‘El Celler de Can Roca’ ranked world’s third-best restaurant and awarded best service

Melbourne (CNA).- ’Restaurant’ magazine has made public its World's 50 best restaurants list for 2017 and Catalonia's El Celler de Can Rocahas been ranked third. The jury, comprised of 1,040 voters worldwide, recognized Celler's “outstanding service” and awarded it the Ferrari Trento Art of Hospitality prize, introduced in 2016. After 11 years on the list and having topped the ranking in 2013 and 2015, the restaurant run by the three Roca brothers ceded its crown to Eleven Madison Park, in New York. Italian restaurant Osteria Franciscana, which won last year’s edition, fell to second place.  Another Catalan restaurant, Disfrutar, run by three El Bullialumni has received the Miele One to Watch Award, thanks to its innovative offering. El Celler de Can Rocahas been among Restaurant’s best 50 gastronomic establishments in the world for the last 12 years and has been in the ranking's top five since 2009.

“Three is a magic number, we are really happy,” said Chef Joan Roca. During the ceremony, held this Wednesday in Melbourne, El Celler de Can Roca also received a special distinction: it was awarded the Ferrari Trento Art of Hospitality prize for its “outstanding service”. According to Joan Roca, this recognition is also “very important” since it praises “the task of a part of a restaurant’s team which is often forgotten”. The Ferrari Trento Art of Hospitality Award was introduced in 2016 in collaboration with the Italian winery to celebrate the outstanding work of front-of-house and service teams at restaurants around the world. The category was voted for by the same body of 1,040 worldwide voters that makes up The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy.

There is another Catalan establishment on Restaurant’s exclusive list. Tickets, by Albert Adrià is ranked 25th. Adrià was the dessert chef at El Bulli, which was run by his brother Ferran Adrià and was recognized as the best restaurant in the world on five occasions.

Barcelona’s Disfrutar was recognized as the best first timer on the list. Indeed, in May last year, the restaurant run by chefs Eduard Xatruch, Oriol Castro and Mateu Casañas, won the award for Best New European Restaurant in the prestigious Opinionated About Dining (OAD) ranking. The three chefs started this project after spending 15 years together at El Bulli. In addition, in 2015 Disfrutar won its first Michelin star joining the 50 restaurants in Catalonia which currently hold this recognition. In addition, the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition also named it ‘Restaurant of the Year’.