The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022: Copenhagen’s Geranium tops list - but only two London spots make cut

Winner winner fancy dinner: Geranium in Copenhagen

(Picture: Claes Bech Poulsen)

A meat-free Copenhagen restaurant on the eighth floor of Denmark’s National Football Stadium was last night named as the world’s number one place to eat.

Geranium topped the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants held at Old Billingsgate in the City of London. The glitzy awards ceremony was attended by the crème de la crème of global gastronomy and hosted by Stanley Tucci, an actor who is now as famous for his taste in food and drink as his discernment in choosing Hollywood roles.

“Food is a connector, uniting people from different continents, sharing tradition, culture and creativity,” Geranium’s chef and co-owner Rasmus Kofoed said when the number one was announced. “I feel so damn grateful to be a part of that.”

The Geranium team celebrate their victory in London (The World’s 50 Best Restaurants)

The 50 Best list, which is voted on by 1,080 independent experts, was founded in London in 2002 but only two restaurants in the capital made this year’s list. The UK’s highest entry, down two places at number 35, is The Clove Club, opened by Scottish chef Isaac McHale in Shoreditch in 2013.

“The 50 Best list is as flawed and as good as any other list that is out there,” McHale told the Standard. “People now come to see me at The Clove Club from all over the world. I’ve gone from looking up to my heroes to them becoming my peers, mentors and friends.”

The UK’s other representative on the list is Ikoyi in St James’, last year named as the 50 Best ‘One to Watch’ and now number 49. “It’s been an intense year,” chef and co-founder Jeremy Chan said. “We got our second Michelin star and now we have this. We’re working in a tiny, boiling-hot, dilapidated kitchen, with a broken hob and a dishwasher that is constantly out of use. To appear on the 50 Best list at this most gruelling time feels like the hard work has paid off, especially when the ceremony is held in my home city.”

Who knows whether either restaurant will make the list in 2023, but there is one thing we can predict with confidence: Geranium is now this year’s hardest to book restaurant.

The full list is below:

1. Geranium - Copenhagen
2. Central - Lima
3. Disfrutar - Barcelona
4. Diverxo - Madrid
5. Pujol - Mexico City
6. Asador Etxebarri - Atxondo
7. A Casa do Porco - São Paulo
8. Lido 84 - Gardone Riviera
9. Quintonil - Mexico City
10. Le Calandre - Rubano
11. Maido - Lima
12. Uliassi - Senigallia
13. Steirereck - Vienna
14. Don Julio - Buenos Aires
15. Reale - Castel di Sangro
16. Elkano - Getaria
17. Nobelhart & Schmutzig - Berlin
18. Alchemist - Copenhagen
19. Piazza Duomo - Alba
20. Den - Tokyo
21. Mugaritz - San Sebastian
22. Septime - Paris
23. The Jane - Antwerp
24. The Chairman - Hong Kong
25. Frantzén - Stockholm
26. Restaurant Tim Raue - Berlin
27. Hof Van Cleve - Kruishoutem
28. Le Clarence - Paris
29. St. Hubertus - San Cassiano
30. Florilège - Tokyo
31. Arpège - Paris
32. Mayta - Lima
33. Atomix - New York
34. Hiša Franko - Kobarid
35. The Clove Club - London
36. Odette - Singapore
37. Fyn - Cape Town
38. Jordnær - Copenhagen
39. Sorn - Bangkok
40. Schloss Schauenstein - Fürstenau
41. La Cime - Osaka
42. Quique Dacosta - Dénia
43. Boragó - Santiago
44. Le Bernardin - New York
45. Narisawa - Tokyo
46. Belcanto - Lisbon
47. Oteque - Rio de Janeiro
48. Leo - Bogotá
49. Ikoyi - London
50. SingleThread - Healdsburg