La Liste, the world's best restaurant selection, reveals special awards for 2021 recognizing commitment, resilience and innovation across the global gastronomy sector.

PARIS, Jan. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The year 2021 kicks off with two initiatives which respond to the pandemic for La Liste, a prominent restaurant finder and worldwide classification since 2015. In solidarity with chefs and restaurants around the world, La Liste has canceled its annual ranking and today reveals a set of new special awards and an in-depth new publication, Gastronomy Observer, which draws on the guide's unmatched database to unearth emerging insights and innovations across our global food culture.

La Liste is best known for publishing its annual ranking of the top 1,000 best restaurants in the world, powered by the almost 900 sources which feed its algorithm. Guy Savoy (Paris), Eric Ripert (Le Bernardin, New York), Seiji Yamamoto (Ryugin, Tokyo) and Yosuke Suga (Sugalabo, Tokyo) retain their #1 position on La Liste Top 1,000 for another year.

10 new special prizes reward the work of those who have been able adapt and reinvent themselves during the crisis and contribute to building the gastronomy of tomorrow. There are 30 chefs, restaurants or concepts from 18 countries, all of them symbolic of a sector which never gives up. These awards reflect the richness, diversity and wonder of global gastronomy.

"Despite repeated closures and low morale, the restaurant sector never gives up. La Liste wants to be the catalyst to support restaurants' recovery by recognizing exceptional individuals who stand up to the crisis and shape the future of gastronomy", says Hélène Pietrini, managing director newly appointed by Philippe Faure, founder of La Liste. She is known for her commitment to improving diversity and promoting inclusivity across the culinary landscape and previously managed The World's 50 Best Restaurants for several years.

Among the winners are the Ghanaian chef Selassie Atadika, a trailblazer for "New African" cuisines, sustainability leader Matt Orlando from Danish Amass restaurant, and Mashama Bailey, the breakout star of Southern cooking from the United States and inclusivity model.

Spain's Dabiz Muñoz wins the Innovation Award for his GoXo fast-casual delivery empire, the perfect example of "pivoting" to feed our new culinary appetites.

"A storm is a perfect opportunity to dance under the rain," says Muñoz of his approach to adapting. "In life, there are doors that close and leave you immersed into deep darkness, but when this happens, there's always a window, you just need to have talent and a lot of attitude to open it. In the XO world giving up is forbidden, and that's the story of my latest idea."

Gastronomy Observer is a new venture for La Liste. Led by co-founder and editor-in-chief Jörg Zipprick, it tells the story of a tumultuous year through the restaurant finder's database as well as academic studies, journalism and interviews. It illustrates and praises the great efforts of restaurateurs to feed others while developing new ways to survive amid multiple lockdowns. But it doesn't shy away from the dark side of the industry, and also covers abusive kitchen culture, hospitality's diversity problem, and #MeToo in restaurants.

Hélène Pietrini adds: "La Liste wanted to document and publicize the remarkable efforts of a sector which is essential to our culture, our economy, and our wellbeing. Out of this crisis, we're seeing the emergence of trends, talents and non-negotiable values which will grow and embed themselves within food culture. Gastronomy will always be ready to change and reinvent itself!"

For the full list of winners and to download Gastronomy Observer visit www.LaListe.com

• New Destination Champion Award, sponsored by Moët Hennessy
  Africa is in the spotlight thanks to its ambassador Selassie Atadika, female chef of the Ghanaian restaurant Midunu. With more than 1,150 African restaurants in its mobile app, La Liste intends to explore this continent as its food culture flourishes.
  In France, Florent Ladeyn, a chef dedicated to eating locally, has put French Flanders back on the map with his Auberge Vert-Mont.
• Innovation Award, sponsored by Rungis International Market
  The international award goes to Dabiz Muñoz, who has built his GoXo fast-casual empire, a perfect example of an idea developed by the creative chef on social media when he was stuck at home, and then meticulously adapted for delivery in Madrid, and then Barcelona.
  In France, the energy of Kayserberg's Olivier Nasti is unstoppable, and he's launched his high-end drive-in, a farmers' market, a food truck as well as takeaway menus from a range of famous chefs.
• Digital Influencer Award
  Since the beginning of the lockdowns, Simone Zanoni, the Italian chef from restaurant Le George at Four Seasons Hotel George V, has created Italian recipes from his own kitchen. He's now put his motto Bomba Atomica to a range of food products and accessories available online. A genuine family adventure called Casa Zanoni which turned into a digital phenomenon.
• Game Changer Award – Inclusivity
  From the US, Mashama Bailey, the female chef at Grey in Savannah, Georgia, who trained in Burgundy before immersing herself in Southern food. She is an important new figure in American cooking but also a model for equality and inclusivity.
• Ethical and Sustainability Award, sponsored by Accor Live Limitless
  The chef-patron of Amass in Copenhagen, a zero-waste urban restaurant, Matt Orlando has applied the same principles to his new opening Amass Fried Chicken.
  In France, female chef and entrepreneur Nadia Sammut, brings free-from cooking to life at her family's Auberge La Fenière in Lubéron, which she took over to build a world which tastes better.
• Community Spirit Award
  In France, Chefs with Caregivers from Elysée Palace head chef Guillaume Gomez and journalist Stéphane Méjanès, and in Hong Kong, the Covid-19 Playbook developed by the founders of the Black Sheep Restaurants group. Both illustrate the strength of community spirit and generosity across the sector.
• Artisan and Authenticity Award
  From his Ferme de la Ruchotte en Burgundy, Fred Ménager alternates between farmer and chef and cultivates honest, traditional cooking. In Japan, Masashi Yamada is keeping the tradition of irori cuisine alive by cooking game and fish on an open fire. In Mexico, Celia Florián cultivates Oaxacan traditions in her restaurant Las Quince Letras serving corn, beans and chillies alongside chapulines - grasshoppers
• Openings of the Year
  New restaurants were rare in 2020 and therefore all the more deserving of recognition. We're awarding four restaurants: CocoCouture from restaurateur Matilda Shnurova in St Petersburg; Kol, the most eagerly anticipated opening in the British capital from ex Noma Mexico chef Santiago Lastra; Euphoria by Jason Tan in Singapore; Ever from Curtis Duffy and Michael Muser, both formerly of Chicago's Grace.
• New Talents of the Year, sponsored by Moët-Hennessy
  Top Chef Mory Sacko opened Mosuké, his first restaurant in Paris ; Peruvian female chef Francesca Ferreyros is serving local cooking with Asian flavours at Baan while waiting for her first big opening, UNE ; Antonio Bueno has launched Casa Bueno in Italy, only a few kilometers from Mirazur, where he was Mauro Colagreco's second in command for many years ; Daniel Smith, formerly of London's Clove Club, has embedded his inventive cooking with local produce at The Fordwich Arms in Britain's smallest town in Kent ; the Fillipino chef Josh Boutwood bubbles over with energy and has opened his third restaurant in Manila, The Test Kitchen.
• Hidden Gem Awards go to eight restaurants worth an extra mile as soon as you can travel : La Femme du Boucher from female chef Laëtitia Visse in Marseille, France ; Nur from female chef Najat Kaanache in Fez, Morocco ; Spanish seafood restaurant D'Berto from female chef Marisol Dominguez ; 102 House in Foshan, China which embodies a renaissance in Cantonese food ; Koks in the Faroe Islands, Langouste, a meeting point for all of Belgrade, Serbia ; Café Suisse and female chef Marie Robert in Bex, Switzerland ; and last but definitely not least the Willows Inn lead by Waine Bletzel on Lummi Island in Washington State, US.

In addition to this exceptional list, La Liste is proud to share the first ever edition of Gastronomy Observer, an in-depth report on the industry across 2020, which measures the impact of the pandemic on restaurants, and considers the resilience of the sector and its structures in terms of country and the government aid offered. This free digital publication was made possible because of the hundreds of sources in La Liste's database of 25,000 restaurants as well as scientific and academic studies, background articles and interviews. Innovations, trends and new models have been identified and illustrated, giving a global panorama of the year 2020 in restaurants.

• A new culinary map is emerging. In every country, homeworking is killing custom in urban areas and attracting chefs to rural locations. Meanwhile gastronomic tourism is reinventing itself and restaurants are preparing for a new customer base.
• Ghost kitchens will grow and may evolve further to follow the fast fashion model. 
• The demand for healthy, traceable and seasonal products is evident everywhere. A new appetite for traditional comfort food appears popular with those who have enjoyed home cooking during the lockdowns.
• In the face of the crisis, the diversification in a restaurant's purpose will continue. The restaurant will no longer be a standalone venture but a brand with a showroom, and a concept led by a chef who is more an entrepreneur than a cook. Expect new dishes, new menus, takeaway, digitization and new types of relationships with both suppliers and customers.
• The advent of a movement to rebuild the sector along sustainable lines, prioritizing equality, diversity, kindness, and solidarity. Humans are at the centre of this reinvention.

In 2021 La Liste will give priority to its database, which is able to locate more than 25,000 restaurants in 200 countries, more than any other guides. Beyond the best restaurants ranked in the Top1000, you will find thousands of favorite addresses, hidden gems, and iconic spots reflecting the excellence but also the diversity of the world of gastronomy. The App is available in nine languages on Android and IOS. Download our app for free: laliste.app.linl/download

Due to health constraints, La Liste cancelled its annual year-end event, which was scheduled last November to take place at Paris Quai d'Orsay to reveal the Top1000. Events were also cancelled in Japan, Korea and China, where La Liste is well-known and respected. Subject to travel restrictions, we are planning a new event in 2021 to bring back the spirit of conviviality and community among our chefs and partners.

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About La Liste

Each year, La Liste provides a ranking of the 1,000 best restaurants in the world. Its method is based on an algorithm integrating and weighting more than 880 sources, including opinions from the international, national and regional press, ratings and rankings from recognized guidebooks as well as customer satisfaction from review websites. La Liste is above all a database that goes well beyond the 1,000 best restaurants in the world, with nearly 25,000 addresses in 200 countries all accessible from its mobile application available in nine languages. La Liste asserts itself as the world's leading selection of restaurants.

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SOURCE La Liste