Run by chef Massimo Bottura, the restaurant in Modena, Italy pipped last year's winner, New York's Eleven Madison Park, in the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards, after first taking the honour in 2016. It is the only Italian establishment to have won the annual accolade. There are no criteria for putting a restaurant on the list, which is based on an anonymous poll of more than 1000 chefs, restaurant owners, food critics and other industry insiders from around the world. Each member gets ten votes and at least four of those votes have to go to restaurants outside their region.
Chef Massimo Bottura opened Osteria Francescana in 1995, after spending time in New York and Monaco. Spain's El Celler de Can Roca, which took the top honour in 2013 and 2015, came in second while third place went to Mirazur in southern France. The 2018 list of 50 best restaurants included eateries in 22 countries, but over half are in Europe. Six are in the United States, six in Latin America and six in Asia.
