Joan Roca, one of the two brothers who runs the Girona eatery Celler de Can Roca – and who had won Best Chef in 2018 and 2017 – came second, and Dabiz Muñoz (who also spells his name as 'David' Muñoz), the brains behind the Michelin-starred Madrid restaurant DiverXO, came third for the third time running.
The USA's Grant Achatz came fourth, whilst joint fifth was taken by Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas and Eduard Xatruch, the chefs who dish up the goods at Barcelona locale Disfruta.
Disfruta Restaurant also won The Best Chef City Gourmet Award.
Overall winner was Sweden's Björn Frantzen.
The Top 100 Best Chef Awards was first held in 2017, and is a global prizegiving ceremony with a difference: instead of a panel of judges making the decision as to who walks away with the trophies in the nine categories, professionals in the culinary world nominate each other.
Joan Roca's brother, co-owner of El Celler, won Best Pastry Chef at the awards which took place at Barcelona University.
For Björn, yesterday's prizegiving was a momentous occasion – in 2017, he only came 44th out of the 100 nominees and, although he soared to fourth place last year, was not expecting to even reach the podium, let alone win an award that officially means he is the top chef on the planet.
The ex-footballer runs the three-Michelin starred Frantzen Restaurant in Stockholm.
Out of the total of 100 haute cuisine chefs nominated, 18 were French, 12 were Italian and 12 were Spanish.
Finalists from Spain in the top 100 for the first time were Víctor Arguinzoniz and the three fifth-placed chefs at Disfruta.
This year, a new category – The Legend Award – was introduced, and went to 78-year-old Austrian chef Eckart Witzigmann in recognition of his lifetime's work in front of a hot stove and his promotion of fine food via the various books he has published.
Britain's Daniel Watkins took Best Chef Best FoodArt Award, France's Gregoire Berger won Best Chef Fol-LOVERS, and Perú's Pía León, one of the few women among the 100, was awarded Best Chef Rising Star.
El Celler de Can Roca, which has three Michelin stars, was named World's Best Restaurant twice – in 2013 and 2015 – and has never left the World's 50 Best Restaurants list.
Dabiz Muñoz's DiverXO also has three Michelin stars and is one of two the third-Best Chef owns in Madrid, the other being the less-formal StreetXO.
He has opened a branch in London in the last few years and, in 2020, plans to start trading in Dubai.
Photograph (left to right): Dabiz Muñoz, Björn Frantzen and Joan Roca
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