The best and brightest of Malta's and Gozo's food scene - the chefs , restaurateurs and hoteliers, whose creativity, class and craft impressed the WRMC inspectors and panel of adjudicators, most over the past year - were honoured at the third annual WRMC Restaurants Quality Recognition Awards 2015.
More than 260 of the Malta's top chefs, restaurateurs from 55 top restaurants and hotels, sponsors and their guests, gathered at the Portomaso Suite at the Hilton Malta for the gala dinner and presentation ceremony.
This year's awards were presented by the WRMC Executive Director and leading restaurant reviewer Reno Spiteri, and by the leading sponsors representatives being Matthew Miceli Demajo, General Manager of M.Demajo (Wines and Spirits) Limited; Stephen Xuereb, Chief Executive Officer of Valletta Cruise Port plc; Jesmond Ciantar, Sales Director at P.J. Sutters Marketing Limited; and by Duncan Cila, Dierctor at AppleCore Foods Limited, as well as by Chris Spiteri and Mary Grace Borg, WRMC Directors respectively.It was an enjoyable and highly awaited ceremony that saw Joseph Vella, Executive Head Chef at the Hilton Malta receiving the first and inaugural 'Lifetime Achievement Award' for his outstanding service in the culinary profession, ranging over thirty-five years, including the writing of two culinary books the proceeds from which went to the Renal Unit. Chefs Roberta Preca of Tal-Familja Restaurant of Marsascala and Chef Paul Buttigieg of Tmun Mgarr, of Gozo, were overwhelmed by their nomination to receive the newly introduced 'Promising Top Chef Award' for a male and female young chef, and by the thunderous applause that these three nominations received when the three participants went on stage to receive their prestigious awards.L'Agape Restaurant of Rabat, Malta and Ristorante La Vela of Pieta Gardens, Pieta took this year's, only two, WRMC Silver Spoon Awards, and joined the other ten restaurants that have retained their Silver Spoon Awards from 2013 and 2014 respectively.
To be even considered for a nomination for the WRMC Silver Spoon Award, of which a maximum of only six can be conferred in any one year, a restaurant, must have been in operation for not less than two years under the same operators and the same executive chef, and would have been inspected and reviewed by the WRMC initial survey team, and followed by two additional anonymous inspections by WRMC appointed inspectors for ambience; restaurant atmosphere and decor; management attitude; service and staff attitude, efficiency and decorum; cuisine quality; cuisine preparation and presentation; wine list with a good selection of premium wines with a decent mark-up; cleanliness; etc.
WRMC Siler Spoon restaurants must be outstanding in all respects and must be destination restaurants with a national identity, to which diners would have no hesitation to drive or travel to their location within the Maltese Islands simply to dine there.