If every year you are passionate about the night of the Oscars and its red carpet and you go for the marathon to see who will win the famous statuette, know that The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a bit the same thing, only we are talking about restaurants or best of the best 50 restaurants in the world, an award sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. If the former take place at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, the latter change locations every year. And for this post covid edition after schock, it was the turn of Antwerp, in Flanders of Belgium, to host the event. A foodie population mostly from all over Europe landed yesterday at the city's Flanders Meeting & Convention Center. On the catwalk there were all our chefs already in the rankings. Massimo Bottura in the lead, the only one with the purple scarf which means having won the already high step of the podium – it happened in Bilbao in 2018 – but also Massimiliano Alajmo, Enrico Crippa, and he, Riccardo Camanini.

Lots of evening dresses, even if it was two in the afternoon: in fact, the invitation required a black tie for an Oscar ceremony theater. Orchestra behind a transparency and then off with the countdown. The count begins: 50, Wolfgat Paternoster South Africa, 49th Azurmendi Spain, then Atelier Crenn California, Maeemo Norway, Colombia, Berlin, New York, 41st Yannick Alleno, still no Italy … The row of compatriots behind me holds their breath. Let's go down again, Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet in Shanghai 35th, another restaurant in Berlin Tim Raue 31, Moscow with Twins Garden. We are 30 and still zero Italy.

Then comes the Best Female chef who goes to Pia Leon and at his restaurant Kjolle of Lima. Female team, a good story of inclusion but who knows when we will be able to give up the pink quota award? The countdown starts again, here we are: 29th Niko Romito. It is not in the dining room, but the joy is high for our three Michelin star chef from Castel di Sangro in Abruzzo and chef of the Bulgari Hotels. And anyway there is Christian, the mythical sister who works on the room. The countdown resumes, here at 26 Le Calandre. So far good. If Niko has recovered about twenty positions, Max Alajmo went from 31st to 26th place. Then again two French like Septime And The Arpège the legendary semi veg restaurant of Alain Passard (no meat has been eaten for unsuspecting times), and again down to the 18th where we find the Piazza Duomo of Alba of Enrico Crippa also at the top of the
Ranking.

And finally, here we are at the big surprise. Riccardo Camanini of Lido 84 in Gardone Riviera enters directly like a missile in Olympus and arrives in 15th place, as a rookie, the highest of the Italians in the standings. He doesn't believe it, he takes the stage with his brother Giancarlo, happy, humble, stunned by emotion. «I am very happy and very impressed by the fact that I am in front of everyone. From tomorrow I have to study more and do better and better. To party? No, I'm a simple person .

But the ranking is entering its peak now. Spain again with Mugaritz (4 in all, like us but taller), then the Hospitality award given by Gin Mare, official partner of the award, introduced with a video of Massimo Bottura at the Steirereck of Vienna. And then now we are in the 10. Mexico: Pujol, Singapore, Lima Stockholm, Disfrutar, again Lima Spain, Denmark, Denmark. Silent Sweden has done its part, Denmark shreds everyone with the first place of No but and with Geranium per second exactly as expected.

Speeches, emotions, the pandemic has proved how fragile our dreams can be. And then the party. While wine is a bit like that, the gotha ​​is drunk (numerous) gin and tonic at Gin Mare, where they churn out cocktails at an impressive pace. Colagreco (cheers was also the birthday), Bottura, Crippa, Alajmo, they are all there. The guys of the Spanish brand give it all (it will not be a coincidence that the Italians are all there since we are their first market). The only woman of this circuit without a pink award is Ana Roš, 21 th with the restaurant Hisa Franko in Slovenia – World’s 50 Best
beautiful, but girls, there is work to be done here.

p.s. Much appreciated that so many chefs took the stage to collect prizes with their spouses, a sign of recognition of their silent work, starting with Colagreco.