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The Gourmet Restaurant Awards

A look back at the Gourmet Restaurant Award winners of 2017

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By Amy Saunders | October 11, 2018 | Travel Leisure

Every year, Condé Nast House & Garden’s sister Magazine, Gourmet, hosts a magical celebration of the best talents in the restaurant industry.

Gourmet recognises and rewards industry leaders for their passion and dedication in the following categories, consistency and excellence, best hotel restaurant, best tasting menu, hidden gem, neighbourhood eatery, best new restaurant, décor and design, vitality & wellness, small plates and lastly kitchen aid & readers’ choice.

Last year, Gourmet, in association with Discovery Vitality, presented the winners of the Gourmet Restaurant Awards 2017 with their titles at an exclusive event held at Klein Constantia Wine Estate. Take a look at the winners for each category below.  

 

Gold Award for Consistency & Chef Excellence

The Gold Award is presented to a chef who has performed consistently well across various platforms or over a number of years at one establishment. Liam Tomlin of Cape Town restaurant Chefs Warehouse & Canteen, as well as Chefs Warehouse at Beau Constantia and Thali, was the 2017 category winner.

Image:

Chef Liam Tomlin, Instagram

Best Hotel Restaurant

With food and travel going hand in hand, Best Hotel Restaurant is awarded to an establishment where the food is as much of a focus as the rooms, decor, service and overall experience. La Petite Colombe at Le Quartier Français, Leeu Collection, Franschhoek was the 2017 category winner.

Best Tasting Menu

This award fills the fine-dining category and focuses on the precision of preparation and plating, wine pairings and the theatre showcased in degustation menus. With experiential dining making waves across the globe this category had two 2017 winners namely The Test Kitchen and La Colombe.

Image:

 The Test Kitchen, Instagram   

Hidden Gem

Awarded to our favourite restaurants that tick the hidden-gem box. This title was handed to Wolfgat, Paternoster in 2017.

 

Neighbourhood Eatery

These are the restaurants we keep going back to and the kind of places we refer to as ‘our second dining room’. The Chefs Table located in Umhlanga, Durban was the 2017 Gourmet Restaurant Award winner.

Best New Restaurant

This award is given to the best newcomer that opened in the last 12 months since the previous Gourmet Restaurant Awards. Johannesburg’s Momo Soko, sister to popular venue Momo Baohaus, walked away with 2017’s best new restaurant title.

Décor & Design

With Condé Nast House & Garden and Gourmet being sister magazines, decor and design is high up on our agenda. Marble, located in the Keyes Art Mile in Rosebank, Johannesburg secured the winning spot with their exquisite décor elements.

Vitality & Wellness

This award celebrates the strides chefs and restaurants make to improve the nutritional benefits of their dishes. In line with Vitality’s nutrition principles of healthy eating habits with a strong focus on preparing whole, seasonal ingredients, the winners in this category support a balanced approach to eating from a variety of food groups with limited salt and sugar added to their dishes. Cape Town’s Raw and Roxy was this category’s 2017 winner.

Small Plates

This is our pick of the best tapas-style eateries in the country at the moment. Chef’s Warehouse located at Beau Constantia was the 2017 category winner for their selection of tapas.

Kitchen Aid & Readers’ Choice

Voted for solely by Gourmet readers through various social media channels, this is your favourite restaurant in the country as voted by you. The 2017 category winner that you voted for is 9th Avenue Bistro, Durban.

Photography:

Supplied