The culinary world was rocked Monday night by one of the most anticipated days of the year: the World’s 50 Best Restaurants were announced. Apparently, there’s more than just Michelin stars and James Beard Awards to worry about if you’re part of the restaurant scene.

Hosted by S. Pellegrino and Acqua Panna in London and announced by the revered Restaurant Magazine, this was more than just your average listicle (aka #BFD). Noma dropped down to the third spot, whereas El Celler de Can Roca reclaimed its bragging rights by climbing back up to number one.

Here’s the list that almost broke the internet:

50. The French Laundry, USA

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of The French Laundry

Chef: Thomas Keller
Location: Yountville, California
Style: French-American, Daily menu change
Must-Try Dishes: Slow-cooked fillet of wild king salmon, salmon tartare cornet, coffee and doughnuts

49. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, USA

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

Chef: Dan Barber
Location: On a farm in Pocantico Hills, NY
Style: Farm-to-table, local, ingredient-focused, no physical menu to choose dishes from, daily menu change based on seasonality and availability
Must-try dish: Blue Hill bone char cheese

48. Schloss Schauenstein, Switzerland

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Andreas Caminada
Location: In a castle in the Swiss Alps
Style: French
Must-try dishes: Goose liver with fresh goat’s cheese and maize; seared brook trout

47. Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, France

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Alain Ducasse and executive chef Romain Meder
Location: In a fancy hotel in Paris
Style: Haute French focused on fish, cereal and vegetables; focus on sustainability
Must-try dishes: Green puy lentils and caviar; borage and warm oysters

46. Restaurant Andre, Singapore

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of finedininglovers.com

Chef: André Chiang
Location: Former shophouse in Chinatown in Singapore
Style: French novelle cuisine, gastronomy, tasting menu
Must-Try Dishes: “Memory” – warm foie gras jelly with black truffle coulis, “Artisan” – grilled Taiwanese baby corn

45. Relae, Denmark

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Christian Puglisi
Location: Hip part of Copenhagen
Style: New Nordic, laid-back, sustainable, local, four or seven course menus. Restaurant is certified organic
Must-try Dishes: Pickled mackerel with cauliflower and puréed lemon peel, sous-vide chicken with heart

44. Maido, Peru

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Mitsuharu Tsumura
Location: Lima
Style: Nikkei (Peruvian-Japanese)
Must-try Dishes: Barnacle ceviche; grilled octopus; confit of guinea pig

42. Boragó, Chile (tie)

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of starchefs.com

Chef: Rodolfo Guzmán
Location: Santiago
Style: Contemporary Chilean, forages locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients
Must-try Dishes: Grouper Cooked in Mud Oven with Bruja Potato and Allium Flowers (pictured); Venison tartare with maqui berries

42. Tickets Bar, Spain (tie)

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of different-doors.com

Chef: Albert Adrià
Location: Barcelona
Style: Spanish, Gastronomy, laid-back, “high-impact” dishes
Must-try Dishes: Razor clams with coconut sauce, mushrooms and peanut; watermelon infused with sangria, cinnamon, lemon zest and min

41. Mani, Brazil

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chefs: Daniel Redondo and Helena Rizzo
Location: Old house in São Paulo
Style: Brazilian-European mix, semi-casual fine-dining
Must-try Dishes: Mandioquinha gnocchi with fermented cassava juice; catch of the day with tucupi, bananas and Mani’s own manioc flour

40. Per Se, USA

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of donuts4dinner.com

Chef: Thomas Keller
Location: Time Warner Center in NYC
Style: French-American, 9 course tasting menus, seasonal
Must-try Dishes: Moulard Duck Foie Gras with Banana (pictured); oysters and pearls

39. Quique Dacosta, Spain

Restaurants

Courtesy of quiquedacosta.blogspot.com

Chef: Quique Dacosta
Location: Dénia, Alicante
Style: Spanish, playful and minimalistic
Must-try Dishes: Tobacco leaf and toro; deconstructed Bloody Mary meringue with a liquid center

38. Amber, China

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of amberhongkong.com

Chef: Richard Ekkebus
Location: Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong
Style: French cuisine with Asian ingredients
Must-try Dishes: Hokkaido sea urchin in a lobster jell-o with cauliflower, caviar and crispy ‘seaweed’ waffle; tails with iberian pork belly, charred pencil leeks, water cress coulis its claws with pork trotter, pieds de moutons, raw button mushrooms & its bisque

37. Restaurante Biko, Mexico

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of alifewortheating.com

Chefs: Mikel Alonso and Bruno Oteiza
Location: Mexico City
Style: Spanish-Mexican fusion, two different menus plus a tasting menu
Must-try Dishes: Cremoso de foie con yoghurt cítrico y miel trufada (pictured), Foie gras, pineapple and aniseed

36. L’Astrance, France

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of andrewzimmern.com

Chef: Pascal Barbot
Location: Posh area across the river from the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Style: Redefined French cuisine, diners choose how many courses they want not what dishes they want (aka no menu)
Must-try dishes: Mushroom and foie gras tart marinated in verjus; miso-marinated mackerel

35. Quintonil, Mexico

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Bon Appétit

Chef: Jorge Vallejo
Location: Mexico City
Style: Traditional Mexican mixed with newer culinary techniques, sustainably-minded, highlights seasonal ingredients, tasting menu
Must-try dishes: Huazontles with Chiapas cheese, nopal cactus snow

34. Le Calandre, Italy

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of alajmo.it

Chef: Massimiliano (or Max) Alajmo
Location: Padua
Style: Modern Italian gastronomy, diners choose from three carts that range from modern to very modern
Must-try Dishes: Extra virgin olive oil risotto with capers, coffee and rose; hand-chopped raw Piedmontese beef with black truffles

33. Aqua, Germany

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of qliweb.com

Chef: Sven Elverfeld
Location: Motor theme park next to Volkswagen’s car factory (because where else would you put an awesome restaurant?) in Wolfsburg
Style: “Reinvention of German peasant food,” also has some foreign dishes
Must-try Dishes: Cod, veal brawn, cauliflower, brown butter and silverskin onions; ellow fin mackerel

32. Attica Restaurant, Australia

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of australiaplus.com

Chef: Ben Shewry
Location: Suburb south of Melbourne
Style: Modern Australian, tasting menu except for Tuesday nights when he offers a 5 course menu of new experimental dishes (watch Chef’s Table on Netflix for more info)
Must-try Dish: Red kangaroo tartar with bunya bunya

31. Restaurant Frantzén, Sweden

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Björn Frantzén
Location: Stockholm
Style: Scandinavian, seasonal, multiple course tasting menu
Must-try Dishes: Sea urchins from Faroe Islands on grilled brioche with truffle caviar, pumpkin and chicken skin; lingonberry- and apple macarong with blood crème and foie gras

30. Restaurant Vendôme, Germany

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Schloss Bensberg Hotel

Chef: Joachim Wissler
Location: Historic Schloss Bensberg hotel near Cologne
Style: German with hints of New Nordic, Asian and French; some say he’s part of the “New German School” due to the modernity of his dishes
Must-try Dishes: Suckling pig, bean stew, grilled green bananas, curry and macadamia nut;

29. Nihonryori Ryugin, Japan

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of nihonryori-ryugin.com

Chef: Seiji Yamamoto
Location: Roppongi district in Tokyo
Style: Traditional kaiseki menu with a strong emphasis on local, seasonal food; à la carte menu for a limited time during service
Must-try Dishes: Seven Kinds of Japanese Fish; seasonal wild blowfish menu

28. The Test Kitchen, South Africa

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of The Test Kitchen

Chef: Luke Dale-Roberts
Location: Woodstock district in Cape Town
Style: Various international flavors and techniques; artsy; five- and nine-course dinner tasting menus
Must-try Dishes: ‘Blinissoise’ – chilled blini creme, barbecued langoustine ‘en gelée’ langoustine tataki, liquorice powder; “Pork Belly” – parsley pressed apples, wild rosemary infused honey, blue cheese cream, crackling

27. Piazza Duomo, Italy

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Enrico Crippa
Location: Alba, apparently the “foodie capital of Piedmont”
Style: Italian, gastronomic, emphasis on local food
Must-try Dishes: Suckling pig with asparagus; Eggs and eggs salad

26. Alinea, USA

Restaurants

Courtesy of Huffington Post

Chef: Grant Achatz
Location: Chicago
Style: “Cutting edge,” intense blow-your-mind cool gastronomy; extensive dining experience that plays out over several hours and has “special lighting that allows for the colour of the walls to change and create different moods”; seasonal menu that ranges from 18 to 22 courses
Must-try Dish: Edible helium balloon

25. Fäviken, Sweden

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Erik Olsson/VisitSweden

Chef: Magnus Nilsson
Location: In a barn in the middle of no-where, also referred to as North Sweden
Style: “Rustic Scandinavian,” multiple course menu; restaurant seats only 12 and since it’s a long ways away diners spend the night there
Must-try Dish: Scallop cooked over burning juniper branches

24. Ultraviolet, China

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Jing Daily

Chef: Paul Pairet
Location: A “secret location” in Shanghai
Style: “Experiential cuisine,” meaning you go to Shanghai to get in a bus that drives you to the restaurant where you get in a cage lift that brings you up to the restaurant. Each course has a different song to go with it. Pairet has been known to call his food “psycho taste,” which means that food you eat should strongly remind you of “memory, imagination, experience and culture.” Think: James Bond meets 2o course meal meets shrooms.
Must-try Dish: Foie Gras Can’t Quit (crisp fruit skin cigarette filled with an airy foie gras mousse sitting in an ashtray dotted with black cabbage ash, according to The World’s Best 50 Restaurants)

23. White Rabbit, Russia

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of White Rabbit

Chef: Vladimir Mukhin
Location: Moscow
Style: Modern Russian with international ingredients, embraces local produce as well, Alice in Wonderland-esque
Must-try Dishes: Beetroot soup; buckwheat porridge served with fried duck hearts and reindeer moss sauce

22. Nahm, Thailand

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of tomeatsjencooks.com

Chef: David Thompson
Location: Ground floor of the Metropolitan Hotel in Bangkok
Style: Rustic/Authentic/Traditional Thai; tasting menu is a popular option; market-fresh produce
Must-try Dishes: Green mango salad with grilled pork and sour leaves; jungle curry with ‘pla chorn’

21. Le Chateaubriand, France

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of lennardy.com

Chef: Inaki Aizpitarte
Location: Paris
Style: Part of Paris’ “bistronomie” movement aka more affordable and relaxed bistros; fixed 70 Euro tasting menu with daily menu changes
Must-try Dishes: Squid salad with sea asparagus, onions, redcurrants and wakame powder

20. The Ledbury, UK

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of The Ledbury

Chef: Brett Graham
Location: Notting Hill, London
Style: Modern British with some foreign flavors; tasting menu and a fixed price dinner menu
Must-try Dishes: Truffles and foie gras; jowl of pork, endive, pear and juniper

19. Azurmendi, Spain

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Pintrest

Chef: Eneko Atxa
Location: On a hill in Bizkaia
Style: Basque + gastronomy; Atxa pioneers many culinary techniques that are considered “cutting edge”
Must-try Dishes: Foie asado, melocotón y cenizas a la brasa; tomato and eel

18. Le Bernardin, USA

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of le-bernardin.com

Chef: Éric Ripert
Location: NYC
Style: High-class seafood that encompasses a combination of Japanese and French culinary techniques and flavors
Must-try Dishes: Yellowfin tuna with foie gras and toasted baguette; lobster lasagne

17. Arzak, Spain

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Arzak/Ametsa

Chefs: Juan Mari Arzak & Elena Arzak Espina
Location: San Donostia/San Sebastián
Style: Basque + gastronomy; self-proclaimed “evolutionary cuisine” that constantly innovates new dishes with ingredients from the market
Must-try Dish: The red egg (piquillo peppers and crisped-up trotter meat according to The World’s Best 50 Restaurants)

16. Pujol, Mexico

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of alifewortheating.com

Chef: Enrique Olvera
Location: Polanco district in Mexico City
Style: Mexican, local native ingredients with gastronomic techniques
Must-try Dishes: Cuitlacoche; powdered ants; mole madre

15. Restaurant Steirereck, Austria

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of morfae.com

Chef: Heinz Reitbauer
Location: Stadtpark in Vienna
Style: Austrian with gastronomic and modern technqiues, innovative; some of their ingredients come from Reitbauer’s family farm; farm-to-table
Must-try Dishes: Char cooked in beeswax with yellow carrot, pollen and sour cream; veal tongue & sweetbreads with romanesco, canihua & whisky

14. Astrid y Gaston, Peru

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of argentinepost.com

Chefs: Gastón Acurio & head chef Diego Muñoz
Location: Wealthy San Isidro district of Lima
Style: Peruvian with modern techniques; 3-hour long tasting menu experience that is supposed to tell its diners stories about Peru
Must-try Dish: Apple ceviche

13. Asador Etxebarri, Spain

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of asadoretxebarri.com

Chef: Victor Arguinzoniz
Location: In the hills of the Atxondo valley
Style: Spanish, lots of firewood grilling (Arguinzoniz is considered the father of European bbq); local, seasonal ingredients sometimes foraged by the chef
Must-try Dishes: Wild red tuna belly; raw chorizo tartare

12. L’Arpege, France

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Alain Passard
Location: Paris
Style: French that focuses on vegetables from his biodynamic farm, aka very farm-to-table
Must-try Dish: Beetroot tartare with horseradish cream

11. Mirazur, France

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Mirazur

Chef: Mauro Colagreco
Location: Hillside next to the Italian border in Menton
Style: Modern French with fresh Côte d’Azur ingredients from the surrounding area and the restaurant’s garden, with flavors from France, Italy and Argentina
Must-try Dishes: Shrimp carpaccio with raspberry and blackberry purée; red prawns with asparagus, borage and wild garlic flowers

10. Gaggan, Thailand

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of 10best.com

Chef: Gaggan Anand
Location: Downtown Bangkok
Style: Indian food that is reinterpreted and rethought with gastronomic techniques; includes street dishes; entertaining dishes that use ingredients like liquid nitrogen
Must-try Dishes: Free-range lamb chops, sous-vide, grilled and finished with green herb oil; Green with Envy

9. D.O.M., Brazil

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Alex Atala
Location: São Paulo
Style: Brazilian with ingredients from the Amazon; uses local producers and is sustainably-minded, however dishes are quite pricey due to the extent that Atala goes to retrieve such ingredients
Must-try Dishes: Palm heart fettuccine with mushrooms

8. Narisawa, Japan

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Michael T. on Flickr

Chef: Yoshihiro Narisawa
Location: Tokyo
Style: Japanese with an emphasis on French flavors; considered an international restaurant that tries to bring nature to their dishes; ten course tasting menu designed to bring you through the seasons
Must-try Dishes: Irabu sea snake from Okinawa; ‘Bread of the Forest 2001’

7. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, UK

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of londonfoodfreak.com

Chef: Ashley Palmer-Watts
Location: The Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge, London
Style: Historically inspired British dishes; contemporary
Must-try Dishes: Meat Fruit–chicken liver parfait dipped in mandarin jelly (pictured); Earl Grey Tea cured Salmon

6. Mugaritz, Spain

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Mugartiz

Chef: Andoni Luis Aduriz
Location: Small wooden building that was rebuilt after a fire burned the restaurant down in 2010, in Gipuzkoa
Style: Spanish; no menu, just 24 courses that are designed to meet the dietary needs of the diner; you can eat the cutlery and centerpieces (cool or weird?); gastronomic techniques
Must-try Dish: Ice shreds, scarlet shrimp perfume

5. Eleven Madison Park, USA

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of blog.francescotonelli.com

Chef: Daniel Humm
Location: NYC
Style: European with an emphasis on New York’s local food and produce. Guests are researched in order to create the perfect meal for them
Must-try Dishes: Honey lavender duck with apple and rutabaga; ‘Name That Milk’

4. Central Restaurante, Peru

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Virgilio Martinez
Location: District of Miraflores in Lima
Style: Indiginous ingredients from various altitudes (i.e. you’ll get a dish from the “mountains,” or the “sea”), emphasis on Peru’s biodiversity
Must-try Dish: Octopus in purple coal (pictured)

3. Noma, Denmark

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of nowwhatstheplan.com

Chef: René Redzepi
Location: In the back of an old warehouse in the center of Copenhagen right off the harbor
Style: Scandinavian, locally foraged ingredients, emphasis on seasonality
Must-try Dishes: Sweet shrimps wrapped in ramson leaves; anything that has ants on it (because that’s legit)

2. Osteria Francescana, Italy

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of Osteria Francescana

Chef: Massimo Bottura
Location: Modena, a town in the province Emilia-Romagna
Style: Italian; gastronomic techniques used to reinvent traditional dishes; local, seasonal ingredients
Must-try Dishes: Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano ; The crunchy part of the lasagne

1. El Celler de Can Roca, Spain

Restaurants

Photo courtesy of theworlds50best.com

Chef: Joan Roca
Location: Girona
Style: Spanish; free-style and avant-garde; part of a research project that aims to reduce rare species in food products and dishes. Definitely take a deeper look into their website–it tells all.
Must-try Dish: Mackerel with pickles and mullet roe

For more detailed information check out the full list here, and the restaurants listed 50-100.