The best of the best will be honored at the Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards in 2023.

The 2023 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards, which honor the best of what is best, will put dining establishments across the country on edge tomorrow night.

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The 2023 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards, which will be presented at Grand West, honor trailblazers who have made a significant contribution to South Africa’s diverse culinary landscape.

Jackie Cameron, Eleanor Coetzee, Ronel de Jager, Megin Meikle, Motheba Makhetha, Charné Sampson, and Carla Schulze are among the chefs who make this year special.

According to Melissa Cumming, head of Eat Out, each chef in this year’s all-female celebrity lineup has excelled in the cutthroat restaurant industry.

Each will bring her own distinctive style, handpicked by our chief judge, Abigail Donnelly, completing a fantastic five-course meal for 800 guests.

This year’s Eat Out Stars and 14 Special Awards will recognize the chefs and eateries who are revolutionizing the local food scene.

This year, Eat Out will bestow three new Special Awards: the Patron Mixology Award, the Cacao Barry Dessert Awards, and the Woolworths Trailblazer Award.

The Eat Out BIRKENSTOCK Chef Award will return after four years to recognize someone who, according to their peers, is regarded as a leader and source of inspiration in the restaurant industry.

The Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards nominees for 2023 are listed below:

Randburg, Johannesburg’s Acid Food & Wine Bar
Richard Carstens ‘ ( Franschhoek ) ARKESTE
Cape Town’s Belly of the Beast ( City Bowl )
Beyond Cape Town, Constantia
Somerset West’s Cavalli Restaurant
The Maison ( Franschhoek )’s Chefs Warehouse
Beau Constantia, Cape Town’s Chefs Warehouse
( Somerset West )CHORUS
Tasting Room for Creation Wines ( Hemel en Aarde, Hermanus )
The evening ( Stellenbosch )
( Stellenbosch )Eike
( City Bowl, Cape Town )lgr
( Franschhoek ) Epice
Avondale ( Paarl ) FABER
Botrivier Farro
( Pretoria )Fermier
Cape Town’s Foxcroft ( Constantia )
FYN ( Capta Town’s City Bowl )
The French currency ( Franschhoek )
Cape Town’s La Colombe ( Constantia )
Franschhoek’s La Petite Colombe
Johannesburg’s Les Créatifs Restaurant ( Bryanston )
Stanford’s Madre Stanford
Charlie Lakin’s Meraki ( Hillcrest, Durban )
( Cape St. Francis ) Nevermind
Le Lude ( Franschhoek ) Orangerie
Cape Town, Ouzeri
Cape Town PIER
( Stellenbosch ) Post & Pepper
( Franschhoek ) Protégé
Rosebank, Johannesburg’s Proud Mary
Northern Cape restaurant Klein JAN ( Tswalu )
Stellenbosch, Rust en Vrede
( Stellenbosch ) Rykaart
Salon in Cape Town’s Woodstock
Salsify at the Roundhouse in Cape Town’s Camps Bay.
Johannesburg’s Houghton Estate,Séjour
( Stellenbosch ) Spek & Bone
The De Meye ( Stellenbosch ) Table
The Chef’s Table ( Umhlanga, Durban )
Marthinus Ferreira ( Stellenbosch ) at the Jordan Restaurant
The Summerhill Estate ( Pinetown, Durban ) LivingRoom
Elgin’s Melting Pot
Cape Town’s Pot Luck Club
Johannesburg’s Pot Luck Club
Chefs Warehouse’s Red Room in Cape Town
Cape Town’s Test Kitchen Fledgelings
Cape Town’s Waterside Restaurant
Cape Town’s Upper Union
( Paternoster )Wolfgat
Johannesburg’s Zioux ( Sandton )

According to Cumming, more inclusivity has been made possible by the star-rating format, which was introduced for the first time last year. Each restaurant must receive at least 70 points in order to be on the star-rating shortlist. Given the exceptional quality we’ve seen in 2023, this is already a significant accomplishment.

The star-rating criteria include service, decor/ambience, menu, ingredients used to tell your story, execution, presentation, beverages, brand promise, perceived value, and overall consistency. Over 90 restaurants were reviewed by the judges and given ratings on Eat Out’s online rating tool, making it a thorough score card.

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Chef Karen Dudley, food activist and cookbook author Mokgadi Itsweng, Woolworths Head of Product: Food Business Development Marisa Munroe, sommelier, wine judge, founder of Mosi Wines and Spirits Joseph Dhafana, writer, publisher, editor, and broadcast personality Herman Lensing make up this year’s judging panel in addition to chief judge Abigail Donnelly.

Working with such a diverse and knowledgeable judging panel has been such an honor, says Donnelly. This shortlist does represent the variety of excellence that South African restaurants have to offer because each of them has contributed their own perspective that has been developed over many years.

This year, there are a number of new additions. Restaurants can be found in places like Cape St. Francis, Randburg, Hillcrest, Pinetown, and Tswalu. To find the gems, the judging has taken place all over the provinces.

For the second year in a row, Woolworths Food takes over as title sponsor. The past few years have brought about unprecedented challenges, according to Woolworths Food CEO Zyda Rylands, which chefs and restaurant owners have overcome with extraordinary innovation and tenacity.

” We feel incredibly honored to once again have the opportunity to contribute to South Africa’s recognition, acclaim, and celebration of culinary brilliance.”

According to its rating system, restaurants with scores between 70 and 80 will be given one star, 80 to 90 will get two stars, and 90 or higher will receive three stars. The establishment with the highest rating will receive the restaurant of the year.