Rasmus Munk Takes the Throne of World's Best Chef from Dabiz Muñoz

After stepping onto the stage for a family photo, the auditorium was almost empty. Such was the length of an awards ceremony that, after crowning Madrid's Dabiz Muñoz for three consecutive editions, now proclaims Danish chef Rasmus Munk, from the Alchemist restaurant, with the grandiose title of 'World's Best Chef'. Albert Adrià, from Barcelona's Enigma, repeats as second, while Eric Vilgaard, from the Jordaen restaurant, also in Denmark, completes the podium.

The ranking ended there at the ceremony, as the organization decided this year to change the rules, dispense with the ranking system—and the suspicions it arouses—and opt for a system that categorizes the protagonists into three categories: one, two, or three knives. It aims to emulate the Michelin stars while increasing the number of honorees to mention 548 chefs. The difference with the tire company is that The Best Chef does not have a body of specialized inspectors rooted in the field to guarantee their evaluations, but these depend on a body of 568 voters, more than 60% of whom are chefs and do not need to justify having tried the gastronomic proposal of the chefs they vote for.

In practice, the ceremony becomes an exercise in self-indulgence among star chefs where everyone leaves reasonably happy, but along the way, it loses much of the intrigue associated with the top 100 that was presented to date and fueled its media impact. The list was born in 2017, driven by Polish Joanna Slusarczyk and Italian Cristian Gadau with the aspiration to compete internationally with The 50 Best Restaurants of the World, but focusing on chefs instead of their establishments. However, it has not taken even a decade to change strategy to rival an even bigger giant, Michelin.

The new model probably pleases the awarded professionals, who are freed from the pressure of seeing how the competition overtakes them or fall dramatically with the arrival of new talents, but it also removes the incentive of meteoric rise for all those below bronze and significantly reduces its interest. This first delivery of knives has reached a total of 548 chefs from 61 countries, with a significant Spanish presence.

Up to forty national chefs receive a distinction, 17 of them in the top category—Ángel León, Eneko Atxa, Bittor Arginzoniz, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Paco Pérez, the Torres brothers, Martín Berasategui, Oriol Castro, Paco Morales, Quique Dacosta, among others—another 10 in the two knives category—Begoña Rodrigo, Dani García, Elena Arzak, Javi Olleros, or Toño Perez—and ten more in the one knife category, with names like Edorta Lamo, Josean Alija, Jordi Vilà, or Tetsuro Maeda.

A wide range of special awards has also been presented, all with their corresponding sponsorships, turning the gala into an advertising artifact. To name just a few, Albert Adrià is awarded for the most revolutionary proposal, Ángel León for his scientific work, and Mexican chef based in Barcelona Paco Méndez for his creativity.