Geranium serves a meat-free, seasonally based Scandi menu in the unusual environment of the eighth floor of Denmark’s national football stadium. It’s open just four days a week, a choice created by head chef Rasmus Kofoed and co-owner Soren Ledet to maintain an ethos of work-life balance.
Restaurants are only allowed to scoop the top prize of the award once, after which they are entered into a separate “best of the best” program. Members of that elite include Geranium’s Copenhagen neighbor Noma, as well as New York’s Eleven Madison Park, The Fat Ducks near London, Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, and Mirazur in Menton, France.
rest list
South American restaurants also did well. In Lima, chefs Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leone Central climbed two places to second place, while Meadow, which serves Japanese-Peruvian fusion, slipped to 11th place.
Brazil’s A Caso do Porco – a celebration of all things porcine – climbed 10 places to number 7.
Spain’s performance this year was also good. Barcelona’s Disfruttar was at number three, Madrid’s Diverxo was in fourth, while Asador Etxbari of Larabetzu – where all dishes, even the sweets, are flame-grilled – slipped to number 6.
Mexico City was represented by fifth-place winner Pujol – this year’s Best Restaurant in North America – and Quintonil, which climbed all the way from last year’s No. 27 to No. 9.
Italy’s Lido 84 and Le Calendre also improved the rankings this year. Ulyssi was this year’s highest new entry in the Senegallia region of Italy – at number 12.
It’s not until number 20 that a restaurant from Asia appears, with Den in Tokyo earning the top spot on this year’s list.
In the 20 years the awards have been running, no restaurant outside Europe or North America has ever won the World’s 50 Best Award. All winners so far have come from Spain, the United States, the UK, Denmark, Italy and France.
50 best restaurants in the world