15 winners crowned at Caterer Awards 2013 ceremony

More than 370 guests attended the fifth annual Caterer Middle East Awards 2013 last night in Dubai, held at the Ritz-Carlton DIFC in association with presenting sponsor, Du.

Industry peers representing both front of house and back of house roles as well as suppliers gathered to pay tribute to the outstanding work and efforts made in the last year.

This year’s award structure saw a slight change with five of the 15 awards going to the teams behind the success of the outlets. While the Jumeirah Hospitality team picked up the Events Catering Team of the Year award for a second consecutive year, Table 9 from Hilton Dubai Creek was named Hotel Restaurant Team of the Year for the first time and Hakkasan Abu Dhabi stole the crown from Okku, who this year was highly commended in the Independent Restaurant Team of the Year award.

It was a double celebration for Hakkasan, whose head chef Lee Kok Hua, also picked up the award for Chef of the Year – Independent outlet.

“I am so proud of the whole team. This is a great night for us and one we will remember. Thank you to the team and the management and to Caterer,” said Kok Hua.

General manager Vinicio Alberelli added: "This is the one we were missing! We finally got it."

It was a big night for Jumeirah, with Burj Al Arab shortlisted in four categories and collecting one award for Waiter of the Year. Winner Rajeev Valappanandiyil attributed his win to the strong support of his team and said "passion," was the biggest trick to being a good waiter.

Guru Prashanth from Madinat Jumeirah’s Bahri Bar picked up the award for Bartender of the Year, whiile Lino Marchese shortlisted in the Bar Manager of the Year Category.

Table 9, Hilton Dubai Creek also celebrated after Viktorijia Paplauskiene picked up the award for Restaurant Manager of the Year and it was named Hotel Restaurant of the Year. Nick Alvis was highly commended in the category of Head Chef - Hotel Restaurant.

Thrilled Paplauskiene said of the win: “I am really proud of the whole team. We work so hard and it is great to be recognised for that."

The Head Chef of the Year award - Hotel Outlet went to Olivier Biles of Reflets Par Pierre Gagnaire at InterContinental Dubai Festival City, who was particularly commended for managing to retain 80% of staff since opening in 2008.

"We just treat them the way they'd like to be treated," he said when asked what his trick was.

Media One’s Vijesh Puthen won the award for the newly introduced category Chief Steward of the Year and was recognised for his attention to detail, which in the last year has saved the hotel’s main kitchen 5% on cleaning materials and a 20% reduction in breakages.

The newly introduced team award, Casual Dining Team of the Year, was picked up by Carluccio's Marina Mall, which in the last year has achieved a satisfaction rating of 98% among its guests.

The Caterer Middle East team received over 250 award nominations, which it whittled down to 75 shortlisted entries across 15 categories. A group of independent expert judges then debated and deliberated over the shortlist before deciding their winning list.

FooDiva founder, Samantha Wood, one of the judges said: "The standard of entries this year was much higher than last year with a more diverse representation of hotel-based and independent F&B outlets, as well as some excellent nominations from outside Dubai. As a result competition was hot and in a few categories quite challenging to select an outright winner. It was great to see three women walk away winners, in particular for the the male-dominated sommelier category with Sarah Belanger from The Palace Downtown's Asado restaurant."

Other winners came from Atlantis The Palm Dubai, Media One Hotel Dubai, Ritz-Carlton Doha and Cavalli Club Dubai.

Commenting on the success of the evening, Hannah Abdulla, editor, Caterer Middle East said: “We were really strict this year, implementing a word count on nominations so we could level out the playing field. It meant the quality of the entries this year was much higher. People wanted to get in all the best bits about their nominees and teams, so competition was tough.

“I believe the winner’s list really shows off the fantastic concepts we have in this region and the people driving their success. It’s clear that the industry is maturing at a phenomenal pace from year to year. I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of last night’s winners and the highly commended nominees ,” she added.
 

Click through to next page for full list of winners...

Bartender of the Year: Guru Prashanth, Bahri Bar
Highly Commended: Laura Marnich, Cavalli Club Restaurant and Lounge, Dubai

Bar Manager of the Year- Tomas Dundulis, Okku Luxury Japanese Restaurant and Lounge, OKKU
Highly Commended: Lino Marchese, Bahri Bar, Mina A’Salam, Madinat Jumierah, Dubai

Sommelier of the Year: Sarah Belanger, Asado, The Palace Downtown, Dubai.
Highly Commended: Dimitar Dimitrov, Burj Al Arab, Dubai

Bar Team of the Year: Cavalli Club Restaurant and Lounge, Dubai.
Highly Commended: Z:ONE Bar and Terrace Media One Hotel, Dubai.

Kitchen Hero of the Year: Michelle Di-Ayon, Ritz-Carlton Doha, Qatar.
Highly Commended: Mohamed Jahangir Alam ‘Butch’, Media One Hotel, Dubai

Chief Steward of the Year: Vijesh Puthen, Media One Hotel, Dubai
Highly Commended: Biji John, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Abu Dhabi

Events Caterer of the Year: Jumeirah Hospitality, Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts, Dubai
Highly Commended: Ritz-Carlton DIFC

Waiter of the Year: Rajeev Valappanandiyil, Al Mahara, Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai
Highly Commended: Justin Fortuin, Okku Luxury Japanese Restaurant and Lounge Dubai

Restaurant Manger of the Year: Viktorija Paplauskiene, Table 9, Hilton Dubai Creek
Highly Commended: Uday Goel, Ushna Abu Dhabi

Casual Dining Team of the Year: Carluccio’s Marina Mall, Dubai
Highly Commended: Riva Ristorante, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai

Chef of the Year - Independent Outlet: Hakkasan Abu Dhabi
Highly Commended: Hugh Sato Gardiner, Okku Luxury Japanese Restaurant and Lounge, Dubai

Pastry Chef of the Year: Philippe Agnese, Atlantis The Palm, Dubai
Highly Commended: Johannes Bonin, Burj Al Arab, Dubai

Chef of the Year – Hotel Outlet: Olivier Biles, Reflets par Pierre Gagnaire, Intercontinental Dubai Festival City, Dubai
Highly Commended: Nick Alvis, Table 9 Hilton Dubai Creek, Dubai

Restaurant Team of the Year – Hotel Outlet: Table 9, Hilton Dubai Creek, Dubai
Highly Commended: Saffron, Atlantis The Palm, Dubai

Restaurant Independent: Hakkasan Abu Dhabi
Highly Commended: Okku Luxury Japanese Restaurant and Lounge, Dubai