Eleven Madison Park Is No Longer the ‘World’s Best’ Restaurant

The controversial yet wildly influential restaurant guide World’s 50 Best announced the 2018 list of top restaurants in the world today — and out of New York, the biggest news is that former number one restaurant Eleven Madison Park has dropped down to No. 4.

The highly watched guide put chef Daniel Humm and Will Guidara’s tasting menu restaurant at the top spot in 2017. Shortly after, though, the restaurant closed for four months for renovations, and many industry insiders expected Eleven Madison Park to fall from the top spot, considering the closure meant judges had less time to return to the restaurant in the last year. The top three restaurants in the list also tend to switch out regularly, though now EMP has dipped past that as well.

It was a big deal for EMP to get top bidding last year. Its 2017 rank made it the first U.S. restaurant to be No. 1 in 14 years — and immediately, tables for two booked up for a month, even with a $642 non-refundable deposit requirement.

Elsewhere in New York, Cosme shot up on the list dramatically, landing at No. 25 today. Last year, Enrique Olvera and Daniela Soto-Innes’s chic Flatiron Mexican restaurant debuted on the top 50 list for the first time, ranking 40th on the list.

But seafood temple Le Bernardin has taken a tumble, landing at No. 26. Chef Eric Ripert’s Midtown French fine dining restaurant was 17th last year.

Dan Barber’s ode to seasonality Blue Hill at Stone Barns inched down to No. 12. Last year, it landed at 11th following a huge jump up. This year, Barber also won the Chef’s Choice Award.

World’s 50 Best, announced in Bilbao, Spain on Tuesday, is one of the world’s most highly regarded restaurant guides. But it’s faced criticism over the years: It favors European restaurants with fine dining restaurants serving tasting menus, and female-run restaurants are few and far between on the list. The judging process, too, is controversial. Though the diners must remain anonymous, they do not have to pay for their meals.