The World's 50 best restaurants, the most important gastronomic event in the world, arrives in Italy for the first time

The Oscars of catering, the professionals call them, but no one would ever have thought that the Oscars of World's 50 Best Restaurants they would one day be assigned to Italy, and more precisely to Turin. And instead, one of the two events capable of keeping chefs in suspense for an entire year – the other is the presentation of the Michelin Guide, naturally – arrives in our country for the first time, and it is sensational news, not only for professionals.

The World's 50 Best Restaurants, which brings together everything that matters in the world of restaurants in the ranking, is in fact capable of shifting gastronomic interests like nothing else (and the wallets of those who want to try the trendiest restaurants) from one continent to another other. The last time, in Valencia, the top of the ranking had fallen to Peruwith Lima's Central rising to number one in 2024. It will not be repeated, because the rule dictates that the winners – among which there was also our Massimo Bottura – end up in a “hall of fame”, a ranking in the ranking, and cannot compete the following year.

This year, therefore, it will probably be Spain's turn, which currently occupies second and third place respectively with the Disfrutar of Barcelona and the DiverXO of Madrid. We will know for sure next June 5th, when the new World's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony will be held in Las Vegasright before it goes around the globe and arrives in Italy, in Turin, for the first time in 2025.

In fact, it was announced in recent days – well in advance of the usual times, which require the end of one ceremony before the announcement of the next – the assignment of the most important gastronomic event in the world to the Piedmontese capital, which will seize it with a millionaire investment (just over two million euros, it seems) and which hopes for a much greater return, with an immediate impact on the territory estimated at over five million.

What is certain is that, after the editions in Antwerp, London and Valencia, and the next one in the United StatesItaly is playing a rather important game in gastronomic and tourist terms, hosting for the first time in history the leading event for all chefs and global catering experts. The visibility is enormous: in Turin, during the days of the World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, they will arrive hundreds of international chefs, the most prestigious names in a sector that moves a lot in economic terms and tourism promotion. But not only that: together with them, the protagonists of the event will be the 1,080 international experts in the catering sector (journalists, gourmets, critics) who make up the jury that votes every year to rank gastronomic addresses from all over the world.

It goes without saying that for the Italian restaurant industry this is an unmissable opportunity, that is, the possibility of having those who vote at home, taking advantage of it to let them try the restaurants of the Bel Paese, and perhaps to make them rise in the rankings. Which would be appropriate, given that Italian chefs need to climb a few positions: among the top fifty places we currently find Enrico Crippa (42), the Alajmo family (41), Mauro Uliassi (34) and Niko Romito (16), as well as Lido 84the restaurant in Gardone Riviera led by chef Riccardo Camanini, who is the highest ranked Italian, in seventh position.

So, Turin 2025 is the Olympic opportunity for all of them, and also for all the others (Enrico Bartolini, for example, is currently “only” in eighty-fifth position, so there is plenty of room for growth). The important thing, as for any self-respecting Olympics, is to prepare in time, and play in advance: there is a year ahead, then Italy will be under the spotlight of international catering, and will have to give its best performance.