Restaurant awards, especially highly regarded ones such as the Michelin stars, World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, and in the US, the James Beard Awards, are double-edged swords. There’s the high of winning, the satisfaction of industry and peer recognition and of course, the increased earnings that will surely come for a feted establishment or chef. But the flipside, especially for restaurants who are dropped, for whatever reason, from these lists, are damning: decreased takings, intense self-reflection and possibly, stress and depression from trying to return to an exclusive club.
Certainly, those who are honoured are the best of the best and to get there, there are no short cuts. It’s all sheer hard work and of course, at the end of the line, there are great reward to be reaped. And oftentimes, the biggest reward is of the financial kind – the bottom line is: awards bring diners to the table.
Says World’s 50 Best Restaurant’s Southeast Asia Academy Chair, Evelyn Chen, “Many chefs have told me that after they have been given a significant award, it has helped with reservations. A good example is Gaggan, which was overbooked just days after it first won.”
It was reported that after the Bangkok restaurant’s third straight win at the Asia’s 50 Best awards in 2017, the wait for a spot easily stretched to four months. A four-person team was then hired just to manage the roughly 500 booking requests that came in daily.
Certainly, the Michelin guide, with its coveted stars, has evolved over the years to reach a juncture where earning just one star meant that restaurateurs could charge top dollar for the experience.
Chef Dave Pynt of one-Michelin-starred Burnt Ends surmises, “In terms of the business, an award definitely provides a lot of recognition and show that the restaurant is a very trustworthy place for people to patronise.”
Denne historien er fra September - October 2019-utgaven av WINE&DINE.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September - October 2019-utgaven av WINE&DINE.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
New Blood
The next-generation is breathing new life into the forgotten art of spice-mixing, peppering the traditional trade with renewed ideas and fresh perspectives.
Sharing Is Caring
Compared to its flagship at Serene Centre, Fat Belly Social at Boon Tat Street is a classier and bolder affair, in more than one sense.
Nutmeg's Role In Singapore's History
From tales of it being used to ward off the plague in mid-1300s Europe to one of the ingredients in dessert, we have all known, tasted, or at least heard of nutmeg. But not many know of the spice’s role in Singapore’s history.
New And Improved
The ever-profound chef-owner Kenjiro ‘Hatch’ Hashida finds more room, three to be exact, to express a Ha Ri philosophy at Hashida Singapore’s new location at Amoy Street.
Pairing Spice-Driven Cuisines With Wine
Pairing spice-driven cuisines with wine has long been a challenge but with a little imagination, it doesn’t have to be.
Let Land Grow Wild
Niew Tai-Ran has worn many hats: aeronautical engineering major, investment banker, avid surfer, and, for the last 14 years, winemaker. Discover how this Malaysia-born, Singapore-native is championing the “do-nothing farming” philosophy at his vineyard in Oregon.
The South Asian Misnomer
Incredibly diverse and varied than most know, Indian food is far more intriguing than butter chicken or thosai. Here is a crash course on the extensive cuisine from region to region, recognisable for the seemingly infinite ways of using spices.
Keepers Of The Spice Trade
From its glory days along trade routes to pantry staples all over the world, spices have become so commonplace that we’ve taken them for granted. For these three trailblazers, however, spice is their livelihood and motivation: Langit Collective working with indigenous rural farming communities in Malaysia; IDH’s Sustainable Spice Initiative; and chef Nak’s one-woman mission to share forgotten Khmer cuisine.
Sugar, Spice And Everything Nice
Like food, spices bring vibrancy and variety to alcoholic beverages. Surfacing in unexpected ways on the palate, find everything from cumin to tamarind, cloves to cardamom enriching these drinks.
Building Blocks From The Archipelago
For the smorgasbord of dishes found in Indonesian cuisine, it is a little known secret that the modest bumbu, in all its variants, is the bedrock of such flavourful fare.
