Spain takes No. 1 — three Japanese restaurants on the list.
Chef Mingoo Kang's Mingles was named No. 44 at the World's 50 Best Restaurants (W50B) ceremony held in Las Vegas, United States.
According to CNN on June 6 (local time), W50B placed Mingles at No. 44 in the world. The top spot went to a Spanish restaurant.
Alongside the Michelin Guide, W50B is one of the world's most authoritative gastronomy awards. The UK's William Reed Business Media has selected the world's 50 best restaurants every year since 2002. This is the first time a Korea-based restaurant has appeared on W50B — as opposed to its regional counterpart, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants (A50B), which is limited to Asian venues.
Mingles, in Seoul's Gangnam district, serves inventive Korean cooking rooted in traditional hansik technique. The English word "mingles" refers to bringing different things together in harmony.
Chef Kang wrote on Instagram: "It is all the more meaningful to be the first Korea-based restaurant on the World's Top 50. Above all, I'm delighted that Mingles is receiving such a meaningful award in the year of its 10th anniversary."
He added: "We'll keep facing forward, and be a restaurant that isn't afraid of steady challenge and change."
In March this year, Chef Kang published in New York a book about Korean jang titled Jang: The Soul of Korean Cooking.
On this year's W50B list, Barcelona's Disfrutar took No. 1, Spain's Asador Etxebarri No. 2, and Paris' Table by Bruno Verjus No. 3.
Two North American restaurants made this year's Top 50 — New York's Korean restaurant Atomix (No. 6) and California's SingleThread (No. 46) — while three Japanese restaurants placed high on the list: Sézanne (No. 15), Florilège (No. 21) and Den (No. 32), all in Tokyo.
W50B is selected by the UK trade magazine Restaurant and holds authority on a par with the Michelin Guide. Running since 2002, its selections are decided by the votes of a panel of 1,080 culinary experts.
· Original (Korean): biz.heraldcorp.com
