2017-10-06Staff Report 2 Donna Collins Swakopmund-Wining and dining took centre stage during the 2017 FNB Restaurant week awards with the coastal towns of Swakopmund and Walvis dominating the prize giving. The two towns featured among eight out of the ten winning restaurants, scooping either the winner or runner up categories. Around 50 participants took part in this third gastronomic competition, which ran from August 25 to September 3. The different categories included full restaurants, cafés, bistros and franchises, which all put their best dishes and menu specials forward for their customers to grade. The winners of the Cafe/Bistro (large) category, the Aviary Coffee Shop in Swakopmund, Anso Esterhuizen and Huibre Van Deventer, could hardly hide their delight. The eatery opened its doors a year ago, when the new Platz Am Meer shopping centre got up and running. The delighted sisters of the cute bistro overlooking the Marina say that that they are celebrating the Aviary Coffee Shop’s first anniversary with an award, which the organisers handed over to them on 21 September. This, they say, is a huge achievement for such a young business, which faces a considerable amount of competition in the field. Referring to themselves as “plaas meisies” from the south, they have brought with them the knowledge of satisfying home-prepared dishes and baking treats. These form part of an extensive and mouth-watering menu selection that specialises in breakfasts and lunches. It offers the choice of an ‘Aviary Egg Net’ Breakfast, a ‘Chicken Parmigiana’ lunch, or ‘Morrocan Egg Pan’ dish served with Greek Yoghurt and Cashew nuts and their dishes were clearly the talk of the town. Founder and promoter of Restaurant Week Leoni Cohen-Velida says that the FNB Restaurant Week was a great success. She adds there was a greater level of interest from the public this year, which was already aware of the voting procedures, thereby providing a huge improvement in this aspect. The competition supports great food, good service and affordability, and centres on contributing towards uplifting the hospitality industry, and drawing in public voting. For their effort, all the winners received an N$5,000 cash prize plus N$2,000 credit on their Seapride Foods products together with an engraved award. “The restaurants and their staff were very proactive and enjoyed the event thoroughly,” Leoni said. The competition generates new customers to the participating eateries, whilst people might come across a restaurant they have never heard of, which promotes business, she added. Winner of FNB Restaurant Week 2017, Franchise Category: John Dory’s (Windhoek). Runner-up: Happy.Me (Swakopmund) Winner of FNB Restaurant Week 2017, Restaurant (large): BlueGrass (Swakopmund). Runner-up: Kubata (Windhoek) Winner of FNB Restaurant Week 2017, Restaurant (small): Flamingo Bay Restaurant (Walvis Bay). Runner-up: The Curious Kitchen @JoJo’s (Windhoek) & Garnish (Swakopmund) Winner of FNB Restaurant Week 2017, Cafe/Bistro (large): Aviary Cafe (Swakopmund) Runner-up: Village Cafe (Swakopmund) Winner of FNB Restaurant Week 2017, Cafe/Bistro (small): Slowtown (Swakopmund). Runner-up: Fork N Nice (Swakopmund) 2017-10-06Staff Report 2
