Top 50 restaurant of the world 2019

No.120 Sugalabo, Tokyo, Japan – NEW ENTRY

11, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0041
sugalabo.com
@yosuke_suga

51120-Sugalabo-620×415

After 16 years working with world-renowned French chef Joël Robuchon, chef Yosuke Suga moved back to Japan, opening Sugalabo in 2015. Like many high-end Japanese restaurants, it is exclusively by introduction or invitation, but for those who gain entry it’s a must-visit exploration of Japanese ingredients, with dishes including mini anchovy croissants and rice puffs with Nagasaki bottarga.

How to find it: Look for a sign that reads ‘Orange coffee’ in Tokyo’s Azabudai neighbourhood – the restaurant is directly behind it

Chef CV: Suga-san was executive chef of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Tokyo by the age of 26 and went on to lead Atelier openings in Los Angeles, New York, Taipei and Paris

No.119 Atomix, New York, USA – NEW ENTRY

104 E. 30th St., New York 10016
atomixnyc.com
@atomixnyc

Chef Junghyun Park and his wife Ellia deliver a tasting menu of Korean fine dining at this 14-seat counter in the lower level of a Manhattan townhouse. Each dish is based on a different concept from Korean cuisine and highlights include celeriac, buttermilk cheese, hazelnut milk and caviar. Having previously worked as chef de cuisine at the New York offshoot of the acclaimed Seoul restaurant Jungsik, Park opened the more casual Atoboy in 2016 and followed it with Atomix in 2018.

What’s in a name: Ato stems from an ancient Korean word for ‘gift’

Also try: Atomix Bar for à la carte snacks and cocktails influenced by modern Korean flavours

No.118 Ernst, Berlin, Germany – NEW ENTRY

Gerichtstraße 54, 13347 Berlin
ernstberlin.de
@ernst.berlin

Intimate 12-seater Ernst invites diners to take part in an interactive experience, getting to know the chefs and service staff over the course of up to four hours while hearing the stories of the restaurant’s winemakers, farmers and craftspeople. Dylan Watson-Brawn and Spencer Christenson focus on ingredients down to the micro-season, creating a menu from small gardens and dairies from in and around Berlin.

Signature dish: Vegetables from the garden

Wine pairing: Ernst works exclusively with chemical-free winemakers and small producers

No.117 Epicure, Paris, France – RE-ENTRY

112 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris
oetkercollection.com/le-bristol-paris/epicure/
@lebristolparis

51120-Epicure-620×415

Chef Eric Frechon’s temple of gastronomy within the Le Bristol Paris hotel focuses on terroir and sense of place. Unusual ingredients take centre stage, with dishes including macaroni stuffed with black truffle, artichoke and duck foie gras or purple sea urchins simmered in their shells with tongue and sea urchin broth.

Double anniversary: 2019 marked Frechon’s 20th year at Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, as well as a decade holding three Michelin stars. To celebrate, the chef created a tasting menu featuring his signature dishes of the past 20 years

Decorated chef: In 2008, then-President Nicolas Sarkozy bestowed upon Frechon a Knight of the Order of the ‘Légion d’Honneur’

No.116 St. Hubertus, San Cassiano, Italy – NEW ENTRY

Strada Micurá de Rü, 20, 39036 San Cassiano
st-hubertus.it
@restaurantsthubertus1996

Located within the family-owned Rosa Alpina hotel and spa in the Italian Dolomite mountains, St. Hubertus welcomes guests from skiing or hiking with a crackling fireplace and elegant alpine atmosphere. Chef Norbert Niederkofler serves a seasonally changing menu of local produce that might include summer berries, autumn mushrooms or spring herbs.

What’s in a name: St. Hubertus stands for the patron of the hunters

Fun fact: Niederkofler was brought on board in the 1990s to open St. Hubertus at the back of the Pizzinini family’s pizzeria

No.115 Per Se, New York, USA

10 Colombus Circle, New York 10023
thomaskeller.com/perseny
@persny

A Manhattan favourite since 2004, Per Se is the New York interpretation of Thomas Keller’s California flagship restaurant, The French Laundry, which topped The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2003 and 2004. With a daily nine-course tasting menu or vegetable option, Per Se pairs the finest quality ingredients with classic French technique.

Highlights: Lobster roll with Royal Ossetra caviar and garden tarragon

About the chef: Keller is the only American cook to simultaneously hold two Michelin three-star restaurants: Per Se and The French Laundry

No.114 La Colombe, Cape Town, South Africa – RE-ENTRY

Silvermist Estate, Constantia Nek
lacolombe.co.za
@lacolombect

51120-Colombe-620×415

Set within the grounds of the Silvermist organic wine estate with stunning views of the valley below, La Colombe is a destination restaurant that delivers on service, setting and cuisine. Take the 10-course gourmand menu for a journey through a decadent sourdough course to scallops and the signature tuna ‘La Colombe’.

Top tip: Book a cab to indulge in the wine pairing without worrying about the strenuous drive back

Also try: Iconic sister restaurant La Petite Colombe at Le Quartier Français in Franschhoek

No.113 Vea, Hong Kong, China – NEW ENTRY

30/F, 198 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
vea.hk
@vea_hk

Young chef Vicky Cheng’s counter-style fine dining restaurant has been a hot address in Hong Kong since it opened in 2015. After training under French chefs including Daniel Boulud, Cheng returned to his birthplace and created Vea, a celebration of luxury Chinese ingredients with French technique. It made its debut onto the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2019 at No.34.

Signature dish: Roasted Hokkaido sea cucumber

And to drink: Antonio Lai, also known as Hong Kong’s king of cocktails, heads up the bar programme with a cocktail pairing including Mango Yuzu with coconut, tea, vodka and gin

No.112 St. John, London, UK

26 St. John Street, London EC1M 4AY
stjohnrestaurant.com
@st.john.restaurant

A British classic, St. John is the home of nose-to-tail eating from legendary chef Fergus Henderson. Set in an unadorned dining room in London’s trendy Clerkenwell neighbourhood, the restaurant is a favourite for offal, a superb wine list curated by co-founder Trevor Gulliver, and Henderson’s famous Eccles cakes. The restaurant has spawned many chefs whose restaurants are have been on the list, including The Clove Club and Lyle’s.

Don’t leave without trying: Bone marrow on toast

Good to know: St. John’s bakery is the home of some of Britain’s finest pastries, including its photogenic doughnuts filled with custard, honeycomb or even prunes

No.111 Chambre Séparée, Ghent, Belgium – NEW ENTRY

Keizer Karelstraat 1, 9000 Ghent
chambreseparee.be
@chambreseparee

51120-Chambre-620×415

When he decided to close his celebrated In De Wulf restaurant in 2016, Kobe Desramaults wanted a restaurant that was intimate, where the chefs weren’t separated from the guests and the cooking was minimalistic. Enter Chambre Séparée, a 16-seater in an old industrial building where just about everything on the 20-course tasting menu – from scallops to enoki mushrooms – is cooked with fire.

Limited time only: Chambre Séparée will permanently close in December 2020, when the building is due to be renovated

Also try: Desramaults also runs next door Superette, a bakery offering terrific wood-fired pizzas

No.110 Neolokal, Istanbul, Turkey – NEW ENTRY

SALT Galata, Bankalar Avenue, Karaköy 34420 Istanbul
neolokal.com
@neolokal

Located inside Istanbul’s SALT Galata museum, tradition-driven Neolokal is an exploration of Anatolian ingredients and culture from charismatic chef Maksut Aşkar. Artful, colour-popping dishes on the tasting and à la carte menus include lamb heart kokorec and double-baked tahini houmous with quail’s egg and ‘Anatolian landscapes’.

Drink local: Neolokal’s extensive wine list celebrates producers from all over Turkey

Cultural heritage: Aşkar is on a mission is to explore and revive traditions that might otherwise be forgotten

No.109 Alcalde, Guadalajara, Mexico – NEW ENTRY

Av. México No. 2903, Guadalajara
alcalde.com.mx
@restalcalde

‘Frank cuisine’ is the definition that chef Francisco ‘Paco’ Ruano gives to his down-to-earth modern Mexican cooking. This translates on the plate to a colourful salad of nopal (prickly pear cactus) with mango sorbet and habanero chilli, or suckling pig with pipián, a type of mole, or sauce.

Award winner: After winning the One To Watch Award for Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2016, Alcalde went on to debut the following year as the Highest New Entry at No.36

All about Paco: Ruano trained on cruise ships before working at Mugaritz, El Celler de Can Roca and Noma. He returned to Mexico and opened Alcalde in 2013

No.108 L’Astrance, Paris, France

4 Rue Beethoven, 75016 Paris
astrancerestaurant.com

51120-Astrance-620×415

A regular in the 50 Best lists since 2006, 25-seater L’Astrance is a Paris favourite for haute cuisine with the freshest ingredients. Chef Pascal Barbot’s ‘surprise’ menu is a journey through dainty, petal-topped salad amuse bouches to delicate seafood ravioli and a signature foie gras tart marinated in verjus.

Chef CV: Barbot worked for five years with Alain Passard at Arpège in Paris, as well as stints at Sydney restaurant Ampersand and cooking in the South Pacific with the French navy

What’s in a name: Astrance is a wild flower from Barbot’s native Auvergne

No.107 Il Ristorante Luca Fantin, Tokyo, Japan – NEW ENTRY

Ginza Tower 2-7-12 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
bulgarihotels.com/tokyo-osaka-restaurants/il-ristorante
@luca.fantin

Contemporary Italian cuisine with top quality Japanese produce is the winning formula for chef Luca Fantin, whose restaurant in Bulgari’s Ginza Tower is consistently named as the best Italian in Tokyo. Highlights on the seasonally changing menus include spaghetti with sea urchin and lettuce – a carbonara but with seafood – and a salad of avocado and crab made with a technique that preserves the intense umami flavour of the shellfish.

Panoramic views: The restaurant’s soaring 9th-floor dining room overlooks the famous avenue that runs through the heart of Tokyo’s Ginza neighbourhood

Chef CV: Before moving to Tokyo in 2009, Fantin worked as sous chef to Heinz Beck at La Pergola in Rome