World's 50 Best Restaurants revealed

Noma's Rene Redzepi.

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The S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards last night named Copenhagen's Noma as the top restaurant in the world, in a glittering ceremony at the Guildhall in London.

Run by 32-year-old head chef Rene Redzepi, Noma took the coveted top slot by accumulating most votes from an Academy of over 800 international critics, journalists and food experts in the awards organised by the UK's Restaurant Magazine.

A dining venue where most dishes are served by the chefs themselves, Noma leads the trend in 'cold climate cuisine', having built a reputation around taking seasonal and local ingredients, many unheard of outside of the Nordic region and creating nature-inspired dishes such as ‘Radishes in Edible Soil’.

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After four consecutive years at the top, Ferran Adrià's El Bulli found itself in second place in the ranking, while the UK's Fat Duck, run by Heston Blumenthal, completed the top three restaurants.

Cape Town's La Colombe restaurant became the Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in Middle East and Africa, reaching number 12 on the list of this year’s instalment of the established listing.

This year, neither the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurant nor the extended ‘Top 100’ listing featured any restaurants from the Middle East.

Last year, Pierre Gagnaire’s first regional venture, Reflets par Pierre Gagnaire, was the sole regional representative in the ranking, just squeezing in at number 100.

Commenting on the 2010 list, Paul Wootton — editor of event organiser Restaurant —said: "This year's list is an exciting one that highlights in particular the wealth of young, dynamic chefs bringing new ideas to the world of gastronomy.

“We are very much looking forward to the next 10 years, with the list continuing to inspire debate and court opinion all over the world."

Highlights of last night’s ceremony included:

• The S.Pellegrino World's Best Restaurant & The Acqua Panna European Best Restaurant:
Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark.

• Lifetime Achievement Award:
Eckart Witzigmann

• Restaurant Magazine Chef of the Decade:
Ferran Adrià, Spain

• The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in the Middle East & Africa:
La Colombe, Cape Town, South Africa.

• The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in North America:
Alinea, Chicago, USA.

• The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in South America:
D.O.M, Sao Paolo, Brazil.

• The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in Asia:
Les Creations de Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan.

• Chef's Choice Award:
The Fat Duck, Bray, UK.

• The Highest Climber:
Daniel, New York, USA.

• Highest New Entry:
Schloss Schauenstein, Switzerland.

• Restaurant Breakthrough Award:
Marque, Sydney, Australia.

Read on for the full Top 100 ranking…