Coi, French Laundry Named to World's 50 Best Restaurants

The San Pellegrino list of the world's 100 best restaurants is responsible for making stars out of everyone from Massimo Bottura to Alex Atala, but other than perennial favorite French Laundry (#44, up from #47 last year), Bay Area restaurants have had a hard time cracking the list. Happily, that's not the case this year, as Daniel Patterson's Coi has joined the elite Top 50 for the first time, squeaking in at #49. And another upscale local restaurant is poised to make an appearance if things continue on the current trajectory: Saison was named by the group as their "One to Watch" for 2014, and ranked at #69. Meanwhile, Manresa (#64) and The Restaurant at Meadowood (#80) continue to climb the ranks.

Elsewhere on the globe, Copenhagen's Noma reclaimed its crown as the world's best restaurant this year, swapping spots with last year's winner, El Celler de Can Roca. Bottura's Osteria Francescana came in third, NYC's Eleven Madison Park in fourth, and the U.K.'s Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in fifth. Alinea, Le Bernardin, Per Se, and Daniel were the other U.S. restaurants to score spots in the top 50.

Here's the top 10:

1. Noma, Denmark
2. El Celler De Can Roca, Spain
3. Osteria Francescana, Italy
4. Eleven Madison Park, New York
5. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, U.K.
6. Mugaritz, Spain
7. D.O.M., Brazil
8. Arzak, Spain
9. Alinea, Chicago
10. The Ledbury, U.K.

· Here's the World's 50 Best Restaurants 2014 List [~ ESF ~]