Oscars-style event at the Baxter to herald revamped Eat Out restaurant awards

Having been probably the harshest critic of the Eat Out Awards for some years, I must give them their due. They took it on the chin, pressed pause on the entire Eat Out restaurant awards project, rewrote the judging book, and got on with it. I respect that. Credit is due.

And no, there’s no but.

Owners New Media listened to harsh criticism of their restaurant awards from media and industry peers. What would have been the 2024 event, normally held in November, was delayed until 31 March 2025.

This week New Media announced that, “after a transformative year for the brand”, the Baxter Theatre Centre in Cape Town would play host to the 2025 event. 

A “refreshed format” was promised and an “unforgettable evening of glamour and culinary excellence”.

Anyone who has attended the annual event in its former incarnation at the massive GrandWest casino complex in recent years will be familiar with the very long day of feasting and drinking that began late morning and ended well into the evening. 

Without knowing all of the details, there are insights into what will replace that event, which was ultimately exhausting once the hours of exhilaration had paid off. Let me be clear: we all had a marvellous time. Just too much of it. 

But that wasn’t the point anyway: it all seemed massively excessive, and it was always clear to see that a huge budget was blown on the event, which arguably could have been better spent on the judging of that process. All of that, it would seem, has been addressed in the “refresh” now promised.

In their own words: “In March 2024, Eat Out embarked on a journey to improve how star restaurants are identified and celebrated. Through comprehensive consultation and research within the restaurant industry and among diners, Eat Out redefined its judging process to include an eight-month long evaluation season. This ensures all judges experience every shortlisted restaurant during both peak and off-peak periods, mandating an impartial and all-encompassing assessment.”

Read more about the new scorecard criteria here.

“As part of these changes, the awards ceremony will adopt a more intimate, cinematic, Oscars-style format, complete with a roaming food and drinks experience. Guests can look forward to a culinary journey that highlights South Africa’s vibrant local food culture through a global lens. And, thanks to headline sponsor Woolworths, ingredients for these edible masterpieces will be sourced with excellence in mind.”

The awards ceremony is, of course, only the means by which the winners are given their prizes and celebrated among their peers. It is the choices the judges make that will be most watched, by chefs and other restaurant industry players as well as by the dining out public who spend their money in the winning restaurants. They, and the media who cover these things, will be scrutinising the results, just as they always do. In mind they will have the past criticism of the awards that led to this revamp. Comparisons will be made.

Not least, the aspect given the most scrutiny will almost certainly be the balance of winners in the two biggest cities where dining out is a big thing — Cape Town, of course, and Johannesburg (Pretoria and environs included). It would be good to see more Durban eateries on their list too.

I have a suspicion that Eat Out will have given particular attention to this side of things. I do hope so. It’s not as if it hasn’t been pointed out ad infinitum, not least by ordinary people who dine out a lot. It’s not only we in the media who have drawn attention to this.

We don’t know who the judges are, and New Media has made much of the anonymity of whoever has been doing the judging. I don’t know the identity of a single one. Certainly not me, if you’ve been wondering, so you can cross that name off your list. (I’ve been asked by a number of people over the past year if I was a judge. I can assure you I’m the very last person they would approach. ?)

I could also give you the names of several others who I thought might be eligible, but who insist they are not on the panel. But they could be fibbing. Who knows? DM