Geranium: The World's Best Restaurant Is Hidden In A Football Stadium

The best restaurant in the world is Geranium in Copenhagen.

At Geranium, the specialty is seasonal Scandi food, served on the 8th floor of a football stadium with views of the park. It was opened in the middle of the financial crisis, in 2010.

"All odds were against us," said chef owner of Geranium, Rasmus Kofoed, in a speech after he won.It's the second year in the row that a restaurant from the capital of Denmark was at the top of the list. Last year, Noma won the No. 1 spot.

The world's second best restaurant this year is Central, in Lima. No. 3 was Disfrutar in Barcelona.

The ceremony took place in London at Old Billings gate, a repurposed fish market on the Thames in the midst of London's brutal heat wave; the night was projected to be the hottest in the city's history at around 30C (86F). The event was hosted by actor Stanley Tucci. There was little mention of the heat wave at the ceremony.

Some past No. 1 winners, including Jean Roca of El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, popped in throughout the ceremony to present awards.

The most surprising was Will Guidara, the former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, who had a well-publicized split with chef Daniel Humm, current owner of the restaurant, which was recently hit with negative press about living wages for staff.

In February, World's 50 Best announced it was moving the awards from the original location in Moscow, in a swift response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

There are no restaurants in Russia on this year's list, although last year there were two Moscow spots in the top 30. (Russian voters were included; the voting took place before the war in Ukraine, according to William Drew, director of content for World's 50 Best Restaurants.)