If you want know more about some facts and figures of the Award, take a look of the FDL.com Special gallery!
