The world’s best restaurant is in Modena, Italy

After dropping to second place last year, Italian restaurant Osteria Francescana is back on top of the latest World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

‘Dropping’ being the relative word, of course, considering how prestigious this list is to begin with.

Osteria Francescana was opened in 1995 by chef Massimo Bottura in Modena, and it is known for weaving in nostalgia and child’s play into its contemporary Italian dishes. And sometimes it’s nearly literal: one of its famous dishes is actually called ‘Oops, I dropped the lemon tart’, created after a restaurant staff accidentally dropped a dessert plate. If only we all escaped with the same wit at home.

“If I go down deep into my memories, I remember fighting with my brothers for the crunchy part of the lasagna,” said Bottura, who featured in the very first episode of popular Netflix series Chef’s Table. “At Osteria Francescana, I’m serving that kind of memory. So diners eat emotions, not food, because the rest of the lasagna is for the adults, but the crunchy part is for the kids. So you experience the idea of the kid stealing the best bit of the dish,” he said.

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See the full list below.

1. Osteria Francescana (Modena, Italy)
2. El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain)
3. Mirazur (Menton, France)
4. Eleven Madison Park (New York City, USA)
5. Gaggan (Bangkok, Thailand)
6. Central (Lima, Peru)
7. Maido (Lima, Peru)
8. Arpege (Paris, France)
9. Mugaritz (San Sebastian, Spain)
10. Asador Etxebarri (Axpe, Spain)
11. Quintonil (Mexico City, Mexico)
12. Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills, New York)
13. Pujol (Mexico City, Mexico)
14. Steirereck (Vienna, Austria)
15. White Rabbit (Moscow, Russia)
16. Piazza Duomo (Alba, Italy)
17. Den (Tokyo, Japan)
18. Disfrutar (Barcelona, Spain)
19. Geranium (Copenhagen, Denmark)
20. Attica (Melboure, Australia)
21. Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée (Paris, France)
22. Narisawa (Tokyo, Japan)
23. Le Calandre (Rubano, Italy)
24. Ultraviolet (Shanghai, China)
25. Cosme (New York City, USA)
26. Le Bernardin (New York City, USA)
27. Boragó (Santiago, Chile)
28. Odette (Singapore)
29. Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen (Paris, France)
30. D.O.M. (São Paulo, Brazil)
31. Arzak (San Sebastian, Spain)
32. Tickets (Barcelona, Spain)
33. The Clove Club (London, UK)
34. Alinea (Chicago, USA)
35. Maaemo (Oslo, Norway)
36. Reale (Castel Di Sangro, Italy)
37. Restaurant Tim Raue (Berlin, Germany)
38. Lyle’s (London, UK)
39. Astrid y Gastón (Lima, Peru)
40. Septime (Paris, France)
41. Nihonryori RyuGin (Tokyo, Japan)
42. Ledbury (London, UK)
43. Azurmendi (Larrabetzu, Spain)
44. Mikla (Istanbul, Turkey)
45. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (London, UK)
46. Saison (San Francisco, USA)
47. Schloss Schauenstein (Fürstenau, Switzerland)
48. Hiša Franko (Kobarid, Slovenia)
49. Nahm (Bangkok, Thailand)
50. Test Kitchen (Cape Town, South Africa)

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