Neil Perry
As the biggest names in food prepare to descend on Singapore for the annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, Neil Perry reflects on past occasions.
The chef celebrates the World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards
Many of the best chefs and restaurateurs on the planet will be in Singapore this month for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants reveal. Last year, Massimo Bottura and the Osteria Francescana team from Italy took out top honours and while it’s wonderful to be on the list, it’s just as enjoyable to be there for the camaraderie.
I remember the first list in 2002 like it was yesterday. I was in Aspen when Sydney food critic Scott Bolles rang me.
“Hey, mate, Rockpool is on a list from Restaurant magazine in London called The World’s 50 Best. Did you know?” he asked.
I was gobsmacked. “No! That’s news to me but it’s awesome!”
He replied, “You’re the top Australian restaurant and you’re at number four.”
You could have knocked me over with a feather. I’d been telling my staff for years that restaurants are about creating great memories and now we had hundreds of people around the world voting for their favourites, including Rockpool – we must have created quite a memory. At number four, we were ranked only behind El Bulli, Gordon Ramsay and The French Laundry. What brilliant company.
The inaugural list resonated so well that the following year we all jumped on a plane to London to attend the first awards night. Rockpool finished eighth but it was from there that the importance of the awards grew, with chefs from different parts of the globe forming firm friendships, bonding over breaking bread and enjoying a tipple or two, as we like to do.
The awards and feasts that followed have created memories I will cherish forever. The event was held in London until 2016 but now it’s hosted in different cities to showcase international cuisines and cultures. The first host city outside the British capital was New York then Melbourne in 2017 and Bilbao in 2018.
On 25 June, it’s Singapore’s turn.
Having the awards in your home country is exciting. Two years ago, when the event came to Melbourne, Rockpool was selected to cater so I created a menu of the finest fare that Australia had to offer, in particular our seafood and native ingredients. We had a produce station of whole tunas, sides of Wagyu, whole ribs, marron, abalone, lobster and piles of oysters on ice. My team also catered the official afterparty. Imagine 400 chefs and restaurateurs drinking, eating and dancing until 4am. A personal highlight was standing on the bar with Daniel Humm, Massimo Bottura, Dominique Crenn and Andoni Luis Aduriz spraying champagne over the crowd as it rushed towards us to celebrate Humm’s Eleven Madison Park restaurant being named the best in the world.
There is often chatter about how you get on this list or debate about its importance. I won’t lie – it’s good to be included – but it doesn’t mean your restaurant isn’t worldclass if it’s not there. Many restaurants are worthy; this is just one award viewed by chefs as a great honour, like Michelin stars.
What’s most important is the amount of hard work that goes into these amazing restaurants every year. The reason that chefs work so hard is for our customers and staff; recognition is a wonderful thing but it’s not the motivator. The awards are simply the cream on top.
Awarding The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is not about the list itself but the sense of connection and celebration of all our efforts. This is what drives us and it truly brings together the best our industry has to offer. As we congratulate and embrace each other, more amazing memories are created. After the awards are over and the champagne is finished, we know we must get back to work and try even harder.