Top 10 Awards For Eat Out Magazine 2014

There are some newcomers to the Eat Out top 10, sponsored by DSTV Food Network. Five Hundred at the Saxon hotel is where David Higgs went after Rust en Vrede, and Camphors at Vergelegen is where PJ Vadas went after The Roundhouse. Pierneef à La Motte has been nominated before but it’s the first time it has made it into the top 10.

Rust en Vrede is still a dominant force, taking 3rd spot as well as the category awards for excellent service and wine service. The wine service award is new, and I think a very important addition to the awards (I mentioned in my review of the awards last year that it should be added). I would like to see more focus on wine in the rating of the restaurants, seeing as wine is Cape Town’s thing.

Talking about the judging, the top 10 was judged in a new way this year with 4 anonymous judges (Andy Fenner, Liam Tomlin, Garth Stroebel and Jenny Morris) assisting Abigail Donnelly with the evaluation of the finalists. I think this is an improvement on the last couple of years.

I was not asked to review for Eat Out magazine this year, nor was I invited to the awards dinner, so in terms of credibility of the awards… it has probably gone up! 🙂

Below is the list of winners, but the other finalists would have missed the top 10 by a very small margin, meaning you should definitely try and visit them. The finalists that did not make the top 10 are:

Delaire Graff Estate Restaurant
DW Eleven-13
Indochine at Delaire Graff Estate
The Kitchen at Maison
La Colombe
Makaron
Planet Restaurant
The Restaurant at Waterkloof
Tokara
Bread & Wine

Do yourself a favour and check out the brilliant video introductions to the top 10 restaurants on the Eat Out YouTube channel, they are fantastic. And if you want to see who won last year, here are the 10 winners and here are the 20 finalists.

Top 10 Restaurants

1. The Test Kitchen (restaurant of the year)
2. Five Hundred (first time in top 10, new restaurant by David Higgs, ex Rust en Vrede)
3. Rust en Vrede
4. The Greenhouse
5. Hartford House
6. Jordan Restaurant
7. Overture
8. Camphors at Vergelegen (first time in the top 10, chef is PJ Vadas, ex Roundhouse)
9. The Tasting Room
10. Pierneef à La Motte

S. Pellegrino Chef of the Year

David Higgs (Five Hundred)

Service Excellence Award

Rust en Vrede

Rising Star Award

Vanessa Marx (Dear Me)

Wine Service Award

Joakim Hansi Blackadder (Rust en Vrede)

Lannice Snyman Lifetime Achievement Award (in association with Paarl Media)

Michael Olivier

Best Asian Restaurant

Kitima

Best Italian Restaurant

Burrata

Jacobsdal Best Steakhouse

Carne SA

Best Country-Style Restaurant

Towerbosch

Best Bistro

The Leopard

Boschendal Style Award

The Pot Luck Club

(Runners up: The Tasting Room, Five Hundred, Harvey’s, Hemelhuijs)