The contemporary New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park was crowned 2017's winner of the annual World's 50 Best Restaurants list, only the second US establishment to win the influential if controversial award.

Run by Swiss-born chef Daniel Humm in a lavish art deco building in the eye-wateringly expensive Flatiron District, the restaurant beat the 2016 winner, Italy's Osteria Francescana, into second place.

Spain's El Celler De Can Roca came third and New York's famed French-born Dominique Ansel -- who created the "cronut" donut and croissant fusion -- won best pastry chef.

The highest-ranking French restaurant, Mirazur -- in the Riviera town of Menton -- came fourth a year after French chefs protested the list's paucity of talent from the country famed for gastronomy.

"I don't know how I feel right now but I'm overjoyed," said an emotional Humm, who was praised for his multi-course fine dining menu celebrating New York's rich history and culinary traditions.

"I'm so proud to be up here," he told the glitzy ceremony in Melbourne, Australia. "When I first started cooking 25 years ago, I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I'd find myself in this position."

Eleven Madison Park, where an eight-to-10 course tasting menu costs $295 per head -- excluding wine and taxes -- is the first American restaurant to head the list since California's French Laundry in 2004.

Humm's restaurant also has three Michelin stars -- considered the most prestigious honor in the world of fine dining -- and came third on the World's 50 list last year.

In a city packed with high-end restaurants, reservations may be relatively obtainable but all bookings are pre-paid.‍

(Source: AFP)