Dave Pynt claims Chefs Choice Award at Asias 50 Best [video]

Australian-born chef and owner of Singapore’s Burnt Ends, Dave Pynt claimed the Chefs’ Choice title at the annual Asia’s 50 Best awards, held in Bangkok on 21 February.

Burnt Ends is currently ranked number 70 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, and offers Modern Australian barbeque delivered by custom-built four tonne, dual cavity ovens and three elevation grills.

As well as being named Chefs’ Choice, Pynt’s Burnt Ends claimed the 10th spot on the Asia’s 50 Best list, up from 14 in 2016.

The list is created from the votes of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, a group of over 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Asia. The panel in each region is made up of food writers and critics, chefs, restaurateurs and ‘gastronomes’. Members list their choices in order of preference, based on their best restaurant experiences of the previous 18 months. There is no pre-determined check-list of criteria, but there are strict voting rules.

The number one spot was again presented to Gaggan Anand’s eponymously-named Bangkok restaurant, which has now held the position for three consecutive years. Gaggan, which offers Indian street food reinterpreted via modernist cooking techniques, was also presented with The Best Restaurant in Asia and The Best Restaurant in Thailand awards.

Also representing Thailand is Australian chef David Thompson’s Nahm, which claimed the fifth position, up from eighth in 2016, as well as Issaya Siamese Club (number 21), Eat Me (number 31) and Bo.Lan (number 19).

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Rising one place to number two, chef Andr Chiang’s Restaurant Andr retains the title of The Best Restaurant in Singapore, while Amber (number three) in Hong Kong was again named The Best Restaurant in China. Narisawa (number six), one of six Tokyo-based entries in the top 20, was named The Best Restaurant in Japan for a fifth successive year.

Maintaining its number 15 ranking, Mingles in Seoul retained the title of The Best Restaurant in Korea while Gallery Vask (number 35) in Manila kept its title of The Best Restaurant in the Philippines. At number 30, Indian Accent was awarded The Best Restaurant in India for the third time. RAW (number 24), won The Best Restaurant in Taiwan title, while Ministry of Crab in Colombo (number 29) earned The Best Restaurant in Sri Lanka award.

 The 2017 list welcomed 10 new entries, including four from Bangkok, with China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand each boasting nine restaurants on the list.

You can view the full list here, and see the top 10 restaurants listed below.

Other award winners include:

• Highest New Entry Award: Odette, Singapore (debuting at number nine)
• Asia’s Best Pastry Chef: Kazutoshi Narita, Tokyo
• The Art of Hospitality: Den, Tokyo
• Highest Climber Award: Locavore, Bali (rising 27 places to number 22)
• May Chow of Little Bao in Hong Kong and Bangkok, was named Asia’s Best Female Chef 2017
• TocToc in Seoul was claimed the One To Watch Award for its creative use of seasonal Korean ingredients and refined French-influenced menu.
• Italian chef Umberto Bombana of 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana is this year’s recipient of the Diners Club Lifetime Achievement Award

Top 10 restaurants

1. Gaggan, Bangkok, Thailand
2. Restaurant Andr, Singapore
3. Amber, Hong Kong, China
4. 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong, China
5. Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand
6. Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan
7. Nihonryori Ryugin, Tokyo, Japan
8. Ultra Violet By Paul Pairet, Shanghai, China
9. Odette, Singapore
10. Burnt Ends, Singapore