Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants returns to Macao in 2019

Following the successful move to Macao in 2018, the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony and associated event program will return to the city-state in 2019. On the evening of Tuesday 26th March, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants will gather the region’s most celebrated chefs, renowned restaurateurs, industry VIPs and international media at Wynn Palace Cotai to reveal the 2019 list and special award winners. The prestigious awards ceremony, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, is hosted with the support of Macao Government Tourism Office.

The gala awards evening is the highlight of a series of events over the week in Macao which will see the greatest culinary talent from across Asia gather for collaborative dinners, interactive talks and the annual Chefs’ Feast celebration. The 2019 program will include the popular #50BestTalks event at Wynn Macau, presented by Miele, on Monday 25th March. The one-day curated forum will bring together world-leading chefs and culinary leaders to discuss big ideas around sustainability, sourcing, over-consumption and other current issues facing chefs, restaurateurs and diners under the heading ‘Vital Ingredients’.

In 2018, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants took a group of chefs from all over the region to discover historic and modern Macao as part of the #50BestExplores series. Visiting cooks Manish Mehrotra, Jason Tan, Hiroyasu Kawate, Ton Tassanakajohn, Jordy Navarra and Hiroe Higuchi explored Macao with local chefs Weng Keong, Alfredo Ho and Chow Chiu Chin. Find out what they discovered on their tour of the local markets, historic and cultural reference points and culinary experiences, in our 50 Best Explores Macao video.

The theme of #50BestTalks reflects the organisation’s recent focus on key issues of sustainability, inclusivity,
opportunity and diversity in global gastronomy. In 2018, the Sustainable Restaurant Award was introduced
as part of the wider Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards program for the first time with the new winner to be
announced in Macao next year.

William Drew, Group Editor of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, says: “After the great success of the Asia’s 50 Best
Restaurants 2018 ceremony in Macao, we’re very much looking forward to returning to this exciting and fast
evolving destination. Last year’s program and awards attracted the highest number of attendees in the
event’s history and we anticipate 2019 will be even bigger and, of course, even better.”

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of Macao Government Tourism Office, says: “It will be our
pleasure to showcase the east-meets-west cultural heritage of Macao, the brand-new integrated resorts, the
diverse calendar of events and, of course, our vibrant dining scene, as we pave the way to transform the city
into a world centre of tourism and leisure. The innovative and creative spirit of Asia’s top chefs gathered in
Macao in March this year left a strong impression in our city. As a newly designated UNESCO Creative City of
Gastronomy, we are looking forward to interacting once again with the best of the best in the Asian culinary
world, and being inspired in our efforts to take our destination to its next level of development, in terms of
quality, diversity and sustainability.”

Wynn Resorts, the owner of two luxury integrated resorts in Macao (Wynn Palace Cotai and Wynn Macau),
is once again the Official Venue Partner. Since the 2018 ceremony, Wynn Palace Cotai and Wynn Macau have
hosted a series of world-class gourmet events and welcomed revered chefs to their premises. In July, Macao’s
most celebrated Cantonese chef, Tam Kwok Fung, has taken the helm of Wing Lei Palace at Wynn Palace.

Since its 2013 launch, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants has celebrated local culinary traditions, rewarded innovation
and identified new talent in the region. Now in its seventh year, the list has become a trusted guide for lovers
of gastronomy. The awards have been hosted in Singapore (2013-2015) and Bangkok, Thailand (2016-2017)
before moving to Macao for the first time in 2018.

The 2018 list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, featured eight new
entries and included special awards such as the Miele One To Watch Award, Asia’s Best Pastry Chef,
sponsored by Valrhona, the Sustainable Restaurant Award and the elit:registered: Vodka Asia’s Best Female Chef.