Odette at National Gallery takes top honours at World Gourmet Awards 2019
Meanwhile, Atlas was named Bar of the Year and celebrity chef Sam Leong of Forest picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Julien Royer’s Odette, which claimed the No 1 spot on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 awards ceremony last month, has just added another feather to its overflowing cap. The two-Michelin-starred restaurant was crowned Restaurant of the Year at this year’s World Gourmet Awards on Tues (Apr 22).
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The restaurant was a double winner, also nabbing the Old World Wine List of the Year award.
Starting in 2001, the World Gourmet Awards is an annual award ceremony that celebrates and recognises the efforts of outstanding players – from chefs to restaurant managers – in Singapore’s hospitality industry.
A total of 35 awards were presented at this year’s event held at One Farrer Hotel.
Under the Chef Awards category, Chef Chan Tuck Wai of Marina Mandarin Singapore was named Executive Chef of the Year; while Chef Kirk Westaway of JAAN at Swissotel The Stamford Singapore took home the Chef of the Year (Male) award. InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay’s Chef Bettina Arguelles took home the Chef of the Year (Female) Award.
Baker of the Year went to Chef Dan Ng Eng Heng of Grand Hyatt Singapore. Chef Edward Chong, who specialises in Chinese fusion and Cantonese cuisines at Marina Mandarin Singapore’s Peach Blossoms, was named Asian Cuisine Chef of the Year.
Atlas, the bar that celebrates the grand Art Deco era, was named Bar of the Year, while Jigger & Pony’s Jerrold Khoo was honoured as Bar Manager of the Year.
The antithesis to traditionally stuffy wine bars, Le Bon Funk – the brainchild of chef-owner and Burnt Ends alumnus Keirin Buck – bagged New Restaurant of the Year. Coincidentally, Restaurant Manager of the Year went to Burnt Ends’ Lyon Leong Wei Jie who leads the front-of-house team at the one-Michelin-starred modern Australian barbecue restaurant in Singapore’s Chinatown.
Winners in the Highest Honours category include Chef Lucas Glanville, Director of Culinary Operations for Grand Hyatt Singapore and Southeast Asia, who nabbed the coveted Hospitality Star Award.
Celebrity chef Sam Leong – the first Singaporean chef to join Singapore Airline’s International Culinary Panel of world-renowned chefs – received the Lifetime Achievement Award, along with Nikheel Advani, Chief Operating Officer of Grace Bay Resorts.
Sommeliers weren’t forgotten, with Rising Sommelier of the Year going to Yeo Xi Yang of PARK90, Regent Singapore. The Sommelier of the Year award went to Daisuke Kawai, co-founder and Chief Sommelier at La Terre.
“The World Gourmet Awards continues to acknowledge the efforts of key players in the industry,” said Peter Knipp, founder of World Gourmet Summit (WGS), which organises the awards. “We remain dedicated to empower, enrich, and advance both our homegrown and regional culinary professionals since its inception.”
The World Gourmet Awards also marks the commencement of the World Gourmet Summit, an annual gastronomic festival held in Singapore now into its 23rd edition. It runs ‪until May 12‬, across various restaurants and venues in Singapore.
