Gaggan Wins Top Award at Asia's 50 Best Restaurants Awards in Singapore
Gaggan Anand's irrepressible Bangkok restaurant has topped the new list of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. The World Loves Melbourne was honoured to be invited to this influential and exciting Awards event where the best restaurants in Asia are recognised and celebrated. The opportunity to mingle with esteemed chefs and foodie identities was a highlight. The event at Capella on Sentosa Island was lavish including a plethora of high class canapes and top shelf beverages. The World Loves Melbourne was honoured to be at Asia's 50 Best having been at the gala Chowzter Asia Awards 2015 the night before at Wild Rocket in Singapore.
The third edition of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants was unveiled at a fabulous ceremony at Capella Singapore on Monday 9th March, where Anand picked up his award.
Gaggan is in fact an Indian restaurant in Bangkok Thailand. Amand refers to "progressive" dining where the food is constantly evolving. He takes traditional Indian dishes and brings a modern twist. Here is Gaggan pictured above at the press conference...
The Kolkata-born chef learned many of his modernist cooking techniques during an inspirational internship with the El Bulli research team under Ferran Adrià. “I wanted to get to the bottom of those flavours,” he explains. “I wanted to use those techniques to extract the best flavours from Indian ingredients.” Reinterpreting classic Indian dishes, his eponymous restaurant debuted on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list at No.17 in 2014. Anand’s restless creativity and sense of fun has helped Gaggan receive widespread acclaim for its singular take on Indian cuisine, becoming one of Asia’s most buzzed-about destination restaurants.
Says the Asia's 50 Best website, "The food is as playful as it sounds, with dishes such as Beauty and the Beast – young potatoes stuffed with sun-dried figs – and Green with Envy – green peppercorn chicken kebabs combined with coriander foam – which are big on impact, but never at the expense of flavour. The colonial-style dining room, complete with cane furniture, ceiling fans and simple whitewashed walls, allows the kitchen to do the talking. Rounded off with super-friendly but highly polished service, Gaggan’s charms propelled its rapid rise to global prominence."
Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants is part of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants series, globally recognised as the most trusted arbiter and credible indicator of the best places to eat around the globe. In previous editions, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list was created from a global tally of votes collected from the 900-plus members of The Diners Club® World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy. In 2015, however, the results were generated by over 300 voters spread throughout Asia.
William Drew, Group Editor, 50 Best Restaurants, said, “A regional vote will better showcase the diverse restaurant scene across Asia, reflecting the tastes and opinions of experts based in the continent itself. Since launching in 2013, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list has become an invaluable guide for gourmets travelling to, or residing in, the region. These changes to the voting process will create an even more comprehensive overview of Asia’s ever-growing culinary scene.”
The World Loves Melbourne asked William Drew about the possibility of Australian restaurants being included in the Asia List (Australia features in the World List), and William told us that due consideration was carefully given but it was decided against including Australian restaurants in the Asia List.
A stunning video of the evening was made by our friends at Mofilm and on the World's 50 Best YouTube Channel.
Prior to the awards ceremony, a culinary summit titled ‘The New Modern: 2015 and Beyond’ was held for members of the industry and the public.
Bringing together some of the world’s most influential chefs, the summit presented current culinary trends, big ideas in food and issues facing chefs, restaurateurs and discerning diners. Speakers included Daniel Humm and Will Guidara (from Eleven Madison Park, USA, No.4 on The World’s 50 Best 2014), Virgilio Martinez (from Central, Peru, No.15 on The World’s 50 Best 2014) and Gaggan Anand (from Gaggan, No.1 on Asia’s 50 Best and No.17 on The World’s 50 Best 2014). Members of the public and industry had the chance to learn from the world’s leading chefs during a series of masterclasses beforehand at Singapore’s At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy.
A series of highlight dining events coincided with the Summit & Masterclass programme in Singapore. Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants presented Maestro Dinners for the second year, teaming Singapore’s leading chefs and restaurant teams with those visiting culinary stars.
Mr. Stefano Agostini, President and CEO of S.Pellegrino S.p.A, said, “S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, the fine dining waters that bring the taste of Italian lifestyle to the world’s best tables, are proud to support Asia’s restaurant industry. As Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants enters its third year, the annual awards ceremony continues to celebrate the exceptional talent and creativity in the region.”
How Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list is compiled
Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants is created by The Diners Club® Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of over 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Asia, each selected for their expert opinion of Asia’s restaurant scene.
The Academy is divided into six voting regions: India & Subcontinent; South-East Asia – South; South-East Asia – North; Hong Kong, Taiwan & Macau; mainland China & Korea; Japan. The divisions are designed to represent the Asian restaurant scene as fairly as possible at the current time and are agreed with the Academy Chairs.
Each region has its own panel of 53 members including a chairperson to head it up. The panel is made up of food writers and critics, chefs, restaurateurs and highly regarded 'foodies'. Each panellist has seven votes. Of the seven votes, at least three must be used to recognise restaurants outside of the voter’s home country.
Top 10 Restaurants in Asia 2015 as voted are:
1. Gaggan, Bangkok Thailand
2. Narisawa, Tokyo Japan
3. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet, Shanghai China
4. Nihonryori Ryugin, Tokyo Japan
5. Restaurant Andre, Singapore
6. Amber, Hong Kong China
7. Nahm, Bangkok Thailand
8. 8 1/2 Otto E Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong China
9. Waku Ghin, Singapore
10. Jungsik, Seoul South Korea
Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Individual Awards Categories Winners are:
- The S.Pellegrino Best Restaurant in Asia - Gaggan, Thailand
- Asia’s Best Female Chef - Vicky Lau, Tate Dining Room Hong Kong
- The Diners Club® Lifetime Achievement Award - Tetsuya Wakuda, Waku Ghin Singapore
- Chefs’ Choice Award - Richard Ekkebus, Amber Hong Kong
- One To Watch Award, sponsored by Peroni Nastro Azzurro - La Yeon, Seoul South Korea
- Asia’s Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Cacao Barry - Hidemi Sugino, Tokyo
- Highest Climber Award - Hajime, Osaka Japan
- Highest New Entry Award, sponsored by LesConcierges - Fu He Hui, Shanghai China
- Individual Country Awards - Gaggan, Thailand; Cuisine Wat Damnak, Cambodia; Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet, China; Indian Accent, India; Narisawa, Japan; Antonio's, The Philippines; Restaurant Andre, Singapore; Jungsik, South Korea; Nihonbashi, Sri Lanka; Le Mout, Taiwan
An international food Summit, titled ‘The New Modern: 2015 and Beyond’, explored contemporary culinary trends and feature celebrated chefs from Asia and around the world. Held at Singapore’s 72-13 on Sunday, 8th March from 1.30pm - 6.30pm, the Summit included provocative presentations, lively debates and stimulating discussions. The 2015 programme also included a series of Masterclasses conducted on 8th and 9th March at At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy. During these interactive and informative sessions, chefs from The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list and beyond demonstrated their skills and reveal what inspires their culinary innovation as they prepare unique dishes for a select audience.
A fabulous event celebrating the best of Asia!