THE GOLDEN AGE

A look back at Hong Kong Tatler’s Best Restaurants Awards

As 2017 heralds the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong Tatler’s annual Best Restaurants awards night, Charmaine Mok, Editorial Director of Food &

Wine, takes a star-studded walk down memory lane

There really is no other event like it here—a night when hundreds of Hong Kong and Macau’s top chefs, F&B professionals and food lovers can get together to celebrate the achievements of the industry’s most talented names. Combine that with stunning venues year after year, free-flow champagne and top-notch canapés, and you have a soirée that’s grown to become a firm fixture on the dining scene.

In 2012, when we set out to create an event to properly celebrate the newly created Top 20 Best Restaurants list and Best of the Year awards, it was less of an excuse for us to party than it was to give our favourite food personalities and champions that exact same reason to let loose. After all, being in the F&B industry is tough—we, as the critics and the journalists, have it easy—so one aim of our awards night is to give much-deserved kudos to those who have worked so hard to give us, the discerning public, an unforgettable and hospitable experience.

It was a long time coming and it wasn’t until nearly a year later (in December 2013) that our little dream was realised, with an intimate soiree held at the then-justopened Duddell’s restaurant. With around 150 hand-picked guests from the industry in attendance, we unveiled our Top 20 restaurants live, as well as our picks for awards such as Best Wine List and Best New Chef, and celebrated the holiday season with Christmas-themed cocktails.

I’ve been amazed by the new heights that our tiny team have been able to reach each year since. This year, we’ve upped the ante even further by hosting our biggest event yet at the newly minted Kerry Hotel in Hung Hom—in what’s currently Hong Kong’s largest ballroom. Will it be tough to top next year? Absolutely. But you can be sure that we’ll keep on raising that bar. In the meantime, take a look back at how our awards night has evolved over the last half-decade.