Newcomer Reuben Riffel of Reuben's restaurant in Franschhoek outside Cape Town won both restaurant and chef of the year at the 2004 Eat Out Johnnie Walker Restaurant Awards - "the Oscars of the South African restaurant industry".
The awards ceremony, held at Beluga's in Cape Town on November 21, also marked the launch of the 2005 edition of Eat Out: The Restaurant Guide of South Africa.
According to Eat Out editor Sam Woulidge, the biggest change to Eat Out has been to the awards selection process.
"This year we asked three highly respected members of the industry to judge the best restaurants, which were drawn from a shortlist submitted by 30 national contributors", Woulidge said.
"Garth Stroebel, Hilary Biller and Phillippa Cheifitz visited each nominated restaurant unannounced and evaluated the ability of chefs and restaurants to create that special experience that gives added pleasure to diners."
Yum, Johannesburg (chef: Dario de Angeli)
Reuben Riffel: new kid on the block
A newcomer on the restaurant scene, winning chef Reuben Riffel's signature restaurant, opened in mid-2004, has fast become one of the hotspots on the SA culinary scene.
Born and bred in Franschhoek, Riffel started working in the restaurant industry at age 21 when he was employed as a waiter at Chamonix. Before long he was in
the kitchen, and swiftly moved up the ranks both at Chamonix and at Monneaux, the second Franschhoek restaurant he worked at.
This was followed by a working stint in Cambridge, England. Now Riffel is back in his hometown, and the casually elegant restaurant that bears his name is causing quite a stir.
"Reuben moves skilfully from the best of the familiar to innovative, new-style dishes and bold, unfussy presentations to show off his delicious food", Woulidge said. "His subtle touch and inspired expertise makes this new kid on the block a most worthy winner."
Mariana's Home Deli & Bistro in Stanford, and Vergelegen guesthouse and restaurant in the Northern Cape, won the Eat Out Johnnie Walker Top Country Kitchens Awards.
"South Africa is a foodie nation", says Woulidge. "Comfort food. Padkos. Haute cuisine. And jammerlappiekos. We have it all."
Eat Out 2005
Eat Out has evolved over seven years into a comprehensive 228-page restaurant directory with over 800 national restaurant listings.
According to publisher John Psillos, while the look and layout for Eat Out 2005 has changed to incorporate 11 regional subsections for easy reference purposes, the integrity of the guide remains undisputed. "Eat Out neither charges restaurants to be listed, nor expects them to pick up the tab for our meals, which makes Eat Out the most objective and definitive restaurant guide in South Africa."
Eat Out 2005 includes a "People's Choice" booklet listing the favourite restaurants of local celebrities - and featuring SA's "FAB 15" restaurants, as voted by the South African public on the Eat Out website.
The website is comprehensive interactive restaurant guide,
allowing visitors to find the perfect place to eat out in their area, post their own restaurant reviews or read what other diners have to say.
Eat Out 2005 is available at selected Woolworths, Exclusive Books, CNA and Spar stores for R34.95.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
