World's 50 best restaurants of 2012

For the third year in a row, Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark, has been named the best restaurant in the world in 2012 by Restaurant magazine's The World's 50 Best Restaurants. The top North American restaurant went to Per Se, which rated number six.  Other U.S. restaurants included Chicago's Alinea, which was number 7, New York's Eleven Madison Par, which was 10, and Le Bernardin at 19, which is also in New York.

The list, released every year in April, is a selection of 50 of the world's best restaurants chosen by over 800 international restaurant industry experts throughout the course of the year.

The deciding "the best" can be a risky game, knowing that "best" relates to an individual's personal preference. And the magazine is fully aware of how personal taste plays into the selections, in fact, they encourage the judges' personal preference to influence their picks.

There is absolutely no criteria that a restaurant has to meet to make the list. They do not need to have been open a certain number of years and they do not need to have won any other culinary accolades. Restaurants cannot apply to be on the list, and they cannot be nominated. There can be no sponsorship or outside influences on the list.

The free-for-all style of balloting means that every restaurant in the world is eligible to win. As long as the restaurant has an operating kitchen, it's anyone's game.

Here is this year's list of the 50 best restaurants in the world:

1. Noma: Copenhagen, Denmark
2. El Celler De Can Roca: Gerona, Spain
3. Mugaritz: Errenteria, Spain
4. D.O.M.: Sao Paolo, Brazil
5. Osteria Francescana: Modena, Italy
6. Per Se: New York, New York
7. Alinea: Chicago, Illinois
8. Arzak: San Sebastian, Spain
9. Dinner By Heston Blumenthal: London, England
10. Eleven Madison Park: New York, New York
11. Steirereck, Austria
12. L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon, France
13. The Fat Duck, United Kingdom
14. The Ledbury, United Kingdom
15. Le Chateaubriand, France
16. L'Arpege, France
17. Pierre Gagnaire, France
18. L'Astrance, France
19. Le Bernardin, New York, New York
20. Frantzén/Lindeberg, Sweden
21. Oud Sluis, Netherlands
22. Aqua, Germany
23. Vendome, Germany
24. Mirazur, France
25. Daniel, New York
26. Iggy's, Singapore: Best Restaurant In Asia
27. Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan
28. Nihonryori RyuGin, Japan
29. Quay, Sydney, Australia
30. Schloss Schauenstein, Switzerland
31. Asador Etxebarri, Spain
32. Le Calandre, Italy
33. De Librije, Netherlands
34. Faviken, Sweden
35. Astrid Y Gaston, Peru
36. Pujol, Mexico
37. Momofuku Ssam Bar, New York
38. Biko, Mexico
39. Waku Ghin, Singapore
40. Quique Dacosta, Spain
41. Mathias Dahlgren, Sweden
42. Hof Van Cleve, Amsterdam
43. The French Laundry, California
44. Amber, China
45. Villa Joya, Portugal
46. Il Canto, Italy
47. Bras, France
48. Manresa, California
49. Geranium, Copenhagen
50. Nahm, Bangkok