SA’s Fyn ranked number 37 on World’s 50 Best Restaurants list

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list was announced at an awards ceremony in London on Monday and SA has big reason to celebrate, with Cape Town restaurant Fyn included in the list of the world’s top 50.

Having opened its doors in 2019, Fyn was included in the extended 51 to 100 list in 2021, but jumped 55 spots in this year’s awards, coming in at number 37.

“The pressure is now on”, says chef Peter Tempelhoff of Fyn. “We’ve got to where we are by pushing the boundaries and by constantly innovating with a fresh offering. We try not to become too stagnant.”

Fyn celebrates a coming together of SA and Japanese cuisines, with ingredients such as Outeniqua springbok, truffle and ink mayonnaise and kabocha squash marrying harmoniously in their kaiseki-style menu.

But SA’s reason to celebrate this year doesn’t end there: earlier this month, the list of restaurants ranked 51 -100 was announced and two SA restaurants were included.

Fine dining Cape Town restaurant La Colombe in Constantia Nek ranked 56th while chef Kobus van der Merwe’s Wolfgat in Paternoster filled the 90th spot.

This is not the first time these restaurants have made it onto a World’s 50 Best Restaurant top 100 list. Last year Wolfgat came in at number 50, La Colombe at 81, and Fyn at number 92.

Copenhagen again clinched the number one spot with its restaurant Geranium, which moved up one spot and unseated last year’s number one , Noma; Lima moved from fourth spot to second with Central; and Disfrutar in Barcelona ranked third, up from fifth spot last year.

Here’s the list of the top 50 restaurants as announced on Monday:

1. Geranium, Copenhagen 
2. Central, Lima 
3. Disfrutar, Barcelona 
4. DiverXO, Madrid 
5. Pujol, Mexico City 
6. Asador Etxebarri, Axpe, Spain
7. A Casa do Porco, São Paulo
8. Lido 84, Gardone Riviera, Italy
9. Quintonil, Mexico City 
10. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy
11. Maido, Lima 
12. Uliassi, Senigallia, Italy 
13. Steirereck, Vienna 
14. Don Julio, Buenos Aires 
15. Reale, Castel di Sangro, Italy 
16. Elkano, Getaria, Spain 
17. Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Berlin
18. Alchemist, Copenhagen
19. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy 
20. Den, Tokyo 
21. Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain
22. Septime, Paris 
23. The Jane, Antwerp, Belgium 
24. The Chairman, Hong Kong 
25. Frantzén, Stockholm 
26. Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin 
27. Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium
28. Le Clarence, Paris 
29. St Hubertus, San Cassiano, Italy
30. Florilège, Tokyo 
31. Arpège, Paris 
32. Mayta, Lima
33. Atomix, New York 
34. Hiša Franko, Kobarid, Slovenia 
35. The Clove Club, London
36. Odette, Singapore 
37. FYN, Cape Town 
38. Restaurant Jordnær, Copenhagen 
39. Sorn, Bangkok 
40. Schloss Schauenstein, Fürstenau, Switzerland
41. La Cime, Osaka, Japan
42. Quique Dacosta, Denia, Spain
43. Boragó, Santiago 
44. Le Bernardin, New York 
45. Narisawa, Tokyo 
46. Belcanto, Lisbon 
47. Oteque, Oslo 
48. Leo, Bogotá 
49. Ikoyi, London
50. SingleThread, Healdsburg

• For the list of top 51-100 restaurants, visit the website.