World's 50 Best Restaurants 2021: Brae and Attica named in top 100 longlist

Victoria's much-awarded Attica and Brae restaurants have been recognised in the world's top 100 by The World's 50 Best Restaurants, which has released its longlist after a year-long hiatus due to the pandemic.

The announcement of the longlist has dashed hopes of either restaurant appearing in the top 50, to be announced in October, but Australia's other likely contender Quay may still make a showing.

Birregurra's destination-diner Brae came in at 57, a return to form after being placed at 101 in the (longer) 2019 list of 120 restaurants. Coming in at No. 97 was Ben Shewry's Attica, located in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea.

This year's list has been compiled by votes that were cast in January 2020, with members given the chance to review their votes in March 2021.

Shewry was philosophical about the accolade.

"For me, I just run a restaurant exactly how I want to, always, and if people appreciate it I'm grateful," he said. The restaurant, which showcases native Australian ingredients, has appeared in the rankings every year since 2013, peaking at No. 20 in 2018.

Pat Nourse, who chairs the Australia & New Zealand voting panel of the World's 50 Best Academy, says Brae and Attica each tell a unique story "about a sense of place and the people who run them."

"And above all they're delicious and fun and exciting places to be."

Over the past eight years, Brae chef Dan Hunter and his team have expanded their ambitions of running a truly sustainable restaurant, establishing a farm at the Otways property to grow wheat, grain, olives, fruit, vegetables and native Australian ingredients. The restaurant also relies on rainwater while on-site accommodation is designed to be emissions neutral.

The return of the World's 50 Best while most Australian fine-diners are operating under strict lockdown restrictions has cast the list in a particularly strange light this year. But one silver lining is that Australian diners will have their pick of the seats at Brae and Attica when they do re-open, given international tourists will be absent until sometime in 2022.

Another bonus is the discounted room rates Brae is offering during October, while Melbourne and parts of Victoria are in lockdown and the pool of guests is vastly diminished. For its part, Attica is working on a temporary concept for its reopening that "might be a combination of things we've done in the past," says Shewry.

The World's 50 Best will announce the top 50 on October 5 at a live ceremony in Antwerp, Belgium, with the event streamed live on the 50 Best Facebook and YouTube channels.

The current No. 1 is Mirazur on France's Cote d'Azur, led by Mauro Colagreco. In a change to the rules in 2019 designed to ensure more diversity in the rankings, once a restaurant has been named the world No. 1, it becomes ineligible to appear on the list at all. That means Noma could still take out the top spot, as it has only ranked at No.2 since dusting off its renovated dining room in February 2018.