The 20 nominees for the 2015 Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards have been announced. These restaurants will be evaluated by the judges (Abigail Donnelly, Jackie Cameron, Benny Masekwameng and Siba Mtongana). See the full criteria used in the judging here. The top 10 restaurants in the country will be announced at the Restaurant Awards ceremony on 15 November at Mistico Equestrian Centre, near Paarl. (Buy tickets here.)
Additionally the winners will be announced for the categories:
- San Pellegrino Chef of the Year
- Nederburg Rising Star
- Boschendal Style Award
- Lannice Snyman Lifetime Achievement Award (in association with Novus Holdings)
- Wine Service
- Service Excellence
- Woolworths Sustainability Award
It’s great to see a sustainability award finally, I wonder if sustainability counts for any points when they judge the top 10? The same with wine service, I consider it an integral part of the dining experience.
Only 3 of the 20 this year are outside the Western Cape, those 3 were all in the top 10 last year. Top 20 nominees that were nominated last year but not this year are: Bread & Wine, La Mouette, Makaron, Planet Restaurant (Mount Nelson) and The White Room (Dear Me).
Foliage is a newcomer to the list and it’s good to see La Colombe back after their move to the new venue at Silvermist. I’ve been hearing good reports on the La Colombe offering and their new venue.
Here are last year’s nominees and last year’s top 10.
As I’ve said before, for me this list is more important than the top 10, because all these restaurants will be only a few points away from the top 10, making them all well worth a visit!
- Camphors at Vergelegen
- Chefs Warehouse & Canteen
- Foliage
- Greenhouse at The Cellars-Hohenort
- Indochine
- Jordan Restaurant
- The Kitchen at Maison
- La Colombe
- Overture
- The Pot Luck Club
- The Restaurant at Newton Johnson
- The Restaurant at Waterkloof
- Rust en Vrede Restaurant
- The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français
- Terroir
- The Test Kitchen
- Tokara
- DW Eleven-13
- Five Hundred
- Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient
Find more info at the Eat Out website.