The Catalan 'El Celler de Can Roca' is ranked the best restaurant in the world

London (ACN).- Catalan cuisine again tops the world’s best restaurant ranking. After Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli, the ‘Restaurant’ magazine has awarded the title of being the best restaurant in the entire world to a Catalan restaurant again: El Celler de Can Roca, located in Girona, near the Costa Brava. The top ranking was announced on Monday evening, a few minutes before the start of the prize ceremony, held in London each year. The establishment run by the three Roca brothers has already been recognised as the world’s second best restaurant, in 2012 and 2011, just after the Danish Noma. However, for many years El Celler de Can Roca has been among the best kitchens in the world. Now, the three Roca brothers – Joan, Josep and Jordi – have received the profession’s top recognition. Starting out as a family restaurant, the Roca brothers have followed in the steps of Ferran Adrià and his molecular cuisine to develop a whole new approach to cooking, using the five senses and creating true pieces of art. According to Restaurant magazine, El Celler de Can Roca offers an “emotional cuisine”, “combining traditional Catalan dishes with innovative techniques”. The specialised publication, considered to be the most prestigious cuisine magazine among chefs, emphasised “the passion and kindness” of the three Roca brothers. Joan Roca – the oldest – leads the kitchen as the El Celler de Can Roca’s chef; Josep is the restaurant’s sommelier and takes care of one of the best wine selections internationally; and finally the youngster Jordi is in charge of creating the most surprising desserts. After the closing of El Bulli – which had been the world’s best restaurant for five years – El Celler de Can Roca became the flagship restaurant for Catalonia’s gastronomy, as was recognised on Monday at the “cuisine Oscars”, as the Restaurant Magazine’s prizes are known in the sector. “I don’t know if we are the best restaurant in the world, but I know we will continue to work with creativity” said Joan Roca when he received the prize.

Once again, another Catalan restaurant tops the international ranking of the world’s best restaurants, compiled by the prestigious British Restaurant magazine. In fact, since 2002, a Catalan restaurant has topped the ranking half of the time and the years they have not topped the list a Catalan restaurant has been second and, once, third. Furthermore, in the last 8 years, a Catalan restaurant has topped the ranking 5 times and the other three years it was in second place.

El Bulli was the first Catalan restaurant to receive the world’s highest recognition. The Catalan chef Ferran Adrià revolutionised the world’s cuisine and most restaurant critics see him as a sort of Picasso, who revolutionised painting. Adrià’s El Bulli, which was located next to a beach on the Costa Brava in the Catalan town of Roses, was considered on five occasions to be the best restaurant in the world by the British publication (2002, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009) and the years it did not top the ranking it was the second best, except in 2004 when it was third. Another way of measuring El Bulli’s and Ferran Adrià’s influence is the fact that most of the world’s current top chefs have spent some time in Adrià’s restaurant as training chefs. In 2011, when Adrià announced he was closing El Bulli to transform it into the El Bulli Foundation by 2014, the Restaurant Magazine did not include it in its ranking. However, the magazine recognised Adrià as the “chef of the decade”.

El Celler de Can Roca follows El Bulli’s steps

In 2011, without El Bulli in the list, there was already another Catalan restaurant up to the challenge of being the flagship of Catalonia’s cuisine against international competition. That year, El Celler de Can Roca was named the world’s second best restaurant, a distinction it also received in 2012. In the last three years, Copenhagen’s restaurant Noma – run by the former El Bulli staff member René Redzepi – was considered to be the world’s number one, taking the number one spot from Adrià’s restaurant. In 2013, the Roca brothers have taken the cuisine crown from Redzepi’s hands and brought it back to Catalonia.

Restaurant Magazine’s decision depends on the vote of 800 gastronomy critics and experts, who travel around the word discovering the best places to eat. The list is considered to be a sort of counter-point to the Michelin stars, although most of the top restaurants appear on both lists. However, the Restaurant list is more flexible and it can also include more informal restaurants among the world’s best 50. El Celler de Can Roca was recognised with a third Michelin Star in 2009, although it had been in the Restaurant Magazine list for years and in 2007 it was already considered the world’s 11^th best restaurant. In 2009 it was already the world’s number 5 in the UK publication.

‘The Dream’

El Celler de Can Roca combines traditional Catalan cuisine, as the restaurant was originally run by their parents as a guest house, with the most innovative approach to cuisine. The Roca brother’s creations attempt to present a whole new experience for the people fortunate enough to enjoy them, involving the five senses. This approach meant that they have developed a new project originally called ‘El Somni’ (The Dream), which is a gastronomic and sensorial experience. It combines food and wine with opera and audiovisual projections to transport the customers to a whole new dimension through their senses. El Somni will start to take bookings in Barcelona as from the 6^th of May, it will later tour and end up in Girona, the Roca brothers’ home town and where their restaurant is located. The three brothers presented the project in Catalonia a few weeks ago and today they presented it in London, at the Mandarin Hotel, in front of a hundred specialised journalists and critics. After the presentation, the Catalan artists received a long-lasting applause, showing that the initiative had been very well received. Joan Roca told the CNA that after the presentation and the round of applause they had “good vibes” about tonight’s gala, where the world’s best restaurants were to be announced.