The battle of the restaurant awards is fully on. The day after the World's 50 Best announced a major shake-up, the new kid on the block The World Restaurant Awards countered with the release of its shortlist for its inaugural awards.
The UK has a decent enough showing - we merit ten nominations, including Core's Clare Smyth for tattoo-free chef of the year, Otto's on Gray's Inn Road for Trolley of the Year and Black Axe Mangal for Tweezer-free Kitchen.
Here's the full shortlist:
ARRIVAL OF THE YEAR
- 1. DaGorini - Italy
- 2. Inua / Japan
- 3. Virtus / France
- 4. Angler / USA
- 5. Kjolle / Peru
ATMOSPHERE
- 1. Punk Royale / Denmark
- 2. Vespertine / USA
- 3. Chambre Séparée / Belgium
- 4. Astoria Seafood / USA
- 5. Machneyuda / Israel
COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
- 1. Vespertine X This Will Destroy You
- 2. Mirazur X Huilerie Saint Michel
- 3. Cafe Paradiso X Gort na Nairn Farm
- 4. Single Thread Farm X Bloodroot Blades
- 5. Frantzen X Jacob Marsing-Rossini
ENDURING CLASSICS
- 1. Peter Luger’s / USA
- 2. Paul Bocuse / France
- 3. La Mère Brazier / France
- 4. Hyotei / Japan
- 5. Elkano / Spain
ETHICAL THINKING
- 1. Blue Hill at Stone Barns / USA
- 2. Food for Soul / Refettorios / Worldwide
- 3. Noma / Denmark
- 4. Saint Peter / Australia
- 5. Silo / UK
EVENT OF THE YEAR
- 1. Refugee Food Festival
- 2. Parabere Forum / Sweden
- 3. Al Meni / Italy
- 4. Game at Lyle’s / UK
- 5. The Presidential Train / Portugal
FORWARD DRINKING
- 1. Cub / UK
- 2. Mugaritz / Spain
- 3. Dersou / France
- 4. Amass / Denmark
- 5. Godenya / Hong Kong
HOUSE SPECIAL
- 1. Gazela / ‘Hot dog’ / Portugal
- 2. Yat Lok / Roast Goose / Hong Kong
- 3. Obana / Unajyu / Japan
- 4. Trishna / Soft Shell Crab / India
- 5. Lido 84 / Cacio e Pepe (cooked in pig's bladder) / Italy
NO-RESERVATION REQUIRED
- 1. Clamato / France
- 2. Kiln / UK
- 3. Mocoto / Brazil
- 4. Deli fu cious / Japan
- 5. Retrobottega / Italy
OFF-MAP DESTINATIONS
- 1. Mil / Peru
- 2. Boothaus / Austria
- 3. Wolfgat / South Africa
- 4. Tokuyamazushi /Japan
- 5. Riley’s Fish Shack / UK
ORIGINAL THINKING
- 1. Enigma / Spain
- 2. Ikoyi / UK
- 3. Mugaritz / Spain
- 4. Noma / Denmark
- 5. Le Clarence / France
TATTOO-FREE CHEF OF THE YEAR
- 1. Clare Smyth
- 2. Alain Ducasse
- 3. David Thompson
TWEEZER-FREE KITCHEN
- 1. Bo.Lan / Thailand
- 2. Racines / France
- 3. Black Axe Mangal / UK
TROLLEY OF THE YEAR
- 1. Ballymaloe House / Ireland
- 2. Otto’s / UK
- 3. The Grill / USA
RED-WINE SERVING RESTAURANT
- 1. Noble Rot / UK
- 2. Roscioli / Italy
- 3. Le Baratin / France
INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
- 1. @little_meg_siu_meg
- 2. @mattymatheson
- 3. @alain_passard
LONG-FORM JOURNALIST
- 1. Lisa Abend ‘The Food Circus’ in Fool Magazine
- 2. Helen Rosner for ‘What Jonathan Gold meant for food writing’ in the New Yorker
- 3. Jonathan Gold for his obituary of Anthony Bourdain in the LA Times
The awards will be announced in a ceremony in Paris on 18 February 2019, hosted by Antoine de Caunes. If you want to know more about the new awards themselves - we got Creative Director Joe Warwick to tell us all about them.
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