World's Most Beautiful Dishes

By Food & Wine
Updated May 09, 2017
Photo courtesy of Combal.Zero
Stunning otherworldly dishes from restaurants like Denmark's Noma and Italy's Combal.Zero.
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Mugaritz; Errenteria, Spain

Photo courtesy of Mugaritz
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Dish: Red Fruits From the Garden

A year's worth of experimentation went into Andoni Luis Aduriz's voluminous edible bubbles, made with sun-ripened berries and beetroot. The Michelin-two-starred Mugaritz was destroyed by a kitchen fire earlier this year, but Aduriz plans to reopen it this summer.

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Le Bernardin, New York City

Photo © Michael Turek
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Dish: White Tuna Poached in Olive Oil

Seafood genius Eric Ripert juxtaposes the high and low in this playful dish of white tuna poached in olive oil, topped with delicate sea beans, crispy potato chips and a light red-wine béarnaise sauce.

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Alinea, Chicago

Photography by Lara Kastner, Courtesy of Alineabook.com
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Dish: Heart of Palm

At Alinea in Chicago, the always-forward-thinking Grant Achatz (an F&W Best New Chef 2002) serves hearts of palm stuffed with five different fillings—from vanilla pudding to truffle-pumpernickel puree—on five separate pedestals.

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French Laundry; Yountville, California

Photo © Deborah Jones
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Dish: Confit of Moulard Duck "Foie Gras"

This new dish by chef de cuisine Timonthy Hollingsworth at the renowned French Laundry combines carefully shaved frozen foie gras with pickled huckleberries and blossoms from the restaurant's garden.

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Jean Georges, New York City

Photo courtesy of Jean Georges Management
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Dish: Eggs Caviar

Jean-Georges Vongerichten's elegant Eggs Caviar offers buttery, soft-scrambled eggs served in the shell, topped with whipped cream and a spoonful of caviar.

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Eleven Madison Park, New York City

Photo courtesy of Eleven Madison Park
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Dish: Royal Sterling Caviar "Vichyssoise" of Caraquet Oysters

Daniel Humm (an F&W Best New Chef 2005) of Eleven Madison Park juxtaposes extravagance (caviar pearls, oyster gelée) with classic French comfort food (a vichyssoise of potatoes and leeks)—all inside an oyster.

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El Bulli; Roses, Spain

Photo © Francesc Guillamet
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Dish: Snails on a Tin

At the much-celebrated El Bulli on the Catalonian coast, Ferran Adria; continually pushes food boundaries with dishes like Snails on a Tin. Adria; surprised the food world earlier this year by announcing that he would close his restaurant in December 2011.

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Noma, Copenhagen

Photo © Cullinaire Saisonnier
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Dish: Glazed beetroot with smoked ox-bone marrow, apples and sorrel, beetroot sauce

At the Michelin-two-starred Noma, René Redzepi's fierce devotion to regional ingredients like Nordic musk ox and beetroot from Sweden's Gotland island are on display in brilliant dishes like this one, composed of intensely flavored discs.

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The Bazaar by José Andrés, Los Angeles

Photo © Darko Zagar
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Dish: Mussels en Escabeche

At the Bazaar by José Andrés, mussels marinated in smoky pimentón-accented vinegar are served in a tin can, as an ode to Spain's excellent canned escabeche (seafood preserved in vinegar).

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Manresa; Los Gatos, California

Photo © Mark Holthusen
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Dish: L'Arpège farm egg

At Manresa, David Kinch pays homage to the iconic farm-egg dish at Paris's L'Arpège: egg yolk poached in its shell with sherry vinegar, cream, and maple syrup. Among Kinch's twists: He accents it with Tasmanian pepper.

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Aronia de Takazawa, Tokyo

Photo courtesy of Aronia de Takazawa
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Dish: Fish with Powdery Dressing

At his two-table restaurant, Yoshiaki Takazawa's complex, almost theatrical dishes includes one that mimics falling snow: a piece of yellowtail, mountain vegetables and edible lily bulbs are served tableside with a dressing chilled so low—minus 328 degrees Fahrenheit—that it takes on a powdery texture that steams on contact.

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Combal.Zero; Rivoli, Italy

Photo courtesy of Combal.Zero
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Dish: Cyber Egg

The innovative Davide Scabin is known for conceptual dishes like the Cyber Egg: caviar and poached egg in a plastic bubble, served with an X-acto knife.

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