The pride of South African restaurants, Wolfgat, has secured the 50th spot in the 2021 list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
This year’s winners were revealed at an awards ceremony in Antwerp in Belgium. The event was streamed live on their Facebook and YouTube channels.
The annual event sees the release of the influential World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, which is based on the votes of more than 1 000 independent authorities in the world of gastronomy, from renowned international chefs and food journalists to travelling gastronomes.
The announcement has been much anticipated since the last list was revealed in 2019, and the great news is that South African restaurant Wolfgat secured its place at number 50.
Situated in a charming revamped fisherman’s cottage on the Paternoster coastline, the intimate restaurant offers a one-of-a-kind experience, where diners get to witness first hand the passion and devotion of the chef and owner, Kobus van der Merwe.
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Taking to Instagram this week, Van der Merwe said: “We are speechless to be included as #50 on the @theworlds50best list and be named Best Restaurant in Africa.
“All our heroes – local and international chefs and restaurants that we admire and have been looking up to – are featured here, so it seems quite surreal and undeserved that we should be ranked amongst them.
“But we are honoured to be selected, and proud to represent South Africa, and Paternoster in particular, on the global stage.
“Given the extremely challenging past year-and-a-half we've faced globally, especially in the hospitality industry, recognition of this kind comes as a welcome morale boost, as well as an incentive to keep doing what we do in our own small way, moreover since our slightly unconventional, West Coast approach to food and service does not necessarily fit the average idea of what constitutes ’fine dining’.
“I am immensely proud of the passionate Wolfgat team: Rochelle Karolus, She-Earl Pietersen, Emily Williams, Emmerson Bester, and Alicia Bester who, with no formal hospitality training, are recognised for their hard work amongst the best in the industry, internationally.
“What a rewarding moment for the community of Paternoster, and a shining example for the next generation of young South Africans.”
This is not the restaurant's first win at the inaugural World Restaurant Awards. In 2019, it took home the award for the best restaurant in the Off-Map Destination category.
Last month, the World’s 50 Best Restaurants announced the runners-up list of restaurants in positions 51 to 100. Two South African restaurants made the list: La Colombe at 81, and FYN at 92.