By Xoliswa Zulu
Kwazulu-Natal chef Richard Carstens of Lynton Hall restaurant in Umdoni Park, Pennington, who has been hailed a "culinary trendsetter", walked away with the Chef of the Year 2005 title at the 2006 Eat Out Johnnie Walker Restaurant Awards held at the Arabella Sheraton Hotel in Cape Town on Sunday night.
The glittering event, which has been dubbed the Oscars of the South African restaurant industry, honoured some of the best local chefs and restaurants.
Ninth Avenue Bistro in Morningside, Durban, also secured a highly sought-after Eat Out Johnnie Walker Top 10 Restaurant Award and La Petite Normandie in Ramsgate won the Top Kitchen Country Award.
The judges visited each nominated restaurant unannounced and evaluated the ability of chefs and restaurants to create that special experience which gives added pleasure to diners.
Carstens has been described as scientist, artist and philosopher and is regarded as South Africa's answer to Ferran Adria of the famous Spanish restaurant El Bulli. His cooking has been described as avant garde deconstruction cuisine which is unequalled in the country.
Lynton Hall assistant manager Nico Scheppers said everybody at the establishment was proud of Carstens's win, which was expected.
"Richard is one of the most passionate chefs I know. He will never boast about what he does and is very humble.
"We are very proud of him and even though we expected it, we still kept our fingers crossed. We've been in the top 10 ever since he came here three years ago and he is the main attraction. The whole team is very proud of him."
Eat Out editor Sam Woulidge said Carstens's innovative style had won him the award.
"Carstens is a chef with dedication and passion that is essential for experimenting, improving and creating new food.
"Carstens is a man obsessed with the science of food and we salute him for that. He creates food that challenges the mind, the eye and the palate."
The Top Ten restaurants (in alphabetical order) are:
- 95 Keerom, Cape Town - Chef: Giorgio Nava.
- 9th Avenue Bistro, Durban - Chef: Carly Goncalves.
- Auberge Michel, Johannesburg - Chef: Frederic Leloup.
- Bosman's, Cape Town - Chef: Frank Zlomke.
- Ginja, Cape Town - Chef: Michael Bassett.
- La Colombe, Cape Town - Chef: Franck Dangereux.
- Lynton Hall, Durban - Chef: Richard Carstens.
- Reuben's, Franschhoek - Chef: Reuben Riffel.
- Terroir, Cape Town - Chefs: Michael Broughton and Nic van Wyk.
- Yum, Johannesburg - Chef: Dario de Angeli.