South Africa’s restaurant ‘Oscars’ — it’s about the substance, not the glitz

Another aide memoire. Maybe print it out and put it in your tuxedo pocket.

7 Mar 2025

Hoping to win the top SA restaurant award? Get that tuxedo pressed. Get your elbow greased, you’ll be needing it. And be like Demi Moore — get your speech ready, even if you don’t end up winning.

There’s a lesson to be learnt from the controversial decisions the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is making, leading to a wave of criticism from those who say they’re choosing less by merit than by external influences that have little or nothing to do with the quality of the films they are assessing or celebrating.

I’ve had a close interest in the Oscars and other Hollywood awards systems ever since I was the southern African correspondent for The Hollywood Reporter and Screen International in the 1990s. I watch them as closely as I watch American politics, and I take things personally.

And I was pretty mad when Demi Moore failed to get the nod for her role in The Substance on Sunday night.

Demi Moore came out of what seemed like retirement to portray the fictitious Elisabeth Sparkle, an actor past her prime who goes to dangerously outlandish lengths to try to regain her relevance, while young starlets step into her former limelight.

Half the world sighed in disappointment on Sunday night when Demi Moore had to remain seated while a fellow thespian who hadn’t been born when Moore filmed Ghost with Patrick Swayze was called up to receive the Best Actress award.

I pictured Elisabeth Sparkle saying, ‘I’m still me!’

Millions who have seen The Substance thought Moore was certain to win; she’d already bagged the Golden Globe and Screen Actors’ Guild awards for best actress in a leading role, as well as the Critics’ Choice Award. But she was not good enough for the Academy, apparently, and in a split second while watching her face as Mikey Madison went up to the stage, I pictured her character on stage at the end of The Substance and wished they’d play the sequence behind the actress as she delivered her acceptance speech. And Demi’s hideous character Elisabeth Sparkle behind her saying, “I’m still me!”

The Oscars are supposed to be the pinnacle, the best of them, but now I’m wondering if they still are. The Globes did a far better job, but the best of the three this year was the SAG awards, and we were lucky enough to watch the whole show, which was available on Netflix. We kept saying, “This is what the Oscars used to be like.” Slick, funny, polished, stylish, fabulous. And their choices were all based on merit and seemingly that alone.

Demi Moore arrives on the red carpet during the 97th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA, 02 March 2025.
(EPA-EFE/CAROLINE BREHMAN)

Mikey Madison is 25 years old. She was born in 1999, which some of us think of as “just last week”. She gave a great performance by all accounts. But Moore’s work in The Substance is truly seminal.

It will be remembered for generations, regardless of what you might think of the film.

It’s a masterpiece of horror and parody that will be talked about for decades to come. I have no doubt that its reputation is going to grow over time until it comes to be regarded as a classic.

And the fact that Moore did not win the Oscar — for this film of all films — will be remembered and talked about for generations to come by people who take the movies personally.

In real life, we watched as the actor playing the part of the overlooked star was herself overlooked in favour of a junior version of herself. Irony rarely gets darker.

What does all this have to do with food? In one sense, it’s food for thought, but that’s not what I mean. In another sense, the “substance” of the story is her character’s diet, although chicken that seems to have a toxicity of its own also comes into play, even if she doesn’t consume it in the normal way. But that’s not what I mean either.

It has to do with food in context of our leading South African restaurant system, the Woolworths Eat Out Restaurant Awards, which its owners New Media have long described as our “restaurant Oscars”.

Not so much the Oscars as the Golden Globes

I have in the past had a bit of fun with this, arguing that they’re not so much the Oscars as the Golden Globes of our restaurant industry. The latter event in Hollywood is famous for the amount of booze that goes down while the audience of dolled-up superstars are waiting for (what they hope will be) their gongs.

This has long been an aspect of our restaurant “Oscars” event, held as it was in recent years at the Grand West casino complex in one of Cape Town’s less prepossessing suburbs. It started at lunch time and went on into the night.

By the time the gongs had all been doled out, so much hooch had gone down that it was impossible to quieten the audience down to hear a hapless and somewhat slurred speech, and by 10pm nobody could remember who’d won what anyway. It hardly mattered until you woke up the next morning and opened your eyes to see if there was a trophy on your bedside table or not. (If you hadn’t left it in the uber.)

So we have all been watching and waiting, knowing, as we have known for well over a year, that the whole shebang was being rethought, the judging remodelled, the awards event shifted to somewhere else presumably (or hopefully) slightly more prepossessing, and all of the old problems sorted out. And this is what we are hoping for.

Now a shaft of light has been cast on everything. A few weeks ago we heard that the Baxter Theatre had been chosen as the new venue. Fabulous choice. I welcomed it, and still do. On 30 January I wrote this.

Invitations can be more revealing than intended

This week the invitations went out. And invitations can be more revealing than those who design them may have intended. The invite to the annual Eat Out Awards that landed in inboxes this week is a case in point.

The question on the lips of everyone in the South African restaurant industry has been answered. Breathless, you may ask: Which restaurant will be the cream of the crop? Who is the greatest chef of them all? And [place tearful emoji here] who is going home empty-handed?

Nah. More like: But what will we wear? Will it still be fun? Will we still be able to get vrot on free booze and party till we can’t remember our own names? And will I be able to make it to work the next day?

Well. It would seem that we are all safe on this front. The invitations to the awards event on March 31 at the Baxter make it clear that elbows will be put copiously into service, the liquor will flow as always, and you’ll need to make an appointment with a couturier and get that tuxedo dry-cleaned.

For a while it looked as though the party aspect of it all would disappear in the headlong rush to make the awards, and the judging of them, a much better thing. I felt a little bit responsible for this, and even had a tinge of regret that, while the changes were necessary and long overdue, the fun would be lost.

Criticism of how things used to be done included masses of money evidently having been spent on the awards bash itself, and that more ought to be spent on the actual judging of the restaurants under consideration. Other factors included the old bugbear of a very obvious Cape-centric bias, and many restaurateurs expressed unhappiness with the scoring system, which they felt should be more open, with scores accessible to them.

Read more about my past criticisms here and here, and chef Kobus van der Merwe’s widely read assessment of the awards here.

It’s pretty clear from the invitation that the newly styled bash is not designed to deprive you of your fun (or the next day’s hangover). And it’s clearly very much more Golden Globes in style and mood than the staid old Oscars. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

So, to that invitation. Here’s the gist of the text [my comments in parenthesis]:

Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards 31 March 2025

The moment has arrived! Join us for an unforgettable night of celebration as we announce the stars of South Africa’s finest restaurants and culinary talent.

Venue: Baxter Theatre Centre

Time: 2.30pm

Dress code: Black tie

What to expect throughout the event

After walking the ‘black carpet’, you’ll be treated to a roaming food and drinks experience, featuring artisanal canapés, freshly shucked oysters, and perfectly paired wines and bubbles.

[There you go]

Part 1: Join us for the reveal of the Eat Out 1-star recipients and Special Award winners.

Interlude: A moment to mingle, freshen up and grab a drink.

Part 2: We will reveal South Africa’s Eat Out 2- and 3-star restaurants, the coveted Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant of the Year and the Eat Out Woolworths Financial Services Chef of the Year.

The afterglow: Continue the celebrations under the stars, cocktail style, with delicious bowl food, award-winning cheeses, moreish chocolate desserts, and premium wine and cocktails.

Event Schedule

Culinary journey — Part 1: 2.30pm-4.00pm (Foyer and Garden)

Awards ceremony: 4.00pm-7.30pm, including interlude (Pam Golding Theatre)

Culinary journey — Part 2: 7.30pm-9.00pm (Foyer and Garden)

Celebrations:

9.00pm-10.30pm (Foyer and Garden)

[Hmmm. Some of us have been there before. They’ll be pushing the stragglers out the door at midnight.]

Theme and Dress Code

Black and Gold Glamour

Style tips: Suit up in tuxedos and crisp dress shirts, and add a touch of sophistication with a bow tie, statement pocket square, or sleek cufflinks.

[Don’t stress. Some chefs arrive straight from work, in shorts and T-shirts. You’ll see.]

Or dazzle in a floor-length gown or chic cocktail attire. Gold accents, shimmering details, feathers and statement accessories are encouraged.

[I am not wearing feathers.]

While black remains timeless and refined, don't shy away from a pop of colour to make your look stand out!

[Where’s that facepalm emoji?]

Oh and there’ll be a shuttle back to your car. Which is in that parking lot up there behind the theatre. [FX brakes screeching to a halt] Don’t even think of climbing into that car!

To this end, Eat Out has thoughtfully provided a list of companies to “help you travel safely to and from the event”. I’m going to list them here in case you can’t find your keys, partner, chef, colleagues, ticket, phone, anything (or anyone) you arrived with:

Uber (it’s on your phone, if you can find it)

Goodfellas +27 (0)861 433 552 | www.gfellas.co.za

Excite Taxis +27 (0)21 448 4444 | www.excitetaxis.co.za

Another aide memoire. Maybe print it out and put it in your tuxedo pocket.

So there's something to be learnt. The Golden Globes may have overtaken the Oscars lately in prestige. Even the SAG’s gongs, which are called Actors, seem to be gaining speed. It’s about the substance, not the glitz. And more than anything, about making the right choices. But we can still have fun.

They did invite me, by the way (I know some of you were wondering, after all the trouble I was partly responsible for). Maybe I’ll see you there.

Never will more booze have been consumed in the hallowed aisles of the Baxter Theatre. You may or may not remember your name and whether you won until you wake up the next morning. And it’s still likely to be more Golden Globes than Oscar Night. DM

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Theme and Dress Code