Tiny beach restaurant in South Africa named as world’s best, with a London eatery No1 for red wine and a Los Angeles diner getting the gong for ‘atmosphere’
- The World Restaurant Awards took place in Paris on Monday with a smorgasbord of awards dished out
- Ballymaloe House in Cork won the ‘trolley dolley’ title for its exceptional tableside service
- Michelin-starred French chef Alain Ducasse scored the tongue-in-cheek ‘tattoo-free chef’ award
A tiny South African beach restaurant called Wolfgat, where a seven-course tasting menu costs just £46 ($60), has been named the ‘best in the world’.
The gong was given out at the inaugural World Restaurant Awards in Paris on Monday night where a smorgasbord of categories were recognised, including best ‘no reservations’ restaurant, the eatery with the most eye-catching Instagram account and some tongue-in-cheek categories that send up industry cliches, including ‘tattoo-free chef of the year’ and ‘tweezer-free kitchen of the year’.
London’s Noble Rot triumphed in the ‘red-wine serving restaurant’ category while uber-trendy Vespertine in Los Angeles took home the ‘atmosphere of the year’ award. Ballymaloe House in Cork won the ‘trolley dolley’ title for its exceptional tableside service and delicious cake trolley offering.
A tiny South African beach restaurant called Wolfgat (pictured), where a seven-course tasting menu costs just £46 ($60), has been named the ‘best in the world’
Wolfgat opened just two years ago in a 130-year-old cottage and cave-like dwelling on a beach at Paternoster on the west coast of South Africa. It seats just 20 people at a sitting and it employs six members of staff who have no formal training. Above, an example of some of the dishes from the tasting menu
Wolfgat opened just two years ago in a 130-year-old cottage and cave-like dwelling on a beach at Paternoster on the west coast of South Africa.
It seats just 20 people at a sitting and it employs six members of staff who have no formal training.
Head chef Kobus van der Merwe, 38, who did not begin to cook seriously until he was 30, forages every day for ingredients along the wild Atlantic shore of the Western Cape. He’s also known for making his own bread and butter.
Past dishes on his tasting menu have included twice-cooked laver (seaweed), angelfish with bokkom sambal and wild garlic masala, limpets, mussels and freshly-harvested sea vegetables.
Uber-trendy Vespertine in Los Angeles took home the ‘atmosphere of the year’ award
Dan Keeling from London’s Noble Rot (pictured), where bottles of rouge fetch up to £4,500, said he was honoured for his historic Bloomsbury venue to be recognised
The World Restaurant Awards judges said that it was Van der Merwe’s belief in ‘sustainable, back-to-basics cooking’ that won them over.
They also awarded the restaurant the best ‘off-map destination’ gong thanks to its dreamy beachside views and ‘humble setting’.
Commenting on his victory, chef Van der Merwe told AFP: ‘I don’t feel worthy. It’s a big title.
‘My staff who go out every day gathering herbs, succulents and dune spinach, should be here… It’s their baby.
‘I can’t wait to celebrate with them with a big glass of South African sparkling wine.’
Van der Merwe added that his win was ‘a victory for the African continent and my beautiful, diverse country’.
Dan Keeling from London’s Noble Rot, where bottles of rouge fetch up to £4,500, said he was honoured for his historic Bloomsbury venue to be recognised.
He said that he aimed to make the Parisian-styled bar ‘a real drinkers’ place, a real wine lovers’ place’, serving old vintages that are ready to drink, at good prices.
Ballymaloe House in Cork won the ‘trolley dolley’ title for its exceptional tableside service and delicious cake trolley offering
Other notable winners at the ceremony included Sao Paulo’s lively Mocoto, which is named after the Brazilian cow’s hoof stew it serves. The dining spot won in the ‘no Reservations required’ category (for places where it’s possible to turn up without a booking)
His colleague Mark Andrew added: ‘The idea of the restaurant is to bring not just fantastic service, which is a given at the top end of our industry, but also great food, really interesting wine, exciting wine, and present it to people in a way which really adds to their experience and where they can really get involved.’
Other notable winners at the ceremony included Sao Paulo’s lively Mocoto, which is named after the Brazilian cow’s hoof stew it serves.
The dining spot won in the ‘no Reservations required’ category (for places where it’s possible to turn up without a booking), while the ‘house special’ award went to Italy’s rather ritzier Lido 84 – overlooking Lake Garda – which boils its ‘cacio e pepe’ pasta inside a pig’s bladder.
Just as ritzy is the top-end Paris eatery Le Clarence, which won the ‘original thinking’ prize for its ‘envelope-pushing creativity and artistic expression’.
The ‘house special’ award went to Italy’s rather ritzy Lido 84 – overlooking Lake Garda – which boils its ‘cacio e pepe’ pasta inside a pig’s bladder
Ninety-eight-year-old La Mère Brazier in Lyon took home the ‘enduring classic’ award (a category created to recognise establishments that have thrived for at least 50 years)
Another awardee was German-born Thomas Frebel, who formerly led Noma’s research and development team. Frebel won the ‘arrival of the year’ prize for his new Tokyo venue, Inua, which has been hailed as ‘Japan’s most exciting’ new restaurant
Ninety-eight-year-old La Mère Brazier in Lyon, meanwhile, took home the ‘enduring classic’ award (a category created to recognise establishments that have thrived for at least 50 years) and Michelin-starred French chef Alain Ducasse scored the aforementioned ‘tattoo-free chef’ award.
Another awardee was German-born Thomas Frebel, who formerly led Noma’s research and development team.
Frebel won the ‘arrival of the year’ prize for his new Tokyo venue, Inua, which has been hailed as ‘Japan’s most exciting’ new restaurant.
Flying the flag for Spain, Andoni Luis Aduriz – regarded as the country’s most pioneering chef since El Bulli’s Ferran Adria hung up his apron – won the ‘forward drinking’ prize for the ‘stellar’ and good value wine list at his San Sebastian eatery, Mugaritz.
The ‘event of the year’ award followed the down-to-earth theme spearheaded by Wolfgat, with the gong going to the Refugee Food Festival, which began in France and has now spread to 18 cities worldwide.
The top-end Paris eatery, Le Clarence, won the ‘original thinking’ prize for its ‘envelope-pushing creativity and artistic expression’
Flying the flag for Spain, Andoni Luis Aduriz – regarded as the country’s most pioneering chef since El Bulli’s Ferran Adria hung up his apron – won the ‘forward drinking’ prize for the ‘stellar’ and good value wine list at his San Sebastian eatery, Mugaritz. Above, one of the chef’s culinary creations
Meanwhile, maintaining the community spirit, Italian superchef Massimo Bottura and his wife Lara Gilmore took the ‘ethical thinking’ honour for the Food for the Soul community kitchens he helped set up to fight food waste and hunger.
Commenting on The World Restaurant Awards results, the event’s director, Cecile Rebbot, said: We are proud to have given a global stage to a diverse spectrum of incredibly deserving restaurants, teams, experiences and initiatives.
‘We set out to create a truly international awards with a fresh approach, recognising the full breadth and depth of the industry, but this is only the beginning in terms of the restaurant experiences around the world that we want to explore and discover.’
While 50 Best Restaurants is the better known annual award list within hospitality, it has been hit by allegations of lobbying and bias against French cuisine. The new awards claim to pride themselves on their ‘diversity and integrity’, with 50 men and 50 women on the judging panels.
The winners were decided by restaurant journalists, influencers and culinary professionals from 37 different countries.
The World Restaurant Awards 2019 winners
Big Plates award-winners
Original Thinking – Le Clarence, France
Off-Map Destination – Wolfgat, South Africa
No Reservations Required – Mocotó, Brazil
House Special – Lido 84 (Cacio e Pepe), Italy
Forward Drinking – Mugaritz, Spain
Event of the Year – Refugee Food Festival, various locations
Ethical Thinking – Refettorio (Food for Soul), various locations
Collaboration of the Year – Paradiso X Gortnanairn, Ireland
Atmosphere – Vespertine, USA
Enduring Classic – La Mère Brazier, France
Arrival of the Year – Inua, Japan
Restaurant of Year – Wolfgat, South Africa
Small Plates award-winners
Tweezer-Free Kitchen – Bo.Lan, Thailand
Trolley of the Year – Ballymaloe House, Ireland
Tattoo-Free Chef – Alain Ducasse, France
Instagram Account – Alain Passard, France
Long-Form Journalism – Lisa Abend (Fool Magazine), USA and Sweden
Red-Wine Serving Restaurant – Noble Rot, UK
For more information on the The World Restaurant Awards 2019 winners, visit the site.
Source: Read Full Article