Header: Chefs of The World's 50 Best Restaurants celebrating at San Mamés football stadium after the 2018 awards ceremony
The global gathering of the gastronomic community that is The World's 50 Best Restaurants took place this year in the Basque Country of Spain, with an event programme that took in cooking demos, conversations on food and art, outstanding bites from the local chefs and, of course, the awards ceremony and countdown. The programme culminated in the announcement of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, as The World's Best Restaurant 2018, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. Check out some of the picture highlights.
#50BestTalks: Life Cycle
The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2018 events programme kicked off with a special edition of #50BestTalks, presented by Miele, held at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastian, Biscay, on Sunday 17th June, with an impressive line-up of chef speakers. Paul Pairet, chef-owner of the avant-garde Shanghai restaurant Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet, discussed the notion of psychotaste and the multisensory dining experience in front of an audience of media, foodies and chefs.
Christina Tosi's cookies
As part of #50BestTalks: Life Cycle, Milk Bar founder and US MasterChef judge Christina Tosi baked her famous Confetti Cookies on stage in a Miele oven, while she discussed her career and her experiences in the kitchen with 50 Best group editor William Drew. The audience also got a taste of the cookies. Catch up on the full event of #50BestTalks on Facebook.
The World's 50 Best Restaurants press conference
On Monday 18th June, a special press conference was hosted by The World's 50 Best Restaurants and the Government of Biscay at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The speakers, including The World's Best Female Chef 2017 Ana Ros and Basque cook Eneko Atxa, discussed the impact of 50 Best on the culinary world, the platform that the awards provide for chefs and the meaning of 50 Best's global tour for gastronomic destinations worldwide.
Food meets Art
Following the press conference, a group of world-famous chefs, artists and designers discussed the theme 'Food meets Art: how the culinary and artistic worlds collide', presented by S.Pellegrino, at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Featuring architect Giulio Cappellini, chefs Alain Passard and Massimo Bottura and artist Joana Vasconcelos, the conversation included reflections on the chef as an artist and the inspiration that both disciplines draw on. Watch the full event of Food meets Art on Facebook.
Gastronomic lunch
A gastronomic lunch with a menu created by chef Josean Alija of Nerua was offered to the guests of Food meets Art, presented by S.Pellegrino. Here, a cook prepares 'chlorophyll bubbles and lágrima peas', a dish inspired by the bubbles of S.Pellegrino's new edition of water bottle designs, created by international designers.
Chefs' Feast
The traditional celebration on the eve of the awards, the Chefs' Feast, took place this year in the main square of the village of Axpe in the Atxondo Valley, near Bilbao. Chefs on the list from all over the world attended the open-air celebration, which featured traditional Basque sports and entertainment, as well as a plenty of food prepared by the local chefs.
Basque bites by Victor Arguinzoniz
Local chef Victor Arguinzoniz of Asador Extebarri took a place at the grill to cook for his fellow chefs, preparing a variety of Basque snacks including chorizo sandwich, cured anchovies and txistorra sausages.
Local chefs at the feast
All the chefs from the Basque Country, including Eneko Atxa of Azurmendi in Larrabetzu and Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz in San Sebastian, attended the Chefs' Feast to celebrate in their country's style.
Red carpet arrivals
The team of Den in Tokyo, Japan, was excited to arrive at The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2018 awards ceremony at the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao the evening of Tuesday 19th June. Den went on to win the Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Lavazza, jumping up 28 places in the list from 2017 to 2018.
No.1s 'chelfie'
Before the countdown started, the chef-owners of three previous No.1 restaurants in the list (Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana, Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park and Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca) took the occasion to snap a chef selfie – or a chelfie.
50 Best BBVA Scholarship 
Aspiring Taiwanese chef Jessie Liu, the winner of the first ever 50 Best BBVA Scholarship, collected her award on stage. Liu will have the opportunity to undertake stages at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain, and subsequently at Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, USA, from June until September.
Miele One To Watch 2018
Kyle and Katina Connaughton of SingleThread in Healdsburg, USA, received the award for the restaurant, selected as the Miele One To Watch 2018.
elit Vodka World's Best Female Chef 2018
Clare Smyth, chef-owner of Core by Clare Smyth in London, UK, collected her trophy as the elit Vodka World's Best Female Chef 2018 and gave an inspiring speech on the topic of equality in the kitchen.
The Diners Club Lifetime Achievement Award
Chef Gaston Acurio flew all the way from Lima, Peru (where his restaurant Astrid y Gaston is located) to Bilbao to receive his Diners Club Lifetime Achievement Award and spoke on stage about how cooking can unite communities across the world.
The World's Best Restaurant
Finally, the moment came for the No.1 to be announced and it was Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore who jumped on the stage to collect the awards for Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, voted The World's Best Restaurant 2018, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.
All the winners
The incredible community of chefs in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2018 got on stage for the biggest chef picture of the year. Congratulations to everyone!
Now watch the highlights from The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2018 awards ceremony and stay tuned for more videos, coming soon:
With thanks to all our sponsors: the Government of Biscay, S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, Miele, elit Vodka, BBVA, Diners Club International, Ferrari Trento, Lavazza, The Dalmore, Grana Padano, Estrella Damm, Beronia, Sosa, Dekton by Cosentino, Aspire Lifestyles, Cinco Jotas, Gin Mare, Open Table, Seafood from Norway, Seedlip, Calia and Jaén Selección. Additional thanks go to our independent adjudicator, Deloitte, to our sustainability audit partner, the Sustainable Restaurant Association, and to our charity partner, Farm Africa.
Find all the news, photos and videos from the brand new list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.
