Cape Town Restaurant Named One of World’s Top 50 BEST

The Test Kitchen (TTK) in Cape Town, South Africa, has been named not only Africa’s best restaurant but one of the top 50 best restaurants in the world in the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018 list, known as the ‘Oscars’ of the fine dining world.

The awards were announced at a ceremony last night in Bilbao, Spain. Top prize went to Italy’s Osteria Francescana, which previously won in 2016. Prize winners are selected by a voting panel of 1,000 international restaurant industry experts, and voting is independently adjudicated by Deloitte.

TTK re-entered the list at no. 50 this year (after coming 22nd in 2016).

The Old Biscuit Mill restaurant – which is known as chef Luke Dale-Roberts’s ‘Gourmet Laboratory’ – is no stranger to awards, being named Eat Out’s Restaurant of the Year in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

The Awards website describes TTK as “a treat for the senses with light and dark in a quirky, industrial space”.

Dishes on offer are based on popular global dishes with South African ingredients and twists – such as ‘Winter Citrus’ (naartjie and dill snow, king crab and trout, lime yogurt panna cotta) or Springbok with beetroot, bone marrow, hazelnut and curd.

The fine dining restaurant – the first to open in Cape Town’s gentrifying Woodstock – kicked off an artistic boom, and comprises two intimate dining areas – one “dark”, one “light”.

Chef Luke Dale-Roberts was born in rural England and worked in Bali, South Korea and Japan before settling in South Africa… so the creative cuisine has Asian influences.

The standout dish is apparently the pig head and smoked apple salad.

Second and third place in the Top 50 list went to Spain’s El Celler de Can Roca (which came 3rd last year and 1st in 2016) and Mirazur in France (4th last year).

Winners on the Top 50 list include restaurants from North and South America, Africa, Australia and Asia. Spain won the most awards (7), followed by the USA (6), France (5), UK (4) and Italy (4).

Bangkok’s Gaggan was placed 5th and Central in Lima came 6th, with Den in Tokyo, Japan, winning Highest Climber Award for rising 28 places to no. 17.

The Top 10 Restaurants in the world, 2018:

1. Osteria Francescana (Modena, Italy) *best restaurant in Europe*
2. El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain)
3. Mirazur (Menton, France)
4. Eleven Madison Park (New York City) *best restaurant in North America*
5. Gaggan (Bangkok) *best restaurant in Asia*
6. Central (Lima, Peru) *best restaurant in South America*
7. Maido (Lima, Peru)
8. Arpege (Paris, France)
9. Mugaritz (San Sebastian, Spain)
10. Asador Etxebarri (Axpe, Spain)

View the full list here:
www.theworlds50best.com/