After Corona, the world map of food has been redrawn

This is the 21st edition of "World's 50 Best Restaurants" (hereinafter referred to as "World's Best 50"). This year's awards ceremony was held on June 6th in Valencia, Spain's gastronomic capital. The rankings have already been revealed with preliminary results announced on the official website and various media, but the results are full of hints that Japan's food and beverage economy should follow. This competition, dubbed the ``Academy of Food,'' will examine the path to post-coronavirus.

What's different from Michelin, "World's Best 50"

Many people compare the ``World's Best 50'' to the ``Academy Awards of Food.'' Only 50 restaurants scattered around the world will be selected, and the competition is made up of 27 anonymous voters from 1080 areas. When you hear that the organizer is William Reid, a major British media outlet, and the Italian beverage brand San Pellegrino & Acqua Panna are the main sponsors, you might think of the famous Michelin Guide. In fact, Michelin is a peer.

However, Michelin and the ``World's Best 50'' differ in many ways. For example, Michelin's employees conduct undercover investigations, and the selected restaurants are divided by region. Including those that are no longer published, it is said to be available in 23 regions around the world (according to Wikipedia), so it's quite a wide range. On the other hand, the people who vote for the "World's Best 50" are volunteer boaters, with a one-third share split between (3) journalists and media personnel, (1) food and beverage industry workers (including chefs), and (50) foodies. It consists of There is one ``chairman'' (council chairperson) appointed by the home office in each area, and the system is such that they nominate boaters within the area that they think are suitable. Boaters will vote for the ``restaurants they think are the best right now'' from all over the world, regardless of country or area, and XNUMX restaurants will be selected.

Currently, there are approximately 15 restaurants in Tokyo alone, and it is an honor to be awarded three Michelin stars. However, when it comes to 50 properties chosen from among millions around the world, how can we describe their value? However, the screening criteria are not clear. No, I dare to say so. I think it's strange that it's nicknamed the ``Academy of Food Awards'' because the results of boaters' subjective votes for the restaurant they think is the best are reflected in the event.

Three things you can see from the list of unknown store names

Now, about the results this time. I'm sorry to say this on a personal note, but to be honest, back when I wasn't as enlightened about the world's restaurant situation as I am now, I honestly didn't get excited about the results of the ``World's Best 50'' rankings. This is because most of the 50 houses listed were unknown. I was very impressed when a popular Japanese restaurant made it onto the list, but I was completely ignorant about it. However, now that I am on the reporting side, I think that foodies who are familiar with all the restaurants on this list are in a significant minority, even if you look around the world. In fact, although my career has progressed since then, there were still many new entrants I didn't know about among the 50 restaurants announced this time.

So what should you look forward to using this award? I think there are three main answers. One way is to use this list as an indicator of where to go when traveling abroad in the future. The 50 restaurants in the ranking range from casual restaurants to fine dining restaurants, but all of them are restaurants that Foody recommends as ``the most in season right now.'' When traveling, many people use this list as a reference when planning their meals.

The second use is that this list can provide hints about economic trends surrounding food and beverages, and this can be seen in this result. For example, last year there were 10 restaurants from South America that made it into the ranking, but this time the number has increased to 12. The first place ``Central'' is located in Lima, the capital of Peru, and Lima alone has four restaurants in the ranking. Several houses came from Mexico City and Bogota. This is partly due to the fact that South America was the first to ease restrictions on the coronavirus, but I also hear that it is also because each country supported restaurants for wealthy travelers in order to strengthen their national power.

It was also impressive that two restaurants from Dubai suddenly appeared in the ranking, but this is probably due to the influence of the ``Best 2 in the Middle East and North Africa,'' which started in 2022 as a limited regional version of the ``World's 50 Best.'' The ``Latin America Best 50'' and ``Asia Best 2013'' were started in 50, and the first event was Dubai. As a result, it is not hard to imagine that foodies from all over the world visited Dubai all at once.

The teams from Bangkok that appear to be strong are the ones who finished 15th and 17th in their first appearance. This country is also actively trying to expand the number of unique restaurants, and its popularity among foodies remains strong.

Another thing that gives us a sense of the economic trends surrounding food is the presence of sponsors and supporting companies. Asahi Shuzo, a sake brewing company in Yamaguchi Prefecture, was added to the 2022 World's Best 50 as Japan's first official sponsor. There was a line for sake. At the next booth, caviar, which was also sponsored, was displayed, and the exquisite combination of caviar and daiginjo sake seemed to have a strong impact on foreigners. I think I got the impression that this was a presentation of a new food experience. I think more companies will pay attention to this event in the future.

Third, I would like to touch on how young Japanese chefs perceive this event. Currently, the global food and beverage industry is growing at a tremendous pace, including during the coronavirus pandemic. There are many young chefs who have the mission of being happy if their customers say it's delicious, but at the same time are striving to make it to the top of the world as quickly as possible.

Of course, the best way to achieve this is through training in cooking. However, it is absolutely essential to know how to disseminate this information, to build a team for this purpose, and above all to work to secure sufficient funds. The word ``greedy'' means ``devouring greed,'' but is it really a mean thing to act greedily and build a position? When I look at overseas competitors steadily rising in the rankings every year, I suddenly find myself thinking about this.

Restaurants that quickly rise in the rankings attract attention from all over the world, and the result is new wealthy customers from overseas. Their reputation spreads highly, and their customer base changes in a short period of time. I think this is something worth paying attention to as many restaurants are struggling to attract customers.

Lastly, I would like to introduce a comment from Takanori Nakamura, chairman of the board of directors for the Japan region.

“Partly due to the weak yen, the Japanese food and beverage industry is facing unprecedented inbound demand.As chairman, I believe that supporting Japanese restaurants is branding for the country. I'm grateful to be able to be involved in the cutting edge (food and beverage industry), and I have renewed my desire to do everything I can to prevent Japan, a truly gastronomic nation, from being overpowered by other countries."

From Japan, "Den" (21st place), "Florerege" (27th place), and "Sezan" (37th place) are ranked this time. Also, ``NARISAWA'' is at 51st place, ``Raseem'' is at 60th place, and ``Chazenka'' is at 83rd place. I hope that a new generation will follow in the footsteps of these restaurants that continue to boldly move forward.