Cream of the Crop

THE WORLD'S 50 Best Restaurants Awards is finally here. On June 25, top chefs, international media and industry players will descend on Marina Bay Sands to see who will be the top eatery in this much followed - but often controversial - culinary version of the Oscars. As the first time that Singapore is hosting this global event - a step up from hosting the Asia's 50Best from 2013 to 2015 - the local F&B industry is not sitting still at this opportunity to hobnob with the global culinary glitterati. Besides putting Singapore on the international dining map, what's at stake is the chance to create awareness for local chefs in the hope that it might translate into a position on this coveted list, and the business potential that comes with it.

THE TOURISM PERSPECTIVE

But first, what's in it for Singapore? As part of Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) strategy of turning the country into the dining hub of Asia, it inked a deal with 50Best's organisers William Reed Business Media (WRBM) for a "ground-breaking three-year partnership to create a pipeline of prestigious 50Best events in Singapore," says Ranita Sundra, STB's Director of Retail and Dining.

That means a steady diet of branded events including Asia's 50Best Bars this year and the world event in 2021. The idea, of course, is to tap into the huge media buzz that the World's 50Best attracts wherever it goes, which makes tourism boards of many countries keen to host such affairs.

"Globally significant awards platforms (including the Michelin Guide) garner significant international interest from the public, industry players and the media," she explains about STB's choice. "Locally, chefs strive for greater excellence with the hope of being recognized on such platforms. Anecdotally, chefs also see a boost to their business once they are recognized via these platforms. "Furthermore, the exposure associated with such awards is a significant boost to the profile of a destination and its offerings. In the longer term, such exposure and recognition are expected to lead to increased visitorship, spend, business opportunities and collaborations."

Australia, for one, has seen it work for them, although the 50Best is just one of a larger programme, Restaurant Australia, that has been in place since 2014 to boost culinary tourism. It hosted the World's 50Best in 2017 in Melbourne, which came after Rene Redzepi's sold out pop-up in Sydney the year before, which really put the country in the global food spotlight.

John O'Sullivan, managing director of Tourism Australia, says that for the World's 50Best, 247 chefs (including 47 from the top 50 list), influencers and 150 international media were hosted and taken on familiarisation tours to show them the best of the country's cuisine. That year also saw chef Dan Hunter's Brae join compatriot Ben Shewry's Attica in the top 50 at number 44. "Brae received more than 16,000 website views in the hours after the awards ceremony, an increase of 3,900 per cent," says Mr O'Sullivan. "High profile events, and the advocacy they generate, really helps to maintain Australia's fashionability and provides motivating reasons for people to experience the destination for themselves." He cites how, since Restaurant Australia's launch in 2014 (which included high profile events other than 50Best and the Noma pop-up) spending on food and drink jumped by 43 per cent, "which is a fantastic result for businesses in our visitor economy."

However, the lasting effect for its star restaurants is another story. After its promising debut in 2017, Brae dropped to a still respectable number 58 in 2018, while Attica stayed comfortably at number 20. But in the just released list of restaurants ranked from 51 to 120 (extended from the usual 100) for 2019, Attica went into freefall - plunging to number 84; while Brae dropped to 101.

AWARDS WITH BENEFITS

Both tourism boards' emphasis on greater exposure to the world and the business potential is not lost on the local F&B industry, which has seen what kind of results guides like Michelin and 50Best can bring. Top of the game is of course Odette, which chef-owner Julien Royer has led to the top of the Asia's 50 Best list, an accolade which saw "hundreds and hundreds of enquiries and reservations" for the restaurant which Chef Royer says has been busy since it opened four years ago. The fact that the restaurant also has two Michelin stars is another factor for its success.

Ivan Brehm's Michelin-starred Nouri, which made its debut at number 39 in the Asia's 50Best list, also saw "a good increase in covers" although he notices that "Michelin and Asia's 50Best differ in their demographic. Michelin represents an older crowd, predominantly western. Guests that reach us through 50Best tend to be younger and from everywhere."

Wee Teng Wen, of the Lo&Behold Group which Odette is a part of, feels that Michelin and 50Best play complementary roles. "They are both prominent platforms which help showcase us to an international audience. Where Michelin celebrates the more classic institutions in the tradition of fine dining, 50 Best highlights the progressive and unconventional stars of the culinary world. Our guess is that 50 Best seems to have surpassed Michelin in terms of reach which has translated to greater impact on reservations and business."

Meanwhile, Michelin-starred Labyrinth owner Han Li Guang is one chef who's looking forward to next week's event. "It's only once in a long time that we can bring something as big as this, with something like 300 chefs in town - not just from 50Best but chefs from around the region. With media, PR, social media influencers and investors in town, it would be foolish not to take advantage of this opportunity to introduce our cuisine to the world." For sure, the locavore chef would like the exposure of being on the Asia's 50Best list from a business perspective. But for now he is looking to organise farm-to-table tours for visiting chefs, media and PRs, "not to come to Labyrinth but more to raise awareness that Singapore has an agricultural scene worth boasting about".

BEING NUMBER ONE

For Odette's Chef Royer, soaring to the top of the Asia's 50Best list has brought both a sense of validation and a reality check. "Once you get into this game you have to accept that while you may win, you have to be prepared to lose. This will not last forever. What is important to me is that I work with an amazing team and we cook with the same heart and the same way for everybody."

What Chef Royer has going for him is a reputation that extends all the way to his years at Jaan, when he made his first appearance in 50Best as 'The One to Watch'. For Odette, he counts several factors for the restaurant's popularity besides his emphasis on the dining experience: its location in the National Gallery; its two Michelin stars; and its size. "We have 70 to 75 people dining here, which is more than a restaurant that does 25 people for lunch and 25 for dinner, so we have a wider range of exposure". He doesn't entertain requests for free meals "because we are a business".

Still, it's not wine and roses at the top. "It puts us in the spotlight and makes us quite vulnerable to criticism from a larger audience. However, I still believe in just putting our heads down and sticking to what we set out to do - create an amazing experience that brings together quality produce, honest cooking and sincere hospitality."

50 SHADES OF GREY

Attica and Brae's performance in the 2019 list is just the tip of the iceberg for the surprise drops that restaurants on last year's list experienced. Among those falling out of the top 50 are: The Ledbury (42 to 64); Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (45 to 83); D.O.M (30 to 54); and Arzak (31 to 53). How does that happen?

Chalk it up to the quirky voting system of the 50Best guide, where 1000 plus voters set out each year to choose their favourite restaurants and the results reflect their dining experiences of the year. It's a system that relies very much on how 'popular' a restaurant is, which has spawned a 'parallel economy' -of PR agencies courting media to raise the profiles of their clients; chefs linking up for collaborations to widen their networks; of restaurants lobbying for 'influential people' to dine mostly for free, in the hope of boosting their chances at snagging that all-precious vote.

In the process, it has created an environment ripe for opportunists, with restaurants dealing with outright requests for free meals from bloggers, influencers, and people claiming to be either voters or from obscure media outlets looking for 'content'. Tales abound, too, of chefs flying in 'relevant' people from overseas to dine at their restaurants for free, or lobbying the guide's regional chairs for special treatment. The need to network intensively, too, is practically a must.

One ex-50Best chef says that he got tired of the wheeling and dealing that goes into scoring a place on the list. "They say that voters are supposed to be anonymous, but the reality is that the industry knows who most of them are." In fact, he finds such activity particularly rampant in the Asian guide, but less so in the World's 50Best which he feels is more impartial. Still, he decided that he didn't want to be part of a circle where chefs no longer cook for passion but for awards.

GAMING THE SYSTEM

"You may try to game the system but succeeding is another matter," warns William Drew, director of content at WRBM. "There is always a lot of talk about this. When you become quite big and influential, people want to get on the list, and of course they will discuss how to do it. We continue to monitor our voting process, and we have Deloitte as our independent adjudication partner which looks forensically at the voting data and investigate anything suspicious.

"Voters are largely anonymous - if they claim to be and they are, they will no longer be a voter if such news becomes public. The only voters who are public are the Academy Chairs but there are only 26 of them out of 1,040 voters. (Essentially) you can lobby all you like as a restaurant or a PR agency to get people into your restaurant. Voting is private and anonymous, so if a voter doesn't think that the restaurant is actually one of the best that they've been to in the past 18 months, they're not going to vote for it, whether they had a good time or were hosted or not."

The same goes for a country that hosts a 50Best event which expects to get a boost of votes for its restaurants. "Experience tells us it doesn't work like that. When we hosted the World's 50Best in Australia in 2017, Tourism Australia was extremely happy with the partnership because it helped showcase Australian food and drink overall. But it didn't make any difference to last year's list (2019's results certainly reflected that). There's no direct correlation of where we host the awards. We hosted Asia's 50Best in Singapore for the first three years, but restaurants in Bangkok took the top spots. Of course, there were a good number of Singapore restaurants in that list, but there always will be because it's a great dining city."

But the guide has been making efforts to balance the playing field, with better representation from non-European regions; this year also saw more female chef-led restaurants entering the long list.

MAKING IT FAIR AND SQUARE

While not all would agree with Mr Drew, Danny Yip of Hong Kong's Chairman restaurant says that he has never had to lobby anyone to get to where he is on the list. "When I got into the first Asia's 50Best in 2013, I did not even understand the voting process," he says. "I didn't do any four-hands collaborations and did not attend any related events. We focused solely on our own food. I did one four-hands dinner this year but that's all we will do. At the end of the day, it is the food that matters. We always have other chefs visiting us which is an honour. We are a small restaurant, we can only fit a small number of customers so we can't compete even if we want to."

Chef Brehm reckons that transparency - whether with 50Best, Michelin or other guides - will go a long way in avoiding conflict of interest issues. "Ultimately, the problems regarding objectivity in rating or voting of restaurants lie with people, not the organisation. In an environment as competitive as the restaurant industry, sometimes the problems start with the restaurants and chefs who will do anything to get recognition. It's only when relationships between tourism boards, chefs, voters and people who stand to benefit are disclosed will you have full objectivity."

CHECKS AND BALANCES

Mr Wee, too, feels that "the panel approach for the World's 50Best is not perfect, but it helps create a more faithful representation of the world's tastes at a given time, showcasing some of the world's hottest and brightest stars. But I do agree that the system has some weaknesses in the reliance on panels and tasters which favour more socially hungry restaurants."

Even so, "while there are no explicitly enforced rules to prevent abuse of the trust system in place, I also believe that free meals can only get so far. Once a voter is through the door, the actual dining experience will speak for itself."

Of course, there will also be competitors for the World's 50 Best including The World Restaurant Awards, which was created by IMG in partnership with creative director Joe Warwick and Andrea Petrini, the Chair of the judging panel. It has just 100 judges picked from among chefs, media and the industry and gives out awards not for best restaurants but for categories such as Restaurant of the Year and New Arrival. Incidentally, STB is also one of its partners.

Mr Warwick - who was also the original founder of the 50Best - says, "The World Restaurant Awards are about celebrating the whole gamut of the world's restaurants and restaurant experiences. We have already highlighted restaurant experiences that don't get consideration elsewhere. The 50Best was an original idea at the time and has had lots of imitators. We're trying to do something completely different and there's room for both of us. It's not about who is better, it's all good for the restaurants whether it's Michelin, 50 Best or us."

THE JOY OF AWARDS

Whatever the outcome, there's no denying the excitement in the air and the celebrations that will follow once the top 50 restaurants in the world are unveiled next week. Sure, there will be much debate over which restaurant is truly the best, but few will disagree that the real winner would be Singapore's dining scene.

50 BEST HIGHLIGHTS

#50Best Talks: Kitchen Karma

Listen to top chefs such as Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert; 2017 World's Best Female Chef Ana Roš; Waku Ghin's Tetsuya Wakuda as they share their thoughts on the restaurant business with Massimo Bottura and Daniela Soto-Innes on June 23 at Marina Bay Sands' Expo and Convention Centre. The talk will be held from 6.30pm to 8pm and tickets are priced at S$100. Tickets are available at MarinaBaySands.com/ W50B.

50 Best Masterclasses

Find out what goes in the cuisine at acclaimed restaurants Geranium in Copenhagen, Central in Lima, Peru, and Gaggan in Bangkok in a series of masterclasses helmed by their chefs on June 23 at different times. Geranium's Rufus Kofoed takes you on a culinary tour of Scandinavian seafood, while Central's Virgilio Martinez and 50 BEST HIGHLIGHTS his wife Pía León offer delicious insight into Peruvian cuisine. And Gaggan's titular chef Gaggan Anand talks about taking Indian food to a whole different level. The classes will be held at Tickets are priced at S$150 each, and are available via MarinaBaySands.com/ W50B.

Chef collaborations

Get a taste of some 50Best restaurants when visiting chefs team up with some of Singapore's top talents. Chefs from Mirazur, Alleno Paris and Atelier Crenn will cook dinner at Odette on June 23; Quintonil will team up with CUT by Wolfgang Puck also on June 23 for dinner; while a taste of Schloss Schauenstein can be had at Corner House for lunch on June 25. Contact the respective restaurants for more details and bookings.