Melbourne to host World's 50 Best Restaurants awards
It’s official: the 2017 edition of the World's 50 Best Restaurants is coming to Australia.
The awards, which were held in New York this year, are coming to Melbourne on April 5.
Specifically, they will be held at the Royal Exhibition Building, coinciding with an event program taking place from April 1-7.
The awards will also run alongside the 25th Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, taking place from March 31 to April 9. That festival will include a MasterClass series celebrating international chefs from the World's 50 Best which makes a nice combination.
It’s a significant move for the event which had been held in London for 14 years straight before it was shifted to New York.
It’s more than just a case of rebranding for the awards and giving them a greater international scope. It’s totally strategic, working with Tourism Australia, which has been out there promoting the nation’s culinary offerings as part of its tourism campaign since 2013.
Examples of that included Tourism Australia partnering with superstar Danish chef René Redzepi who opened a pop-up restaurant in Sydney showcasing local, Australian ingredients.
Significantly, Australian restaurants have done well in the awards. The New York event saw Ben Shewry's Attica getting the gong for best restaurant in the Australasian region. That placed it at number 33 among the world's top 50 list. And regional restaurant Brae jumped 22 spots from 87th to 65th place.
“After 14 years hosting the awards event in London, we decided to take The World's 50 Best Restaurants on a global tour, kicking off in New York in June 2016,” said group editor William Drew in a statement.
“Now we could not be more thrilled to be moving to Melbourne, one of the great food cities of the world, in 2017. Come April next year, Australia will undoubtedly be the place to be for those passionate about great food and inspired restaurants.”
by Leon Gettler, October 18th 2016
