Eat Drink
Peru: Central in Lima is the best restaurant in the world 2023
Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon, chef of the Central restaurant in Lima, during the awards ceremony in Valencia, Spain. photo
© Jorge Gil/EUROPA PRESS/dpa
Peruvian cuisine is considered one of the best in Latin America. Now a restaurant in the capital Lima gets an important award. But gourmets need the wherewithal to visit.
The Central in the Peruvian capital Lima has been voted the best restaurant in the world for 2023 by international gourmet critics. The jury of the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” awarded the title yesterday evening at a gala event in the Spanish Mediterranean metropolis of Valencia. The bosses of the Central, Virgilio Martínez and Pía León, thanked their entire team for the work that has now been crowned with success.
The Central has long been known as a gourmet paradise – and the Peruvian cuisine between the Pacific and the Andes, with its diverse influences and traditions as well as its willingness to experiment, is considered one of the best in Latin America. In addition to the Central, three other restaurants in Lima also made it into the top 50: the Maido (6), the Kjolle (28) and the Mayta (47). However, as with almost all top restaurants, the prices of the delicacies are hardly affordable for inflation-plagued ordinary people.
This time, second place in the ranking of gourmet restaurants was taken by Disfrutar in Barcelona, which had already landed in 18th place in 2018. A German also made it into the top 50: Tim Raue came in 40th place with his restaurant named after him in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Last year he was honored with 37th place. The Swiss restaurant Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau came in 26th place, the Steiereck in Vienna in 17th place.
Since 2002, more than 1000 international gastronomy experts have chosen the best restaurants in the world every year. Contrary to what the name might suggest, there are not just 50, but 100 restaurants on the list published by the British “Restaurant Magazine”. As in the previous year, there is also the restaurant “Ernst” in Berlin-Wedding with chef Dylan Watson-Brawn from Canada, this year in 55th place.