One for your diary - Introducing the World Restaurant Awards

The Staff Canteen

Stars of the culinary industry gathered yesterday in Paris as global leader IMG unveils the“Oscars for the restaurant world”.

Chefs, restaurants and diners are always intrigued when new restaurant awards are revealed and the announcement of the World Restaurant Awards looks sure to add to this high level of interest.

world restaurant awards ladies

An amazing line-up of chefs

were at the launch

Debuting in February 2019, The World Restaurant Awards will showcase some of the world’s most revered restaurants. Described as the “Oscars for the restaurant world” by global leader IMG (who are producing the awards) this will be an annual event recognising and celebrating the diverse talent of the international restaurant scene and has been created for a “restaurant-hungry public increasingly obsessed with eating, drinking and travel.”

Creative Director, Joe Warwick commented: “The World Restaurant Awards will be conducted with complete integrity, total transparency and a real sense of inclusivity. We want to make everyone think about the full gamut of the world’s great restaurants – old and new, from luxury destinations to humble institutions – and what makes them so special.”

This prestigious event will be delivered by the team that brings the renowned Taste Festivals to over 20 cities throughout the world, as well as The Big Feastival and Margaret River Gourmet Escape, making this a truly international collaboration.

Justin Clarke, SVP & Managing Director of Culinary, IMG, said: “With the full force of IMG and WME behind us, we are delighted to bring this first-of-its-kind and star-studded awards programme to life. As the site of the Western world’s first restaurants and a centre of culinary excellence, Paris is a natural and dynamic home for our inaugural event.”

Judging will be undertaken by a panel of 100 celebrated restaurant industry figures, including Yannick Alléno, Elena Arzak, Alex Atala, Massimo Bottura, David Chang, Dominique Crenn, Hélène Darroze, Daniel Humm, René Redzepi, Ana Roš and Clare Smyth, alongside an intercontinental selection of the world’s most-travelled and best-informed members of the culinary press.

Every single member of the 100-strong judging panel has been carefully chosen based on their restaurant knowledge and their propensity to travel as well as to provide rich insight into the international restaurant scene.

world restaurant awards
World Restaurant Awards launch



The awards ceremony will take place on February 18, 2019, where you can expect to see stars of stage and screen mingle amongst the elite of the restaurant industry in what will be the world’s first televised restaurant awards ceremony.

Chair of the Judging Panel and legendary gastronomic writer and broadcaster Andrea Petrini added: “We’d like to make The World Restaurant Awards about the pleasure of eating, drinking, travelling and forward thinking. Not the Nobel Prize for food but rather our take on the idea of an Oscars for the restaurant world, with all the sense of zeitgeist and glamour that implies.”cThe World Restaurant Awards will be working in conjunction with several prestigious brand partners including the Singapore Tourism Board; Champagne Laurent-Perrier; luxury kitchen appliance manufacturer Gaggenau; and Fine Dining Lovers.

The judging panel has also earmarked their commitment to the Perennial Farming Initiative which is the chosen charity for The World Restaurant Awards. This initiative is dedicated to combating climate change by mobilising support for regenerative agriculture in the food world.

Co-founders Karen Leibowitz and Anthony Myint have a history of leadership in the restaurant industry – notably as co-founders of The Perennial, which has been lauded as the most sustainable restaurant in the world, and of Mission Chinese Food, which has won international acclaim and raised enough money to provide over one million meals for the SF/Marin Food Bank

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The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen

Editor 15th May 2018

One for your diary - Introducing the World Restaurant Awards