A part of the team of Noma at The World's 50 Best Restaurants ceremony in Antwerp, Belgium

Restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark was crowned World 50 Best Restaurant for 2021. René Redzepi and his team crowned a spectacular year for them amid what has been the hardest 18 months of the restaurant industry when they regained the title they had won four times in their former location.

After clinching a third Michelin star a few weeks ago this will be a year to remember for Rene Redzepi and his 79 team members. At a press conference after the event, Redzepi said the secret of this success was

Geranium, another restaurant in Copenhagen clinched second spot confirming the rise and rise of Nordic cuisine which started with Noma more than 20 years. In third place was Spanish restaurant Extebarri.

Noma will exit the list for good. "Thank you for the wild ride and goodbye," where René's final words at the event. The restaurant will no longer be eligible to compete for the top place.

The spotlight of the food world was on the Belgian city of Antwerp for the first physical event of the World's 50 Best Restaurants since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of the chefs of the world's top restaurants, the most influential food writers as well as influencers made it to this idyllic port city known for diamonds, fashion and maybe now also gastronomy.

The day preceding the awards, the outage of Facebook, Instagram may have created some panic but that was soon forgotten in the myriad of events, spontaneous meetings and gatherings that took place. Gone was the apprehension. For a few days at least, it seemed like the pandemic was past.

This was the first World's 50 Best Restaurants activity since the pandemic. The event which had to take place in June 2020 was cancelled.

William Drew said that the list is was compiled from votes of over 1,000 voters. These submitted their votes for the 2020 list (which was not published) and were also able to then submit an updated votes with more local preferences earlier this year.

That has meant that Mauro Colagreco of Restaurant Mirazur has been World's No one for two years. He now enters the Hall of Fame or Best of the Best with the previous winners including Joan Roca, Ferran Adria, Rene Redzepi, Massimo Bottura, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller and Daniel Humm.

Some of the members of the Best of the Best were called on stage including Mauro Colagreco who celebrated his birthday yesterday and his wife Julia.

A number of awards had already been assigned earlier. These included Pia Leon as the Female Chef of 2021, Ikoji as the restaurant to watch and Dominique Crenn winner of the Icon Award 2021.

William Drew also named the restaurants that would have made the list had the list been published last year. These have closed for various reasons. The restaurants were The Ledbury, Tickets, Enigma (which will reopen next year), Faviken, Relae, 108, Chambre Séparée, Gaggan, Alain Ducasse's Plaza Athenee and The Test Kitchen.

In general this was a triumph for Copenhagen with two restaurants in the top two positions Spain also did incredibly well with six restaurants in the top 50 and two in the first five positions. The US also has six restaurants in the list. Italy has four entries with the highest ranked being Lido 84, the restaurant by the Camanini brothers at Lago di Garda in 16th place.

Wolfgat entered into the list for the first time in 50th position and also clinched the title for best restaurant in Africa.

But it was also the night of the Peruvian couple Pia Leon and Virgilio Martinez. With three restaurants in the top 100, they are really putting Peru in the spotlight. Pia Leon was also female chef of the year and Central placed in fourth position.

1. Noma, Copenhagen,

2. Geranium, Copenhagen, Denmark

3. Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain

4. Central, Lima, Peru

5. Disfrutar, Barcelona,

6. Frantzen, Stockholm, Sweden

7. Maido, Lima, Peru

8. Odette, Singapore, Best restaurant in Asia

9. Pujol, Mexico City, Mexico

10. The Chairman, Hong Kong, Asia Highest climber award

11. Den, Tokyo, Japan

12. Steirereck, Vienna, Austria (Art of Hospitality award)

13. Don Julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina

14. Mugaritz, San Sebastián, Spain

15. Lido 84, Gardone Riviera, Italy (Highest New Entry)

16. Elkano, Getaria, Spain

17. A Casa do Porco, São Paulo, Brazil

18. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy

19. Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan

20. DiverXo, Madrid, Spain

21. Hiša Franko, Kobarid, Slovenia

22. Cosme, New York, United States

23. Arpège, Paris, France

24. Septime, Paris, France

25. White Rabbit, Moscow, Russia

26. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy

27. Quintonil, Mexico City, Mexico

28. Benu, San Francisco. United States

29. Reale, Castel di Sangro, Italy

30. Twins Garden, Moscow, Russia

31. Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin, Germany

32. The Clove Club, London, UK

33. Lyle's London, UK

34. Burnt Ends, Singapore (New Entry)

35, Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet, Shanghai, China

36. Hof Van Cleve Kruishoutem, Belgium

37. Singlethread, California, United States (New Entry)

38. Borago, Santiago, Chile (Sustainability award)

39. Florilege, Tokyo, Japan (New Entry)

40. Suhring Bangkok, Thailand

41. Allen's Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris, France

42. Belcanto, Lisbon, Portugal

43. Atomix, New York, USA (New Entry)

44. Le Bernardin, New York, USA

45. Nobelhart and Schmutzig, Berlin, Germany (New Entry)

46. Leo, Bogota, Colombia

47. Maemo, Oslo, Norway

48. Atelier Crenn, San Francisco, USA

49. Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Spain

50. Wolfgang, Paternoster, South Africa (New entry) Best restaurant in Africa