Last night the who’s who of SA foodies gathered in Camps Bay to eagerly anticipate the announcement of SA’s Top 10 restaurants at the annual Eat Out Dstv Food Network Restaurant Awards.
This year’s awards were a little different from previous years with the addition of some new categories.
Best Asian, Best Bistro, Best Italian, Best Coutry Style Restaurant and Best Steakhouse are amongst the new categories included to try and make the awards more extensive.
I’m not convinced these categories should be judged on a national level but it’s a great concept regionally. Kitima is a respected and fantastic restaurant, but is it reasonable to judge it The Best Asian restaurant in the whole country? Sentiments on Twitter also reflected this.
@bradell1
Good, but the best??Hmmm RT @food24: RT @Eat_Out: The award for Best Asian Restaurant goes to @_Kitima
The winners
Giorgio Nava’s 95 Keerom took Best Italian in SA while Bizerca claimed the Best Bistro mantle. The Local Grill franchise in Gauteng walked away with Best Steakhouse and The Table at De Meye took Best Country Style Restaurant. Makaron at Majeka House was awarded The Boschedal Style Award.
SA’s top restaurants
The Top Restaurant in the Country for 2011 is The Greenhouse with Peter Tempelhoff and his team getting well deserved recognition for their consistently amazing food and stunning eatery.
The very delicious Test Kitchen under Luke Dale-Roberts was runner-up, a superb achievement for a new restaurant.
Regular award winner The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais came in 3rd.
Chef of the Year unsurprisingly went to Luke Dale-Roberts and The Service Excellence Award to The Roundhouse.
Tokara?
Perhaps the biggest shock of the evening was the omission of Tokara from the Top 10. This will most certainly be ammunition for critics of these awards and how they are judged. Tokara was recently voted by Food24 readers as their favourite winelands restaurant. So to not even make the Top 10 must have been very disappointing to Richard Carstens and his team.
Abigail Donnelly’s positioning as the Anna Wintour of the South African restaurant scene will no doubt come under some fierce criticism in foodie circles.
Comments on Twitter included:
@Annelizevdm
#EatOutawards Can’t believe Tokara not in top 10. Again where is the credibility?
@RoelievH
And the no credibilty award goes to Abigail Donnelly #eatoutawards @samwilson1 @food24 @Eat_Out
The inclusion of only one non-Western Cape restaurant, DW Eleven-13, in the Top 10 will also be questioned. Although in my opinion that argument is getting a little tired. It’s time somebody injected a bit of life into the Jozi restaurant scene.
Perhaps David Higgs will be that chef.
The Top 10 restaurants in South Africa are:
1. The Greenhouse
2. The Test Kitchen
3. The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français
4. The Roundhouse
5. Overture
6. Terroir
7. DW Eleven-13
8. Jordan Restaurant
9. Nobu
10. La Colombe
A huge congratulations to all the restaurants and chefs!