There’s one thing in life you literally can’t survive without that never gets boring: food. No matter how many brilliant meals you’ve eaten in the past, properly good food never disappoints, and luckily a lot of people have dedicated their entire lives to perfecting the craft.
The World Culinary Awards – aka the restaurant Oscars – has a mission to ‘celebrate and reward’ those people and their projects. It’s the sister of the broader World Travel Awards, which has been going since 1994 and does the exact same thing but for the travel and tourism industries, and is now in its sixth year of life.
‘The culinary community, industry experts and consumers’ are all welcome to vote in the awards, and the winners are announced at a glitzy annual ceremony. There are dozens of categories ranging from standard things like ‘World’s Best Indian Restaurant’ to more esoteric awards like ‘World’s Best Underwater Restaurant’. Of course, the big one is ‘World's Best Restaurant’.
This year, the top prize went to Le Calandre. This fine-dining spot is one of several restaurants created by Max Alajmo, who was at one point the youngest chef ever to earn three Michelin stars. According to Calandre’s website, ‘lightness, depth of flavor and fluidity make up the foundation of Max's cuisine’, principles which are present in all three of its tasting menus.
You can choose between a three, four, or five-course experience when you dine in La Calandre, and pick either the standard menu, which remains constant, or one of two seasonal options called ‘Max’ and ‘Raf’.
The easiest way to describe the food here is as ‘modern Italian’, but that really doesn’t do it justice. Your meal won’t just be tasty, it will be an entire experience paired with wine and a ‘multisensory’ dining room. Tasting menus start at €300, but you can also order à la carte, starting at €120 for three dishes per person and going up to five for €250.
La Calandre is one of three Alajmo restaurants in Padua, an underrated city in northern Italy. It’s not far from Venice, and is home to some gorgeous architecture as well as a thirteenth-century basilica, but is often overlooked by tourists. If you do end up stopping by to try out La Calandre, make sure to put a couple of days aside to explore its hometown too.
You can have a look at the rest of the winners from the World Culinary Awards on its website here.
These are officially Europe’s happiest cities in 2025, according to locals
Plus: Here are the European Christmas markets most likely to see snow this year
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.