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Speaker 1: Tomorrow is one of my favorite events in the Cape

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Speaker 1: Town calendar. I don't know how I've managed to bag

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Speaker 1: invites for this for the last four years, but I'm

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Speaker 1: delighted that I have. I get to throw on a

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Speaker 1: frock TBC, TBC to be confirmed to be decided, don't know,

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Speaker 1: and go and enjoy hobnobbing with a bunch of people

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Speaker 1: from the restaurant industry and eating delicious food and generally

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Speaker 1: having a wonderful time. Courtesy of the twenty twenty six

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Speaker 1: Eat Out Willworth's Restaurant Awards. It's happening tomorrow at the

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Speaker 1: Baxter and the Culinary Dilector. Delector, She is delectable? Is

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Speaker 1: that Abigail Donald who's in the studio? Hello, it's so

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Speaker 1: lovely to see you.

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Speaker 2: So nice. Should not be just once?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, it's ridiculous. Let's do it three times,

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Speaker 1: you know, let's not let's not listen. Tell us a

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Speaker 1: little bit for people who aren't going and people who

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Speaker 1: may not know the history of these words, because they

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Speaker 1: have changed an awful lot over the years.

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Speaker 2: They've just grown. Been twenty eighty when we had an awards,

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Speaker 2: I think with ten people, I wasn't there, No, but

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Speaker 2: I surely was after. But yeah, it's it's just incredible

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Speaker 2: how it's grown. So and then we just kind of

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Speaker 2: group from ten and overnight it was one hundred and

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Speaker 2: twenty and we were the Bay and we were packed.

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Speaker 2: And then and then we just got the most amazing

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Speaker 2: sponsors all the time, and obviously we have the most

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Speaker 2: amazing sponsor Wares. So yeah, and now we are six

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Speaker 2: probably pushing seven hundred tomorrow. Are you seeing at the Baxter?

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Speaker 2: I know it's incredible.

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Speaker 1: God, that is incredible. Was it the first year at

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Speaker 1: the Baxter? Last year?

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Speaker 2: Yes? Yes?

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Speaker 1: And how what was the change because we were over

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Speaker 1: there at Graham West and then Baxter.

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Speaker 2: Yes, So we changed it up. We did a bit

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Speaker 2: of research and the chefs kind of wanted in the

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Speaker 2: restauranteers and the teams they kind of wanted more of

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Speaker 2: a cocktail party. They wanted to like mingle more because

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Speaker 2: we found those first two hours of serving cannipees and

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Speaker 2: the shed pain Fountain that was what they really wanted,

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Speaker 2: you know. So yeah, so we changed it up from

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Speaker 2: not a six kind of course seated kind of dinner,

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Speaker 2: which I do miss, yeah, you know, yeah, but I

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Speaker 2: do love the new format, and we got just raving

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Speaker 2: reviews last year at the Baxter, So I suppose that's

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Speaker 2: our home. Now.

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Speaker 1: Talk about the process of selection, because when we turn

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Speaker 1: up in all our finery and everything's so coordinated and wonderful,

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Speaker 1: but your hard work starts. Look, how when do you start?

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Speaker 2: We started in July twenty five. Yeah, okay, so and

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Speaker 2: we ended end of middle of feb O. Gosh. So

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Speaker 2: it's a long process where the judges go and eat

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Speaker 2: out country wide, and it's a lot of restaurants. You know,

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Speaker 2: we're looking at about seventy eight seventy nine restaurants that's

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Speaker 2: we independently go and visit.

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Speaker 1: Do they know you're coming?

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Speaker 2: Well, our judges are anonymous. I'm not a anonymous so

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Speaker 2: you know, in all the times or before times, we

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Speaker 2: always used to book under other names. I won't forget

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Speaker 2: sometimes who I was when I at a restaurant, I'd

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Speaker 2: like like, get the booking form? Who am I? So? Yeah,

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Speaker 2: So some of the chefs have guessed the judges. Some haven't.

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Speaker 2: You know, they think they might know. They try and

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Speaker 2: tell me they know, but yah, I always believe you know.

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Speaker 2: Once you this kind of caliber of restaurant that you're

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Speaker 2: judging so much has been prepped beforehand. What can you

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Speaker 2: really give me if you didn't know? You know, maybe

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Speaker 2: you can push me to table one or not or

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Speaker 2: by the fire or whatever make it more comfy for me.

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Speaker 2: But I often fine. Then the service is a little

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Speaker 2: bit nervous as well, you know so, and I yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's a bit awkward sometimes for me to arrive at

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Speaker 2: a restaurant. I don't want anybody to feel that they've

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Speaker 2: been tricked or you know, let's just be transparent. This

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Speaker 2: is me, you know what I like, and cook your

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Speaker 2: heart out, do what you dotely and you'll be awarded

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Speaker 2: for your beautiful work.

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Speaker 1: Talk about categories because those have also and the way

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Speaker 1: that the way that you that you what do we

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Speaker 1: award or grade that?

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Speaker 2: Yes as well, that changed a couple of years ago.

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Speaker 2: You know, we always celebrated the top ten, but the

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Speaker 2: eating platform in South Africa as it is international has

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Speaker 2: just changed and grown and grown and grown. So we

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Speaker 2: have now reverted to stars is an international trend as well,

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Speaker 2: and it just gives everybody a platform to be celebrated.

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Speaker 2: And you know a lot of people say, well, you know,

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Speaker 2: maybe a great pusta restaurant could be a two star. Yes,

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Speaker 2: it could, because we have developed an app where the

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Speaker 2: judges go and spend a whole lot of time. Each

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Speaker 2: restaurant probably visit takes an hour and a half to

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Speaker 2: fill in all the questions that we ask you. Oh,

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Speaker 2: so they go armed with a whole on an app.

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Speaker 2: It's then sent to auditors at the end, and that

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Speaker 2: kind of just shook us. Yeah. So yeah, so we

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Speaker 2: have this year, we have Sarah, we have eighteen new

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Speaker 2: restaurants awarded gosh, yeah, on the nominee list. So we're

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Speaker 2: looking at growth all the time. You know, some are closing,

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Speaker 2: some didn't make the aggregate of the you know, anything

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Speaker 2: over seventy, but yore. We're always looking for those new places,

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Speaker 2: those special places.

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Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, what excites you, Abigail at the moment in

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Speaker 1: the in the restaurant industry, and I'm not talking about

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Speaker 1: specific places, but just the vibe and things. What what

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Speaker 1: is the vibe at the moment? How are people feeling

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Speaker 1: about the industry. There were a tough few years there.

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Speaker 1: We seem to have come out of that. I was

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Speaker 1: speaking to some foreigners who were over the other day

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Speaker 1: and They're like, we just I was going to do

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Speaker 1: a terrible American accent and I'm not going to do it.

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Speaker 1: I'm not going to. But they're like, we didn't know

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Speaker 1: how great South African food was. We knew that you

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Speaker 1: had the views and this we didn't. We had no

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Speaker 1: idea about the food, you know, and they weren't sure

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Speaker 1: of a bobber too, and they've been eating.

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Speaker 2: Everywhere our South African Culiny platform. I mean, the industry

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Speaker 2: is booming right now. After COVID, you know, there was

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Speaker 2: the kind of talk internationally and local about you know,

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Speaker 2: fine dining is dying. Fine dining is not dying. You know,

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Speaker 2: there are always those special times that we need to

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Speaker 2: celebrate at those kinds of restaurants, and they're not your

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Speaker 2: daily restaurants, but there's definitely a space for that. It's

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Speaker 2: about just pushing the boundaries these excellence, mind blowing kind

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Speaker 2: of stuff happening as there is you know, the farm

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Speaker 2: to table as well, the sustainable restaurants, which we also

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Speaker 2: award on the night. So yeah, so for me, it's

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Speaker 2: you know, I've got huge respect for fine dining and

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Speaker 2: I love sitting and having a twelve course curated beautiful

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Speaker 2: menu with the wine pairing or cocktail or even a

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Speaker 2: tea pairing. But then sure, I just adore my local

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Speaker 2: retire as well. You know that that just offers simple

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Speaker 2: food but also can be on that list. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Why why should people care about the eat Out Awards?

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Speaker 1: Our listeners who are listening and who aren't going to

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Speaker 1: be going tomorrow? But what what can they take from

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Speaker 1: the awards?

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm not being biased, but eat Out is the

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Speaker 2: most credible restaurant guide and awards in the country. I'm

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Speaker 2: passionate about that. We invest in a whole lot of cash,

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Speaker 2: from the eating, to the accommodation, to the tipping, to

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Speaker 2: the traveling, the air flights, the car flights, the rented cars,

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Speaker 2: the judges' fees. You know, this is all very transparent.

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Speaker 2: You know, we could go the easy way out, but

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Speaker 2: this is credible, and we've done so much research from

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Speaker 2: international and local and local competition is good, don't get

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Speaker 2: me wrong. I mean it's amazing, but it's got to

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Speaker 2: be done the right way, and we did a whole

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Speaker 2: lot of research and honestly, eat Out is the most

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Speaker 2: transparent in what we do, and that's incredible.

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Speaker 1: When I'm so intrigued as well around the around the judging.

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Speaker 1: I love a unanimous vote in anything. I love that

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Speaker 1: because that, for me is that that's it. Did you

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Speaker 1: have situations where it was just all out fabulous, fabulous

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Speaker 1: and everyone said were completely agree because I mean, yes,

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Speaker 1: you're going to have you're going to have an idea

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Speaker 1: of okay, that they're doing very well here. They're doing

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Speaker 1: very well here. But people are individuals. Judges like different things.

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Speaker 1: Different things appeal to different people.

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Speaker 2: And restaurants have bad days and good days. You know, consistency,

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Speaker 2: you know, true consistency shines must shine and yeah, and

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Speaker 2: we have to look at that. And that's why it's

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Speaker 2: so great that we have eight independent judges visiting in season,

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Speaker 2: off season, day, night, holiday, so we can get like

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Speaker 2: a real good average and pick your judges.

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Speaker 1: Are you allowed to tell me?

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Speaker 2: I usually every year kind of go through who who's

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Speaker 2: who's who, who's doing what, who's traveling, who's making a change,

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Speaker 2: who's great writers? So from food editors to chefs. You

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Speaker 2: can't have a restaurant because that would be not so good.

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Speaker 2: You do x chefs familias. Yeah, So so we have

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Speaker 2: a good, nice kind of round up and then we

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Speaker 2: kind of just see who really works together as a team.

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Speaker 2: And you should re.

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Speaker 1: Mathan would be a great can you imagine he'd be great.

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Speaker 2: What's Macan's favorite restaurant? I don't know, don't ask me,

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Speaker 2: so so, yeah, we do have discussions, very few discussions,

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Speaker 2: but yeah, ninety nine maybe ninety eight percent. The restaurant

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Speaker 2: that wins was unanimous.

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Speaker 1: God, what feather in the camps?

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Speaker 2: Incredible? And you know, people say, oh my god, we've

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Speaker 2: got such an amazing job, and I do. I have

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Speaker 2: the best job. But you know, not all the restaurants

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Speaker 2: you know that we visit always amazing. You know, not

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Speaker 2: every dish of a twelve course can be like one

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Speaker 2: hundred percent amazing. Yep. So yeah, but we've got some

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Speaker 2: exciting news as well to announce go on tomorrow, but

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Speaker 2: I can't can't tell me, but you're going to be there.

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Speaker 2: I'm going to be there, Bring me and we could

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Speaker 2: talk about it.

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Speaker 1: Really and before we go, because we've got to wrap

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Speaker 1: up for news. Would you ever get this televised?

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Speaker 2: Can't we get it on the telly? We have headed

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Speaker 2: before and it's something that we discuss every year, but

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Speaker 2: I think next year we just have to do it.

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Speaker 2: Oh god, we have to like more like a reality.

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Speaker 2: How about a reality one just to see the whole

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Speaker 2: how we all the whole houses.

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Speaker 1: That would be amazing. If you need a host. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: fifty ninety eight out of wards happening. I'm going there

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Speaker 1: at tomorrow, so I'll give you all the feedback and

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Speaker 1: all the know how. And that's surprise announcement. Abigail, always

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Speaker 1: so lovely to see you. Thank you very much