JUST DAYS after the 2022 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards panel chair Abigail Donnelly announced their choice of the top-rated tables in South Africa, fellow food writer Jenny Handley went public with her panel’s preferences in the 2023 JHP Gourmet Guide. The Eat Out awards will be presented on 20 November, but we’ve been told the names of 42 restaurants – including 12 on wine farms – that have earned one, two or three stars from a team of six critics whose identities have been disclosed. Which is not the case regarding those who helped Handley to settle on the 36 fine-dining establishments showcased in her publication. “Experienced, qualified reviewers,” is all she’ll divulge.

“We cannot disclose the names of our panel as they review anonymously – and we wish to retain their support for next year,” said Handley of her guide, in which restaurants are ‘plated’ instead of star-rated. The five absolute favourites in the book this year, awarded three plates by who knows who for “world-class destination dining worthy of a flight”, are all located in the Cape – four of them next to wineries, among the vines, the fifth in Cape Town, having been voted one of the World’s Top 50 a few months earlier:

• Chefs Warehouse Beau Constantia
• FYN in Cape Town
• Indochine at Delaire Graff, Stellenbosch
• La Colombe at Silvermist, Constantia
• La Petite Colombe at Leeu Estates, Franschhoek

That the collection of South African culinary destinations does not include a single ‘three-plate’ restaurant in Johannesburg or anywhere else in the country outside Cape Town and the winelands may have some people scratching their heads. Whether the Eat Out crew is in agreement will be revealed soon enough.

“We are cautious in our approach, and the chefs seem to appreciate this,” says Handley. “Decisions are not taken lightly nor swayed to try to get an even spread. While there may have been contenders out of Cape Town/winelands for three plates – e.g. Basalt, Klein JAN, Les Creatifs, Test Kitchen Carbon – they have not been plated before, so receive two as their highest accolade.”