Playing fair at the World Restaurant Awards

It may be one of the greatest honours to earn a Michelin star, but chefs now have something else to strive for—as the new World Restaurant Awards are recognising diversity.

The winners of the newest restaurant awards were announced Monday in Paris—with the award recipients showcasing talented chefs and restaurants from 10 countries across four continents.

What makes these awards different than the numerous other culinary awards is the dedication to awarding worthy chefs of both genders in an effort to lessen gender inequality in the culinary world.

And, rather than focusing on fine dining, with a primary focus on male recipients, these awards aimed to celebrate the more “unique” aspects of the industry - with categories such as “Original Thinking,” “Off-map Destination” and “Tattoo-free Chef”.

According to creative director Joe Warwick, who spoke to Bloomberg: “We spend way too much time talking about the same kind of restaurants and we’d like to try and change that.”

To choose the recipients of the awards, a panel of 100 gender-balanced judges comprised of journalists, influencers and culinary professionals from 37 different countries was enlisted, according to CNN.

As for the winners, “Instagram Account of the Year” was won by French chef Alain Passard and “Redwine

Serving Restaurant” was awarded to Noble Rot.

Most notably, the winner of “Restaurant of the Year” was awarded to Wolfgat in Paternoster, South Africa—a restaurant located in a 130-year-old cottage serving a sevencourse tasting menu.

According to chef Kobus van der Merwe, winning was

an “amazing honour”.

Discussing his team of six, the chef told CNN: “There’s no kitchen hierarchy so it’s all about collaboration and learning from one another. I’m incredibly proud of them. They don’t come from any formal food background, so this achievement is all the more amazing.”

THE INDEPENDENT