Beyond the Plate: Hallmarks of the World’s Best Restaurants

In William Drew’s world, dining transcends plating and consuming a meal; it’s a carefully curated experience that tells a story. From the rise of immersive dining to the balance between presentation, service, and sustainability, he sees the evolution of restaurants as a reflection of both creativity and responsibility. Whether it’s a plate designed for an Instagram moment or a beachside seafood feast, the core remains the same: it’s an experience that resonates and stays with you.

As Director of Content for the 50 Best and a journalist with over two decades of experience, William has seen it all in the world of food, dining, and style. His insights into the art of dining go beyond food. How presentation influences perception, how a genuine commitment to sustainability makes an impact, and how diners today are shaping what’s considered ‘the best’ – we explore these ideas and more with William in this exclusive interview.

Read More: MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants Revealed

In your view, what makes a restaurant stand out as one of the world’s best today?

It’s about creating a truly memorable experience for guests, whether that be through simplicity and warmth or in the form of an extended immersive gastronomic experience. The establishments that make it onto The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list tend to have a clear narrative and are exceptional in their delivery. They consistently push boundaries, offering not just outstanding cuisine, but a journey that resonates deeply with diners on multiple levels.

What is a ‘perfect meal’ from what you’ve seen worldwide over the past few years?

What constitutes a ‘perfect meal’ is personal and unique to the individual – as everyone has their preferences, the idea of an exceptional hospitality experience differs from person to person.

This is why we place such strong emphasis on the expertise and credibility of our anonymous voters in our selection process for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. We work with an extensive Voting Academy of more than 1,000 international restaurant industry experts, and so what constitutes as ‘best’ – or a ‘perfect meal’ – is up to each voter to decide.

Of course, the quality of food is going to be central, as is the service – but the style of both, the surroundings, atmosphere and indeed the price level are each more or less important for each different individual.

When choosing where to eat, what do you personally look for now that you didn’t ten years ago?

I am always interested in anything I haven’t experienced before, so in that sense, nothing has changed!

You’ve eaten at many of the world’s top restaurants — is there one meal that truly changed how you think about food?

There are so many, that it is difficult to pinpoint just one: my first (and only) visit to El Bulli before it closed; the multi-sensory experience at Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet in Shanghai; the exceptional culinary story-telling at Eleven Madison Park in New York; eating fresh seafood on the beach in Melbourne, Australia… It’s been – and continues to be – a privilege to have access to some of the most extraordinary dining experiences in the world.

Diners today often look for ‘Instagrammable’ moments. How much do you think presentation and setting now influence how we judge a restaurant?

Whilst we’ve seen a trend of consumers prioritising such moments more in recent years, presentation and setting have always been a key part of the dining experience. (Indeed, if your brain thinks the food looks good, it will taste better.) It is the overall experience that is reflected in our Voting Academy’s choices when they cast their votes for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants lists. While they have no set voting criteria, presentation and setting will undeniably be taken into account for their voting decisions, just as it would be for diners across the globe.

As a diner, how do you differentiate between genuine sustainability champions and those leveraging the concept as a trend or buzzword?

At 50 Best, we are proud of our work in helping shine a light on individuals and teams who are going above and beyond to use food as a positive force in society. There are so many of them – and part of our job is to help promote them and their amazing initiatives through the Champions of Change Awards and more.

But our aim is not only to recognise talent, it is also about creating credible resources for consumers. 50 Best has been working with the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) as its Sustainability Audit Partner since 2013 to ensure the ‘sustainability champion’ labels ring true. The SRA uses its industry-recognised, hospitality-specific sustainability accreditation tool to judge the winner of the Sustainable Restaurant Awards.

The SRA works to accelerate change towards an environmentally restorative and socially progressive hospitality sector. It defines venues’ sustainability using its holistic 10-pronged framework and assesses their performance across three core areas: Sourcing, Society and Environment.