Russia in the top 20: the best restaurants in the world named
This year, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, the world’s leading restaurant ranking, expanded its list – instead of the traditional one hundred food outlets around the world, it chose 120. The results were announced at a ceremony in Singapore.
For Russian gastronomy this year is more than successful. The Moscow restaurant White Rabbit climbed 13th in the ranking (last year it was on the 15th line). This is the best result for Russian restaurants in the history of the award. The most striking breakthrough was made by the Twins Garden metropolitan brothers Ivan and Sergey Berezutsky – today they became 19th, a year ago they were placed in 72nd place. For the first time in history, St. Petersburg’s restaurants were rated: Harvest Dmitry Blinov and Renat Malikov, which took less than a year ago, 92nd place and Cococo Matilda Shnurova 104 and chief Igor Grishechkin, which took less than a year ago to rank 92. Consistently, over and over again, Moscow Selfie is improving its position – this year it is already the 65th (against the 70th a year earlier).
For understanding – the jury determines the candidates, which includes more than 1000 people from all over the world, including chefs, journalists, critics, bloggers, etc. (the composition is changing, and the auditors monitor the cleanliness of the vote). To be included in the list of finalists means international recognition.
It is noteworthy that almost all Russian restaurants that have been included in the rating work fundamentally (and for a long time) with products made in Russia, paying close attention to their quality.
The kitchen of the White Rabbit restaurant is run by Vladimir Mukhin. He carefully preserves the traditions of native Russian tastes, but gives them a new sound through modern technology and taking into account the historical context. On this, in particular, built his set “Russian Evolution”. For inspiration and discoveries, Mukhin often travels to the most remote corners of Russia. In its traditional menu – pies, mushrooms, cereals, lard in various readings and combinations. Chefs table dinners were given for experimentation and self-expression – the latter under the name “Contrasts” was also noted by rating experts.
The twin chefs from Twins Garden have their own farm in the Kaluga Region – about 70 percent of the products, including vegetables, fruits, berries, herbs, fish, meat and poultry, cheese in the restaurant from there. How the two chefs get along in the same kitchen is not clear, but the result that is obtained speaks for itself. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants appreciated chef tasting and gastronomic sets that play the role of twins – they simultaneously offer two different menus. The restaurant’s wine collection was praised: it is not only one of the largest in Russia, but also contains vegetable wines which are made from tomatoes, carrots, parsnips and leeks.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants team, among other things, appreciated the tasting menu of Selfie Chef Anatoly Kazakov on ethical consumption. He brought to the general public a dish of products (or rather parts of them) that are considered to be “not edible”, and he managed to turn it into a gourmet kitchen, in particular, he came up with the idea of making cannelloni from cabbage stalks and scallops, pike perch tongue with tomato water, and mushroom paste with chicken skin and a parsley stalk.
The two-story Harvest in St. Petersburg is a new place for the Russian conservative public in terms of the concept. The restaurant team has relied on dishes of vegetables. At the same time, we immediately emphasize that this is not a vegetarian institution. The idea of Chef Dmitry Blinov is not to replace meat and seafood (they are here, but not in the main role), but to demonstrate the possibility of widespread use of vegetation not only in food but also in drinks. Nevertheless, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants did not single out purely vegetable dishes – crab with cabbage and avocado, and mashed potato ravioli with smoked duck.
The Cococo restaurant, operating at the five-star So Sofitel Hotel, is considered the main restaurant in St. Petersburg for the so-called “modern Russian cuisine.” She is in charge of Igor Grishechkin. People go to this place not only to try and nostalgic, but also like to an art gallery – serving dishes is akin to works of art. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, in its ranking, focuses on buckwheat porridge with porcini mushrooms and stewed beef cheeks, which is complemented by an edible ax made from squid-dyed ink oil (the menu calls it “Ax Porridge”). And also on the classic Grishechkin set 11-course dish in which he serves salmon ice cream and a Faberge egg filled with black caviar and edible gold.
Top 10 best restaurants in the world:
1st place
Mirazur – Menton, France
2nd place
Noma – Copenhagen, Denmark
3rd place
Asador Etxebarri – Achondo, Spain
