Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony held last year in Macao attracted the highest number of attendees in the event’s history
Top chefs and restaurateurs from across Asia will gather in Macao for the announcement of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 list and related events, running from March 24 to 26. Organized with the support of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the world famous gourmet event is hosted in the city for the second consecutive year, providing Macao with the opportunity to once again interact with some of the best chefs in the region, to showcase the city, its dynamic restaurant scene and development as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
The unveiling of the highly anticipated annual ranking of the fifty most influential restaurants in Asia will take place at a gala event at Wynn Palace on Tuesday evening. Several special awards will also be presented at the occasion to honor the best of the best chefs and restaurants in several categories, including Sustainable Restaurant Award, Asia’s Best Pastry Chef, One to Watch Award, among others. Chefs and restaurant owners, food critics and media from Macao and destinations across Asia will attend the occasion to witness the announcement of the 2019 results.
Culinary conference 50BestTalks
In tandem with the awards ceremony, a 50BestTalks will be held on Monday at Wynn Macau. Themed “Vital Ingredients”, the session will consist of presentations and cooking demonstrations with a line-up of chefs awarded by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants or from restaurants on the list, to cook and discuss the key elements that give life to a restaurant. A panel discussion with experts and chef-owners whose eateries have earned sustainability awards will follow to facilitate the exchange of ideas on sustainability, sourcing, over-consumption and other current issues facing the sector.
Macao culinary arts students learn from the best in the field
Participating chefs and restaurateurs from across Asia will also have the opportunity of a hands-on experience in making some of Macao’s popular pastries in workshops on Tuesday to prepare almond cookies and Portuguese egg tarts, followed by a visit to nearby gastronomy attractions in Taipa Village. There will be an educational session as well, scheduled for Monday, at Macao University of Science and Technology, with a celebrated chef to share with culinary arts students his approach in restaurant reinvention. In addition, visiting chefs and restaurateurs will have an occasion for networking among themselves and with local counterparts at the annual Chefs’ Feast at Pousada de Coloane, with the menu to include Macanese food.
Last year, when Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants was first held in Macao the event attracted the highest number of attendees in the event’s history, with chefs and restaurateurs from over 90 per cent of the restaurants on the list attending the ceremony. Prior to Macao, the awards presentation ceremony had been held in Singapore (2013-2015) and Bangkok (2016-2017).
Since the launch of the Asian regional version of 50 Best Restaurants in 2013, Macao has had one restaurant in the final list in the first four years (Robuchon au Dôme), while in 2017 two more restaurants were added to the list (Robuchon au Dôme plus Jade Dragon and The Tasting Room), with one restaurant (Jade Dragon) making the list in 2018.
This year on its seventh edition, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list is the regional version of the famous list of the 50 Best Restaurants in the world, published by William Reed Business Media since 2002. Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list is voted by a 300-member committee, whose members include restaurant experts, namely food writers, chefs, restaurateurs and gourmands from across the region. Members base their decisions upon their dining experiences of the past 18 months to list their favorite restaurants.
50BestTalks and Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony will be streamed live (via Facebook) on March 25 after 10:30am and on March 26 after 8:45pm, respectively, at: https://www.facebook.com/Asias50BestRestaurants/