It feels like we’ve just congratulated the 20 finalists for the Eat Out Awards 2011 for the best restaurants in the Western Cape, oops sorry, South Africa. Now, a week before the Eat Out Top 10 finalists are announced in Cape Town we’re also slapping the backs of the Fleur du Cap Top 10 Places to Eat Cape Town 2011.
The Top 10 were shortlisted from the Top 100 Places to Eat Cape Town – a list compiled by Spill’s Clare Mack.
Headed up by Mack, the judging panel included food writer and judge Anna Trapido; Jos Baker, a judge on the S.Pellegrino Awards panel and an associate editor of Platter’s Wine Guide and Bianca Coleman, Cape Town based wine writer and food columnist.
The Top 10 restaurants as announced last night are (in alphabetical order):
95 Keerom
Aubergine
Bizerca
Dear Me
The Foodbarn
The Greenhouse
Hemelhuijs
The Planet Restaurant
Societi Bistro
The Test Kitchen
Judging criteria?
There are no listed criteria on the Spill blog as to how the restaurants were selected to be in the Top 100, and from there how the judges selected the Top 10. So, how was the popularity of these restraurants gauged?
The Eat Out final top 20 list is judged by Abigail Donnelly alone who, according to Eat Out, received input from a panel of professional reviewers across the country, as well as customers who were able to submit reviews online. Input from both of these sources was taken into account for the judging process.
Important to note here that the establishment must have been open and operating since November 2010 to qualify for the Eat Out Awards this year.
Your thoughts?
What do you think of these 2 awards? Are they credible? How seriously do the public, and indeed restaurateurs, take both awards? Please let us know in the comment area below…