World's 50 Best Restaurants 2017: Rumours and predictions

• What are we feeding the chefs on their visit to Australia?

It's not quite the Race That Stops A Nation, but for the incestuous world of food, the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards come close. And on Wednesday evening under the golden-domed ceiling of the Royal Exhibition Building, the close finish will erupt in hundreds of cheers and a thousand Instagram posts.

Meanwhile dozens of breathlessly relayed rumours are swirling among the pots and pans of the nation. There is, for example, huge buzz how many chefs Grant Achatz (from Chicago's Alinea) has brought with him – a sure sign of escalating ranking! Here's what else we have heard:

"Did you hear Redzepi and Chang aren't coming this year?"

Rene Redzepi is smart, he knows he's not a contender this year. Noma in Denmark (ranked number 5 on the 2016 list) has now closed, and will rise again late in 2017 in a different Copenhagen site. In the meantime, the Nordic chef is safely (or not so safely) ensconced in a spider-infested jungle in Tulum, Mexico, on his most recent pop-up since Noma Australia.

As for Dave Chang, his classiest joint, Momofuku Ko in New York, has just appeared in last week's released list of the 51 to 100, at 58. It's entirely conceivable he knows that, and will save himself a trip.

"It's going to be America's year"

Move over, Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana, say the rumourists, and make room for Daniel Humm and Will Guidara of New York's fine-dining temple Eleven Madison Park. It's currently placed number three, just a neck behind number two's El Celler de Can Roca of Girona, Spain – so why the jump?

Because of the voting system. Each member of the 1000-strong voting academy must vote for six local restaurants and four from outside their geographic zone that they have visited in the past 18 months. Last year, the World's 50 Best awards were held in New York, allowing unprecedented numbers of voter/attendees the necessary experience of dining on Humm's peekytoe crab with sea urchin, poached squab bondaged in zucchini strips, and celeriac braised within a pig's bladder.

For the same reason, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in the Pocatino Hills outside New York, should soar up from its ranking at 48 – putting the pig's heart pastrami, fried chicken feet and edible skate wing cartilage on Dan Barber's zero-waste "Grazing, Rooting, Pecking" menu on even more gastronomic bucket lists.

Not that we can complain, because we're hoping to see more of Australia's finest on next year's list as a result of this year's mass visitation of jurors.

"I heard Virgilio Martinez had it in the bag"

That would be cool. If the dazzling young chef of Central in Lima pulls off the big one, the international spotlight would shift to Peru, and Martinez would do for Latin America what Redzepi did for Scandinavia (i.e. make it the dining destination of the decade).

"They say Brae's going to pip Attica this year"

With both Brae at Birregurra and Attica in Ripponlea conspicuously missing from the 51 to 100, they're odds on to be in the top 50, with the smart money on Brae ranking the highest. Our fave expats, David Thompson (Nahm in Bangkok) and Brett Graham (the Ledbury in London), will also probably shift a few completely inconsequential places in the top 50.

Any dark horses?

In Paris, Yannick Alleno's Pavillon Ledoyen has been getting a lot of oxygen. Not that it appeared on the 51-100 list. But he has booked a room at QT Melbourne on April 5. Just sayin'.

A note of caution:

Every industry – be it architecture, theatre or banking – has its in crowd, and these are the Chosen Ones. They're all good, but you can't call this a definitive list of the World's Best when there are so many not there, such as Pascal Barbot's L'Astrance in Paris, Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in California, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall and the indisputably great Orana in Adelaide.

That said, Australia, let's just be the best hosts ever, and throw a bloody good party. Whatever happens, this Eurovision for foodies is going to be fun.