sia’s longstanding food and wine festival the World Gourmet Summit has returned for its 22nd year, running from April 2-29 in Singapore. As part of the event, the regional Awards of Excellence night was held on Tuesday at One Farrer Hotel & Spa, to honor 30 outstanding individuals from the food & beverage (F&B) and hospitality industry in Asia.
Indonesia garnered six nominations in the final round of the awards, with two nominees taking out the top honors.
Mozaic Restaurant in Ubud, Bali, the brainchild of chef Chris Salans, won Best Restaurant of the Year, while chef Ragil Imam Wibowo of Nusa Indonesian Gastronomy in Kemang, Jakarta, was awarded Asian Cuisine Chef of the Year.
“We at Nusa Indonesian Gastronomy are delighted, as this victory proves that Indonesian food is already well accepted by the world’s culinary scene,” Ragil told KompasTravel on Thursday.
He added that many Indonesians still did not believe in Indonesian food, and that his achievement was the result of his team’s hard work to promote Indonesian cuisine to the world.
Ragil said he had gained added confidence to expose Indonesian food on the international culinary scene, given that he had won the award thanks to the votes given by guests of his restaurant.
Meanwhile, for Chris Salan’s Mozaic, it was the third time they had received the award. The chef said in a statement that he was proud to see more Indonesian restaurants and chefs reach the final of the award and expressed hope it would inspire other Indonesian chefs to choose the path of fine dining, and to promote Indonesian food and ingredients as the star.
Indonesian chefs and restaurants competed with counterparts from Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macau, India, Philippines and Cambodia in the Awards of Excellence. Hong Kong was represented by the renowned 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana and Amber, while Thailand was represented by Le Normandie at Mandarin Oriental Bangkok and Bo.Lan.
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In addition to chef Ragil and Mozaic restaurant, Indonesia was also represented by Locavore restaurant in Bali, chef Agung Gede of Kayuputi restaurant in St. Regis Bali, Kayuputi restaurant, and chef Pasquo King of Sundara at Four Seasons Resort, Bali. (mut)
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