Barcelona-based modernist hotspot Disfrutar has been crowned World’s Best Restaurant at an awards ceremony held in Las Vegas, in the United States. Two Hong Kong restaurants experienced a stratospheric rise and took home individual awards. Disfrutar is headed by chefs Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, and Mateu Casañas, who met in the kitchen of el Bulli, the boundary-breaking Spanish restaurant that dominated the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Commenting on the strength of Spanish restaurants in the rankings, Disfrutar’s Casañas said in a post-awards press conference that there are many reasons for Spain’s gastronomic prowess. “In Spain you can find very special products and ingredients, and extraordinary people who are working with them. You also find a culture where evolution is like a tradition, and then you have the windows that our teachers in the past have opened,” he said.
“We’re holding our country’s flag high tonight, we’re so proud.” Wing was previously ranked 90th on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants long list of establishments ranked from 51-100 list in 2023, and came 5th on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 2024, which was announced in Seoul in March. It is the first time one of Cheng’s restaurants – his Vea also ranks on the Asia’s 50 Best list – has made it into the World’s 50 Best ranks.
“It’s always been a dream, since I was a young kid, to be a part of the community of these ch.
