The coastal town of San Sebastián is spangled with no less than 17 Michelin Stars, and the Arzak family could well be considered its first family. The founding generation of Arzak restaurateurs broke ground on the current site in 1897, and fourth-generation chef Elena Arzak is now responsible for turning out their innovative Basque cuisine alongside her legendary father Juan Mari. arzak.es/en Shortlist: Mugaritz (Guipúzcoa), El Celler de Can Roca (Girona), Azurmendi (Larrabetzu)

France is no stranger to rarefied fine dining, but the increasingly influential ‘bitsronomy’ movement is delivering gourmet fare without the inaccessible price tag. Although trained under Alain Passard of vaunted L’Arpège, Bertrand Grébaut has gone on to exemplify this understated approach at his 11th Arrondissement bistro, where a four-course tasting menu of seasonal modern-French fare will set you back as little as €40. septime-charonne.fr/en/ Shortlist: L’Astrance, Garance, Benoit

Massimo Bottura has gone from a maverick of Italy’s dining scene to its darling. Bottuara’s audacious, food-as-art take on Italian cuisine – think a deconstructed lasagne plucked from his childhood memories – has kept Osteria Francescana hovering around the top of World’s 50 Best list for more than five years. Low key it is not, but to dine here is an experience as much as a meal. osteriafrancescana.it Shortlist: Le Calandre (Rubano), Reale (Castel di Sangro), Piazza Duomo (Alba)

Competition is fierce in noma’s hometown, so it’s fitting that a top contender is found in Copenhagen’s football stadium. Geranium’s co-owner Rasmus Kofoed is himself a champion, as the only chef to have claimed bronze, silver and gold in the Bocuse d’Or world chef championships, along with three Michelin Stars for his haute Scandinavian menu. Natural wines star in co-owner Søren Ledet’s pairings (with a juice option available), for a world-class meal that kicks goals. geranium.dk/en/ The shortlist: noma, Relæ, Restaurant AOC

Housed in a Baroque mansion on a refined boulevard once frequented by the wordsmith Alexander Pushkin, Café Pushkin is old-school Russian service personified. Try caviar for breakfast in the Pharmacy Hall, lunch on cold cuts and pickles overlooking the Boulevard on the Summer Terrace or linger late over pelmeni dumplings and baked sturgeon in the grand Library Hall. cafe-pushkin.ru/en/ Shortlist: White Rabbit, Selfie

From an idyllic estate near the Italian border where Ernest Hemingway supposedly penned A Farewell to Arms, chef Ana Roš has put Slovenia firmly on Europe’s foodie map. With husband Valter Kramer curating a wine list big on biodynamic Slovenian drops, Ana works with ingredients foraged from her kitchen garden and trout raised in ponds behind the restaurant, as well as produce from neighbouring Alpine farms and forests. hisafranko.com/en Shortlist: Gostilna pri Lojzetu (Vipava), Strelec (Ljubljana)

There is only one table in this Hamburg hotspot – a sinuous tongue of cherry wood curving around a gleaming open kitchen. Cosy up to your neighbours and enjoy the show as the chefs prepare an inventive prix-fixe menu plucking inspiration from everywhere between Mexico and Japan, pausing only to deliver perfectly plated dishes straight to your seat. thetable-hamburg.de Shortlist: Atelier (Munich), Nobelhart und Schmutzig (Berlin), Restaurant Tim Raue (Berlin)

Korean-born, Belgian-raised chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre proved himself as a butcher and sommelier before finding his place in the kitchens at the destination restaurant he runs with his wife Carine Nosal. Sit with views of the open kitchen and out over the fields where much of the restaurant’s produce grows, for experimental dishes showcasing bold flavour combinations and global influences befitting Degeimbre’s diverse background. airdutemps.be/en Hertog Jan (Bruges), The Jane (Antwerp), Hof van Cleve (Kruishoutem)

It’s a credit to chef Magnus Nilsson that his isolated restaurant, on a hunting estate just shy of the Arctic Circle, is on the bucketlist of affluent foodies the world over. Guests who make the pilgrimage are invited to visit the communal sauna pre-meal, to warm up for the hours-long odyssey of new-Nordic dishes inspired by traditional hunting, foraging and preservation techniques perfected in this ferocious landscape. favikenmagasinet.se/en Shortlist: Frantzen (Stockholm), Daniel Berlin (Skåne-Tranås), Vollmers (Malmö)

Get held captive by the modern-Dutch cuisine of Jonnie and Thérèse Boer at their landmark eatery in a transformed 18th-century prison. Diners are invited to choose four core dishes from a colour-coded selection determined by regional, seasonal produce, with a longer bespoke menu built around their picks by chef Jonnie and matching wines selected by sommelier Thérèse. librije.com Shortlist: De Leest (Vaassen), Inter Scaldes (Kruiningen)

When hospitality powerhouse José Avillez took over the 60-year-old Belcanto restaurant in historic Chiado a few years back, he quickly made it a Lisboa must-do for his fine-dining edits of rustic Portuguese cuisine – think sea bass topped with a jumble of seaweed or suckling pig with crispy potatoes. Also worth a stop is Avillez’ first venture, the laid-back Cantinho do Avillez, and the ambitious multi-venue Barrio Do Avillez. belcanto.pt/en Shortlist: L’AND Vineyards (Alentejo), Vila Joya (Albufeira), The Yeatman (Porto)

Raised in fields and kitchens by his farmer and restaurateur parents, chef Heinz Reitbauer is famed for his surpassing Austrian cuisine. As you work through his menus inside an angular glass structure in leafy Stadtpark, cards delivered with each dish explain the ingredients’ provenance – whether it’s one of 120 unusual herbs from the rooftop garden, produce from the family farm in mountainous Styria or rare citrus from Schönbrunn Palace’s orangery. steirereck.at/en Shortlist: Konstantin Filippou, Mraz & Sohn, Restaurant Ikarus (Salzburg)

A backstreet of ancient Keramikos is home to one of the most progressive restaurants in Greece. Venture through the unmarked door to experience the tongue-in-cheek, molecular gastronomy of chefs Georgianna Hiliadaki and Nikos Roussos, such as a snowy granita that reveals the feta, cucumber, tomatoes and olive flavours of a Greek salad, or a delicate serving of lamb’s brains entitled ‘Silence of the Lambs’. funkygourmet.com Shortlist: Spondi, Hytra

Discover there’s more to Polish cuisine than pierogi and cabbage with the experimental cooking of the country’s first Michelin-starred chef. Following ‘nature’s calendar’, Wojciech Modest Amaro reimagines traditional ingredients such as foraged berries and forest mushrooms in an elaborate progression of courses known as ‘moments’, paired with a wine list heavy on Polish spirits, liqueurs and meads. atelieramaro.pl Shortlist: Senses, Kieliszki na Próżnej

Dine like a blue blood inside a modest 12th-century castle in the miniscule medieval city of Fürstenau. From the moment you alight the staircase leading up to the famed destination restaurant in the Swiss Alps, chef Andreas Caminada’s team strive to provide once-in-a-lifetime experience – walking guests from one elegant room to another as they simultaneously move through a prix-fix menu of understated haute cuisine. schauenstein.ch Shortlist: Restaurant Focus (Vitznau), Restaurant Stucki (Basel), Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville (Crissier)