The Top 10 Restaurants

1. The Test Kitchen (Woodstock, Cape Town)

2. La Colombe (Constantia, Cape Town)

3. The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français (Franschhoek)

4. Greenhouse at The Cellars-Hohenort Hotel (Constantia, Cape Town)

5. Five Hundred at The Saxon Hotel (Sandton, Johannesburg)

6. The Restaurant at Waterkloof (Somerset West)

7. Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient (Elandsfontein, Pretoria)

8. Terroir (Stellenbosch)

9. The Pot Luck Club (Woodstock, Cape Town)

10. Jordan Restaurant (Stellenbosch)

Other awards included:

S.Pellegrino Chef of the Year: Scot Kirton of La Colombe

Service Excellence Award: The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français (Franschhoek)

Nederburg Rising Star: Carmen Muller of The Tasting Centre at Rupert & Rothschild(Franschhoek)

Wine Service Award: Lloyd Jusa at Five Hundred at The Saxon (Sandton, Johannesburg)

Lannice Snyman Lifetime Achievement Award (in association with Novus Holdings): Liz McGrath

Boschendal Style Award: Greenhouse at The Cellars-Hohenort Hotel (Constantia, Cape Town)

Woolworths TASTE Eat Out Bursary: Charlton de Ruiter

The judges who worked alongside Eat Out Editor and Chief Judge Abigail Donnelly to determine this year’s winners were Jackie Cameron, Benny Masekwameng and Siba Mtongana. Find out more about the judges here.

Follow @Eat_Out on Twitter and search #eatoutawards for all the thrilling commentary from the event and visit Eat Out’s Instagram page @eatoutguide and Facebook page for photos of the awards lunch. This article was originally published on eatout.co.za.

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In no particular order, here are 5 stylish South African restaurants we think are really, really, really ridiculously good looking.

1. The Pot Luck Club

Expect fantastic views of the city (especially at night) and delicious modern cuisine from this edgy and stylish venue.

Silo Building, Top Floor, The Old Biscuit Mill, 373- 375 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, thepotluckclub.co.za, 021 447 0804

2. Chefs Warehouse and Canteen

We love how the walls of this buzzing restaurant are stacked with all sorts of exotic cooking ingredients and kitchenware.

92 Bree Street, Cape Town, chefswarehouse.co.za, 021 422 0128

3. Perron

This bright and flashy Mexican spot is decorated in turquoise and pink (not to mention fun florals). Perfect for an evening of flamboyance!

Illovo Junction, corner of Oxford Road and Corlett Drive, Johannesburg, perron.co.za, 011 880 7296

4. Harveys

This previous Eat Out Style Award winner is all about dramatic elegance. Think giant chandeliers and a phantom staircase.

Shop 13 Umhlanga Centre, 185 Ridge Road, Umhlanga Rocks, Durban, harveysrestaurant.co.za, 031 561 4977

5. Five Hundred

The open kitchen is the first thing you see as you enter, which is just one of the elements that makes this exclusive restaurant a truly theatrical experience.

The Saxon Hotel, 36 Saxon Road, Sandhurst, Sandton, Johannesburg, saxon.co.za, 011 292 6000

Missed our previous post on 5 Stylish South African Restaurants? Don’t miss it! All of the above restaurants were nominees for the 2014 Boschendal Style Awards. For more information, visit eatout.co.za.

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The nominees, in alphabetical order, are:

Bread & Wine
DW Eleven-13
Five Hundred
Jordan Restaurant
La Mouette
Makaron
Overture
Planet Restaurant
Restaurant Mosaic
Rust en Vrede
Terroir
The Greenhouse at Cellars-Hohenort
The Kitchen at Maison
The Pot Luck Club
The Restaurant at Newton Johnson
The Restaurant at Waterkloof
The Tasting Room
The Test Kitchen
The White Room at Dear Me
Tokara 

South Africa’s new Top 10 will be announced on the 16th of November 2014 at Thunder City in Cape Town. The glittering awards ceremony will see six celebrated chefs preparing a five-course meal paired with wine and beer for the largest audience yet. Tickets are on sale now via Webtickets.

Where else could you have six decorated chefs cooking for you under one roof ­– with wine and premium drinks included? 

Eat Out is delighted to reveal that the event’s showcase dinner – always a highlight of the evening – will be prepared by:

David Higgs of Five Hundred (our reigning Chef of the Year)

George Jardine of Jordan Restaurant (currently no. 6 in the Top 10)

Neil Jewell of Bread & Wine (a Top 10 nominee in 2013)

Bertus Basson of Overture (no. 7)

PJ Vadas formerly of Camphors at Vergelegen (no. 8 in the Top 10)

Vanessa Marx of Dear Me, who was named 2013’s Rising Star

We’ve even heard whisperings of an interactive dessert with Soma confection! Each course will be paired with free-flowing complimentary drinks, including the likes of Nederburg, Boschendal and Grolsch.

On the night, the Top 10 restaurants in the country for 2014 will be unveiled, along with the Restaurant of the Year, San Pellegrino Chef of the Year, Grolsch Service Excellence Award, the winner of the Lannice Snyman Lifetime Achievement Award in Association with Paarl Media, the Boschendal Style Award and Nederburg Rising Star Award. After the awards ceremony, the celebrations will continue into the early hours of the morning with extended festivities at the venue. Best you get your dancing shoes shined!

This year Abigail Donnelly, Eat Out editor and judge for the annual restaurant awards, was supported by five anonymous judges, whose identities will also be revealed on awards night. With the determining factors being excellence in food, service and ambience, the judges ate at restaurants across the country to determine the nominees, and each judge scored restaurants individually on a scorecard.

Says Donnelly, “I am very excited about this year’s list of nominees. We’ve seen a number of significant and newsworthy changes at the country’s top restaurants over the past year, which means that – besides the excellent restaurants we’ve celebrated before – there are some very deserving newcomers on the list. We look forward to honouring these phenomenal restaurants for their stellar work at this year’s event, which is going to be the biggest awards ceremony we’ve hosted yet!”

Follow @Eat_Out on Twitter to join the conversation and to see live updates on the night, and like the Eat Out Facebook page. The Eat Out magazine 2015 will launch on the night of the Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards and will be available at selected Woolworths, Exclusive Books, Pick n Pay, Spar and CNA stores too.

Buy tickets online now for this once-in-a-lifetime foodie experience.

For more information visit eatout.co.za.

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