Two Spanish restaurants in the top 5 of the 100 best in Europe

Steve Plonitcki, the nonconformist 'foodie' who, tired of the stagnation of many lists and guides, said last night he created his own restaurant ranking in 2012 –Opinionated About Dining (better known as OAD)– that “the future of cooking is young ”. Perhaps it is one of the reasons why his lists, compiled by a community of 6,000 voters from all corners of the world, are always on the move.

After an inaugural dinner at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián in which the new restaurant entries were presented last night to the OAD Top + European Restaurants 2019 ranking (Amelia in San Sebastián, Baga in Jaén and Bonamb in Xàbia are incorporated among the Spanish , Alicante), this afternoon OAD revealed the final list of the 100 best restaurants in Europe at a gala held at the María Cristina hotel in San Sebastian, which, as expected, is full of new movements.

A ranking that this year crowns the Swedish restaurant Frantzén

A ranking that this year crowns the Swedish restaurant Frantzén, who has snatched the position from the Swiss Schloss Schauenstein, now number two. For those who do not know Frantzén, whose kitchen is led by chef Björn Frantzén in Stockholm, is the only Swedish restaurant with three Michelin stars whose success is due, in the words of Steve Plotnicki, to "a perfect combination between the sensibility of Nordic cuisine and luxury dining experience.

Following these two restaurants is a Spaniard: the Etxebarri grill, by chef Bittor Arguinzoniz in Atxondo (Vizcaya), which maintains the third place it already achieved in 2018, demonstrating that the refined art of the grill still has its place in haute cuisine. And Etxebarri is now followed closely by another Spanish restaurant, the consolidated three-star restaurant Quique Dacosta, in Dénia (Alicante), which has climbed 6 positions in this year's ranking, jumping from position number 9 to 4.

The next places in the top 10 are now occupied by the Swedish Daniel Berlin (who has gone from 21 to 5), the Italian Le Calandre (now in 6th place), the Parisian L'Arpège (who continues to represent France by occupying again the 7th place), the also French La Marine (in 8th place) and the Danish Noma 2.0, which has made an important comeback on the list, getting the 9th position as a new entry after the disappearance of Noma and its new reopening as Noma 2.0 . The Italian Lido 84 has also managed to advance 19 places.

This year the ranking of the 100 best restaurants in Europe by OAD also includes another 19 Spanish restaurants. Among them, Barcelona's Mejorar (Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas) which remains this year at number 12 on the list. The Biscayan Arzumendi, from chef Eneko Atxa, on the other hand, has climbed positions reaching number 17 in the classification from the fifth place he occupied last year. Ángel León, with Aponiente, remains in 25th place, and the Celler de Can Roca of the Roca brothers in Girona another: from 22 to 26.

This year the ranking includes another 19 Spanish restaurants

This has been a good year on the other hand for the restaurants of El Barri de Albert Adrià: Enigma and Tickets have climbed positions occupying positions 29 and 32, respectively. Pakta and Hoja Santa are positioned at 69 and 80. Martín Berasategui, in Lasarte-Oria, also rises from 49 to 41; Arzak, in San Sebastián, now ranks 45th and Diverxo, in Madrid, 46th.

The rest of the Spanish restaurants that occupy a place in this year's ranking are: Mugaritz, in Rentería, 56; Ca l'Enric, in Girona, 62, Güeyo Mar, in Ribadesella (Asturias), 76; Alchemy, in Barcelona, ​​78; Lasarte, also in Barcelona, ​​in 1984, El Pescador, in Llança (Girona), in 1989; and Abac, in Barcelona, ​​96.

Like every year, the OAD list proves to add variety to the rest of the gastronomic rankings

Like every year, the OAD list proves to add variety to the rest of the gastronomic rankings. While some restaurants such as Celler de Can Roca occupy high positions in lists such as The World's 50 Best Restaurants, they leave room for other establishments. Because that is the philosophy of the OAD list: try to cover a wide range of possibilities to offer all kinds of options when choosing.