Restaurant & Catering Awards for excellence puts Southern NSW businesses in the spotlight
Restaurant & Catering businesses of Southern NSW have come together for the industry night of nights to celebrate their achievements in the 2012 Savour Australia™ Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence Program. More than 100 restaurants and catering businesses were recognised at the ceremony tonight (August 27) at Lagoon Restaurant, Stuart Park – North Wollongong, to acknowledge excellence in food and service.
Showing the diversity of hospitality businesses in Southern New South Wales, 19 South Coast NSW restaurant categories, 13 Southern NSW Restaurant categories Awards were judged as well as 6 Caterer categories and a Consumer Vote Award. All were hotly contested this year with some outstanding businesses receiving the winner’s acclaim.
Major Awards for the region went to Terracotta Restaurant, Murrumburrah who received Restaurant of the Year for Southern NSW restaurants and Eschalot Restaurant, BERIMA was named Restaurant of the Year for South Coast NSW restaurants. Caterer of the Year for 2012 is Morrisons Winery and Restaurant, Moama. The Savour Australia Consumer Vote Award went to Relish on Addison, Shellharbour.
Restaurant & Catering CEO John Hart commented that “the Awards for Excellence represent an important moment as the industry pauses to honour these outstanding venues that have been anonymously judged and rigorously reviewed against the entire dining experience rather than a single food or service dimension.”
Restaurant & Catering is delighted to congratulate all winners and finalists in Southern NSW who participated in this year’s Awards Program. 2012 has seen a tough climate for restaurant and catering businesses that have experienced a huge growth in wage costs and regulation that has made most restaurants only marginally viable. The industry is also seeing issues such as shortages of skilled workers, decreases in average spend and uncertainty of the effects of the pending Carbon Tax detracting from their bottom line.
The success of the Southern NSW winners shows the resilience of these businesses and the Association commends them on their success. The Awards for Excellence Program is committed to supporting the professionalism and sustainability of the Australian hospitality industry. The awards are the most dependable and authoritative guide to Australia’s best restaurants and caterers and provide an opportunity to gain needed competitive differentiation for businesses involved.
The Awards for Excellence are judged by a team of trained judges who anonymously visited the venues to determine the winners. Winners of National categories will now be competing in the National finals representing being held in at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on 29 October this year. Please see the Winners List attached for a complete list of category winners in the 2012 Savour Australia™ Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence – Southern NSW.
Click here for a full list of finalists and winners.
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Source: Restaurant & Catering, 27 August 2012
