Calling New Zealand’s top restaurants and cafés

Media Release
26 February 2007

Calling New Zealand’s top restaurants and cafés

- New categories for 2007 Cuisine Restaurant of the Year Awards,
in association with Mercedes-Benz -

Cuisine magazine, New Zealand’s leading authority on food, wine and good living is now calling for entries for the third annual Cuisine Restaurant of the Year Awards, with the support of new sponsor Mercedes-Benz.

This year the Awards offer four new categories - Best Casual-Dining (Metropolitan), Best Casual-Dining (Regional), Best Ethnic or Themed Restaurant and Best Wine Experience. These categories expand the range of establishments that can enter, making way for entries from even more of New Zealand’s superb culinary talent. The Awards will also use a new star rating system for the finalist restaurants – the same rating system that Cuisine will use for all restaurant reviews from the May 2007 issue.

Head judge Lauraine Jacobs expects the competition this year to be stronger than ever.

“Interest from restaurateurs throughout New Zealand has risen sharply over the past three years. They’ve realised the Awards are an important opportunity for restaurants, whether fine dining or casual, to showcase what they do, and Cuisine Restaurant of the Year has become the major competition which everyone wants to be involved in,” says Lauraine.

Lauraine will be joined by a host of top restaurant critics, including highly regarded international wine and food critic Ralph Kyte-Powell, who will join the panel as a guest judge during the final stage. A regular contributor to the Melbourne Age, Ralph brings to the Awards over 30 years experience in the hospitality industry.

In addition to the new categories, the 2007 Awards will welcome the support of Mercedes-Benz.

“We’re absolutely delighted to announce our new partnership with Mercedes-Benz. It’s exciting to have a brand that sets the benchmark for motor vehicle excellence involved in our search for the best restaurants in the country,” says Lauraine.

“Last year we received 20 percent more entries than the inaugural Awards and this year we anticipate even more. Accordingly we’ve made the process for entering simple and straightforward, to make it easy for busy restaurateurs to enter.”

Roger Zagorski, General Manager for Mercedes-Benz New Zealand, is impressed by the growth of the Awards.

“Mercedes-Benz is passionate about excellence and we’re elated to join Cuisine in their search for our country’s top restaurant. The ongoing success of the Awards and the growing number of restaurants vying for the top honours is a tribute to Cuisine’s passion for culinary excellence,” he says.

Supreme Winner for the 2006 Awards, Creghan Molloy Wright, co-owner of The French Café endorses the value of the competition.

“Awards like Cuisine Restaurant of the Year bring so much to a restaurant like ours - the publicity from winning, or even making finalist, is huge. We also find the process of entering very beneficial - it provides us with an opportunity to take a long, hard look at the business and work out what we do well and what we can do better. I'd encourage any restaurateur to enter – it’s a great experience.”

Once entries close, 30 finalists will be chosen and profiled in the July issue of Cuisine (on sale 11 June). Each finalist will be visited in pairs by the judging panel, who will then select a number of top establishments to be visited for a final judging. From this selection the ‘Supreme Winner’ and the various category winners will be chosen, and winners announced in the September issue of Cuisine (on sale 30 July).

The Cuisine Restaurant of the Year Awards is open to all New Zealand restaurants and cafés that have been in business for six months or more. Entry forms can be downloaded from www.cuisine.co.nz, and must be received by 30 March 2007.

ENDS

Released on behalf of Fairfax Magazines by Julie Asbury, Network PR, 09 306 5815 or 021 633 094, julie.asbury@networkpr.com

About the Cuisine Restaurant of the Year Awards

The Cuisine Restaurant of the Year Awards are an annual event and celebrate New Zealand’s top restaurants and reward great dining experiences. The Awards offer Cuisine readers expert recommendations on the best places to eat. They also provide local restaurants and cafés with an opportunity to showcase outstanding service and wine programmes.

The categories for the 2007 Awards are:

- Supreme Winner
- Best Fine Dining Experience
- Best Casual-Dining Experience - Metropolitan (NEW category)
- Best Casual-Dining - Regional (NEW category)
- Best Ethnic or Themed Restaurant (NEW category)
- Best Winery Restaurant
- Best Wine Experience (NEW category)

The 2007 Judging Panel is:

* Lauraine Jacobs - head judge and Cuisine food and restaurant editor, Auckland
* Ralph Kyte-Powell - guest international judge, wine and food writer, Melbourne
* David Burton - restaurant critic and food writer for Cuisine and the Dominion Post, Wellington
* Mark Limacher - restaurateur and inaugural winner of the Cuisine Restaurant of the Year Awards 2005, Wellington
* Philip Reay - hospitality tutor, Nelson
* Graham Brown - consultant chef, owner of The Cookhouse, North Canterbury
* Jeremy Jones - former chef and restaurateur, Marlborough
* Sue Fleischl - caterer and former restaurateur, Auckland
* Nicola Legat - publishing manager, Random House, and restaurant critic, Auckland
* Natalia Schamroth - chef and Cuisine food writer, Auckland
* Charmian Smith - Cuisine restaurant critic and editor of the Good Living section of the Otago Daily Times, Dunedin
* Toni Mason - Cuisine restaurant critic and editor of Cuisine news and views, Auckland

Winners from the 2006 Awards include:

- The French Café, Auckland – Supreme Winner and Best Metropolitan Restaurant
- The Bach, Taupo – Best Provincial Restaurant
- Amisfield Bistro, Central Otago – Best Winery Restaurant

ENDS

© Scoop Media