But a commitment by the world's best chefs to the future of food—and those who struggle to put food on the table—also prove why everybody wins
It was an outcome few had dared to predict, but in their hearts must have been wishing. Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy has been named the best on this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, the celebrated annual snapshot of some of the finest restaurants around the globe, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, at the awards ceremony held at the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao Spain. It was also its largest gathering of restauranteurs with 49 of the 50 best chefs arriving in the famous Basque city for the ceremony.
A total of 23 countries across six continents were honoured—a promising statistic not lost on the planet’s top toques, not least a noticeably shocked Bottura. “It’s such as an amazing feeling,” he says, when asked how it felt to be back on top of the gastronomic world. But he quickly added how the win represented more than the improvements the restaurant had made to earn its spot at the top for a second time, having been crowned number one in 2016 as well.