In what is shaping up to be an outstanding year for American gastronomy, New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park was named the best restaurant in the world — the first time in more than a decade that an American restaurant has received the prestigious honor.
This comes just months after the USA Team, from Per Se restaurant, won the Bocuse d’Or cooking competition in France, a first for an American team.
Eleven Madison Park is co-owned by Will Guidara and chef Daniel Humm. It debuted on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list at number 50 in 2010, and has risen ever since. It was ranked third best in 2016, before taking the top spot this year.
“All of us in this room, we’ve dedicated our careers to creating experiences that we hope will become extraordinarily memorable moments in people’s lives,” Guidara said when accepting the award, which was last won by an American restaurant in 2004.
Eleven Madison Park edged out Osteria Francescana, in Modena, Italy, which dropped a spot from last year to Number 2.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is compiled by an academy of food writers, restaurateurs and gastronomes from around the world.