Mérito and Mil were chosen among the 100 best restaurants in the world in the run-up to The World’s 50 Best 2024

The city of Las Vegas, in the United States, will be the setting where the 2024 edition of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, the list that selects the best restaurants in the world and that, last year, crowned the Peruvian Central at the top. But before that, as is tradition, the expanded list was revealed with the establishments that were located between positions 100 and 51.

Unlike 2023, a year in which there was only 1 Peruvian restaurant between positions 100 and 51, this time there are two chosen on this list. In addition to Mérito, which once again remains in this ranking, Mil, the bet of Pía León and Virgilio Martínez in the city of Cusco, was added.

Mérito, which is directed by Venezuelan chef Juan Luis Martínez, achieved an improvement in its location, going from the 59th position it obtained in 2023 to the 55th position this year.

“Mérito is a favorite of Lima’s already thriving gastronomic scene, where Venezuelan chef Juan Luis Martínez combines his roots with Peruvian influences. Although the menu changes regularly, you can find dishes such as the yucca root quesadilla with goat cheese or the scallop tiradito. This small two-story restaurant, located in the trendy gastronomic district of Barranco, also has a brilliant cocktail menu,” describes the organization of The World’s 50 Best on its official website.

The second Peruvian restaurant on this list is Mil, which is positioned in position 73 and, in this way, returns to the ranking after being in position 44 in 2022.

“Located at an elevated 3,600 meters above sea level, near the mysterious Inca ruins of Moray, in the Sacred Valley, it takes a little while to visit Virgilio Martínez’s second Peruvian restaurant. Mil is an Andean microcosm of Lima’s iconic Central, but instead of using ingredients from across the nation, it sources strictly from the ecosystem that surrounds the restaurant. The anthropologists on Mil’s team foster relationships with close-knit indigenous communities and together they plant, grow and harvest sustainable tubers, corn, legumes, cocoa and Andean herbs. All of this comes together in chef Luis Valderrama’s innovative eight-course tasting menu,” the restaurant is reviewed in the ranking.

Check here the complete list of restaurants ranked between 100 and 51 in The World’s 50 Best 2024.