World Gourmet Summit 2015: The winners announced!
To kick start WGS, last night some of the finest culinary stars in Singapore and the region were awarded for their prowess.
After tens of thousands of votes and two months of anticipation, Asia has spoken for the WGS Awards of Excellence finalists. Yesterday marked the opening of the local food scene’s equivalent of the Oscars. The prestigious awards ceremony was graced by specially flown-in guest master chefs as well as the who’s who of the Food & Beverage industry.
Supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, the 14th edition of the Awards of Excellence (AOE) celebrates the pinnacle of the finest culinary stars in Singapore and the region. Over the years, the AOE has played an important role in recognising the very best in the Food & Beverage sector, thus setting a benchmark which in turn has contributed to the industry striving towards even higher levels of excellence.
Some familiar names were up for nominations this year, and it’s no surprise that the perennial favourites clinched the expected awards. This includes half French half American chef Chris Salans of Mozaic Restaurant Gastronomique, who won Martell Asian Restaurant of the Year (Regional) for his innovative fusion of American, French and Indonesian cooking.
Doing Singapore proud was multi award-winning executive pastry chef Cherish Finden who was awarded The Macallan Lifetime Achievement Award for her creative works at The Langham, London.
Trendy watering hole Anti:Dote trumped other nominees to win Deliciae Bar of the Year, while Chef Ivan Brehm and his restaurant Bacchanalia were awarded Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year respectively.
Winning The Scripps Networks Interactive Choice Awards: Asia’s Pastry Star was Niklesh Sharma, managing director of the Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia which sees a lot of big names like Frank Haasnoot and Christophe Morel as teachers and guest chefs.
Other notable award recipients include David Thompson, Head Chef of the critically acclaimed Nahm restaurant in Bangkok. Thompson might have lost his title for 50 Best Asian Restaurants this year, but he still remains as one of the best chefs in the regional culinary scene and his Tung Lok Asian Cuisine Chef of the Year award is proof of this.
This year’s awardees proved that the gastronomic scene in Asia has grown by leaps and bounds and is on par with places like London and New York. It’s exciting to see what further innovations will come from the winners who have been recognised for their prowess in their early years. Of course, the awards is but one of the highlights of the plenitude of activities that are lined up for this month-long gastronomic and wine extravaganza. Stay tuned as we’ll be keeping you posted on upcoming WGS events.
Karen George
Photo credit: WGS
