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As part
of the launch of the inaugural edition of The Miele Guide, the much
anticipated first-ever ranked list of Asia's Top 20 Restaurants was
announced at The Miele Guide Dinner on October 31, 2008. The
exclusive red carpet event, held at the Grand Hyatt Singapore, was
attended by approximately 350 guests, comprising of a veritable who's
who of Asia's F&B scene. At this extraordinary gathering of
Asia's most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs plus regional and
international food critics and journalists, the Top 20 Restaurants
and the personalities behind them received The Miele Guide awards and
most importantly, the recognition that they so richly deserve.
This year, Hong Kong has emerged
as the best city in Asia to dine in. Eight restaurants in The Miele
Guide's Top 20 are in Hong Kong. It is also worth noting that one
chef-restaurateur has three restaurants in The Miele Guide's Top 20.
Joel Robuchon, once heralded as the world's greatest chef, is
undoubtedly helping to transform Asia's culinary scene through his
restaurants in Hong Kong, Macau and Tokyo.
Taking the top honours this year
is Iggy's, a four-year-old restaurant in Singapore that has
consistently received rave reviews both locally and internationally
since it opened. Iggy's has also been consistently ranked among the
world's best restaurants by other media and surveys. Of note is
Filippino chef-restaurateur Antonio Escalante. His restaurant,
Antonio's Fine Dining, is Asia's 10th best restaurant this year and
the only restaurant in the Philippines to break the Top 20.
To determine the Top 20, The
Miele Guide conducted four rigorous rounds of selection and judging.
The selection process started with the creation of an initial
shortlist of "Asia's best restaurants" by a panel of 84 of
the most respected restaurant critics and food writers from over 16
countries in Asia. Then, over 10 weeks, over 15,000 registered
voters, from over 40 countries, cast over 75,000 votes for the
restaurants they believe are Asia's best via an online survey, hosted
at www.mieleguide.com.
Each voter was allowed 10 votes, only 3 of which could be cast for
restaurants in their own country (if they live in one of the 16
countries being evaluated in the 2008/2009 edition). In addition, a
group of 1,500 foodies, F&B professionals and journalists were
invited to form a special jury and cast votes for their picks,
separately from the public. The results of these two votes were
combined with slightly more weight given to the public vote.
Over 2,000 restaurants received
votes in these two rounds. From this, The Miele Guide selected the
top 320 ranked restaurants for inclusion in the 2008/2009 edition. To
further evaluate and confirm the rankings of Asia's Top 20, incognito
tasting at the top 25 ranked restaurants were conducted by The Miele
Guide team, with help from contributors in selected countries.
This year, restaurants in 16
Asian countries were evaluated-Brunei, Cambodia, China (including
Hong Kong and Macau), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
"We expect that this list
will be controversial," says Aun Koh, Director of Ate Media. "Like
any list, we expect people to dispute the rankings and to criticize
us. But the more people talk about our Top 20 list, the better. The
overarching goal of The Miele Guide is to help the restaurant
industry in Asia grow. The more people talk about and debate which
restaurants and chefs they think are Asia's best, the closer we are
to achieving our objectives of helping our most talented chefs and
restaurateurs gain more recognition, both within Asia and
internationally. Obviously, we want The Miele Guide to become
established as the most credible, independent and respected system
through which restaurants are evaluated across Asia. But a large
percentage of our results are based on polling, both through a jury
and the public. If people are unhappy with the results this year, we
urge them to vote in the following years."
"We are proud to be part
of this landmark move to recognise the Asian dining scene,"
Mario Miranda, Managing Director of Miele Pte Ltd says. "Miele's
sponsorship of The Miele Guide reflects our dedication to helping to
encourage and support the food and wine industry in this region. We
are equally committed to promoting the enjoyment and understanding of
good food among the people of this diverse region. We realise that
the same customers who look for the very best in their kitchens also
expect the very best when they dine out. Thus, it is natural for
Miele to encourage a publication that seeks to recognise Asian chefs,
restaurateurs and restaurants that are just as committed as we are to
making their customers' lives forever better."
The Miele Guide is published by
Ate Media Pte Ltd and sponsored by Miele, a German manufacturer of
premium and innovative cooking appliances for the home. While a
naming sponsor of the Guide, Miele did not exert any influence over
the selection and judging process that determined which restaurants
appear in The Miele Guide.
Further underlining its
independence, neither the Guide nor its contributors accepted any
advertising, sponsorship or free meals from any of the restaurants reviewed.
The slim, elegant and affordable
Guide, which retails at US$15, will be for every traveller, foodie
and business person looking to dine in Asia. The 2008/2009 edition is
now available at major bookstores throughout Asia and Australia. It
is also available via The Miele Guide's website (mieleguide.com)
and Amazon.com.
Asia's Top 20 Restaurants 2008/2009
1. Iggy's, Singapore
2. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon,
Hong Kong, China
3. Les Amis, Singapore
4. Gunther's, Singapore
5. Mozaic, Bali, Indonesia
6. Robuchon a Galera, Macau, China
7. Garibaldi, Singapore
8. Yung Kee, Hong Kong, China
9. Hutong, Hong Kong, China
10. Antonio's, Tagaytay, The Philippines
11. Caprice, Hong Kong, China
12. Zuma, Hong Kong, China
13. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon,
Tokyo, Japan
14. Bukhara, New Delhi, India
15. Grissini, Hong Kong, China
16. Nobu, Hong Kong, China
17. M on the Bund, Shanghai, China
18. Fook Lam Moon, Hong Kong, China
19. Zanotti, Bangkok, Thailand
20. Kyubey, Tokyo, Japan
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