Victor Arguinzoniz's Asador Etxebarri, the wood-fire temple tucked into the Basque village of Axpe, Spain, has claimed the No.1 position on The 50 Best Restaurants 2026 list, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. The ceremony took place at Teatro Municipal de Lima on November 4, with the global hospitality industry watching a ranking that now spans 28 territories across six continents and 14 new cities.
Asador Etxebarri had ranked No.2 in 2025. Its 14-course tasting menu is built entirely around live-fire technique, transforming high-quality regional produce through Arguinzoniz's decades-long mastery of the grill. Gaggan in Bangkok holds No.2 and Alchemist in Copenhagen takes No.3, while Quintonil in Mexico City (No.4) secures The Best Restaurant in Latin America and Atomix in New York (No.11) earns The Best Restaurant in North America.
New Entries & Climbers
Eleven restaurants debut on the 1–50 list this year, a cohort that signals continued geographic diversification in fine-dining restaurant rankings. São Paulo's Tuju (No.16) earns the Highest New Entry Award, while Copenhagen's Kadeau (No.8) wins the Highest Climber Award after jumping 33 places from its 2025 position. Other first-time entrants include Meet the Bund in Shanghai (No.21), Masque in Mumbai (No.26), Naar in Kasauli, India (No.49), and Saint Peter in Sydney (No.50). Five restaurants also re-entered the list, among them La Colombe in Cape Town (No.35) and Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse in Monte Carlo (No.47).
Individual Awards
The individual honors reflect the list's broadening scope across gender, geography, and discipline. Jessica Rosval, head chef of Al Gatto Verde (No.24) at Massimo Bottura's Casa Maria Luigia in Modena, wins the Best Female Chef Award. Rosval is also recognized for co-founding Roots, a social enterprise that provides professional culinary training for migrant women. Ferran Adrià, the visionary behind El Bulli, receives the SevenRooms Icon Award for his continued work in culinary research and education through the El Bulli Foundation. Junghyun 'JP' Park of Atomix receives the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award — the only prize voted on by fellow chefs — in recognition of his influence on modern Korean fine dining.
Bangkok-based self-taught pâtissier Dej Kewkacha wins the Best Pastry Chef Award for elevating local Thai flavors into fine-dining omakase dessert courses. Lesley Liu, head sommelier at Odette in Singapore, takes the Best Sommelier Award, recognized for her pairing expertise and advocacy for women in the global beverage and wine industry. The 50 Best Restaurants Scholarship goes to Doris Lam, a former food journalist turned chef-in-training, who will stage at Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck in the UK and Salsify at the Roundhouse in Cape Town.
Sustainability & What It Means for Operators
Naar (No.49) in Kasauli, India wins the Sustainable Restaurant Award for sourcing ingredients exclusively from the Himalayan region, rotating its menu across six distinct mountain seasons, and using ancient preservation techniques — including hardwood ash — to minimize food waste. The recognition underscores a broader shift in how the global fine-dining segment, as covered extensively by Food & Beverage Magazine, is weighting sustainability credentials alongside culinary innovation when evaluating best-in-class operators.
For restaurateurs and hospitality professionals, the 2026 list offers a clear read on where fine-dining momentum is building: Southeast Asia continues to dominate the upper tier, South America is producing breakout newcomers at speed, and fire-forward, ingredient-led cooking remains the dominant philosophy at the very top of the global rankings. The voting panel comprises more than 1,100 international industry experts with a 50/50 gender balance, with at least 25 percent refreshed annually, and is independently adjudicated by Deloitte.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
