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Coverage of the 2009 Award Winners continues this week and next, as we turn the spotlight on each of the winners, and their close contenders, and allow them deservedly to bask in the limelight! They can enjoy the attention all over again at the joint 2009-2010 Awards Ceremony to be held in February (or possibly early March) next year.
One of the most difficult aspects of the Zimbabwe on a Plate Judging Panel’s job, especially now that the competition has been around for several years, has been to define at the outset of the process, what it is they are together setting out to do — and then, importantly, to stick to that!
Their role is essentially to identify the very best restaurant in each entry category. The task is made a little easier by being able to judge like against like, as the entry categories were designed to allow. But what can complicate this task is a very natural desire to “spread the love around,” and so, to find new winners each year, for its own sake. It’s human nature, to want everyone to be a winner of some sort and receive some recognition and glory. This is especially the case at the annual Zim on a Plate judging session, where every single establishment being examined as a contender has already more than proved their very high standards by attaining the coveted Five Plate rating, the highest possible.
With a relatively static number of entrants thus far (which begs the question, where are all the other restaurants who could enter, and haven’t, yet? Why haven’t they?) we have seen patterns emerge in the lists of finalists each year, and we have seen some restaurants win awards year after year after year.
The definition of the judges’ purpose and goal in gathering was debated in the 2009 judging session — as it has been, every year since the competition launched. And, as has been the case every time, a vote was taken after this (and every other) debate.
Were the judges trying to identify the very best restaurants, those that had most excelled, shown the most originality, given the most outstanding service and food, and provided the most memorable dining experiences? Or, were they simply looking to name some great restaurants, amongst several, all of whom had indeed excelled, set before them on the finalists lists, and find suitable recipients to name as award winners this year — give them a “turn” at winning, perhaps?
The conclusion and vote were the same as they have been every year so far, but this is a debate that seems inevitably to take place, and it’s a good thing, it focuses the judges on their exact purpose. Which is, to identify the best of the best amongst la crème de la crème!
And if those happen to be the same restaurants in some categories as last year, and the year before, and the year before, so be it. What this means is that no other restaurant to date has demonstrated the same excellence — YET. That day may come. Until it does, Zim on a Plate continues to identify and award the very best, by the fairest, most objective means possible, and the results speak for themselves. There are indeed some restaurants which remain to be surpassed in the excellent dining experiences they offer, in their categories.
So, the challenge is there, for the restaurant trade. The standards are exacting, but the possibility of course exists, to surpass these fine restaurants in what it is that they offer that makes them so exceptional. Thus we shall wait with bated breath, and see what next year brings!
Soon to appear on these pages will be a profile of the Service Personality of the Year, Harrington Mangoma, Manager at Pangolin Lodge in Harare. A great achievement for this friendly member of the Pangolin team, who is a superbly customer-focused service person, warmly remembered by so many of the patrons who go to Pangolin to enjoy their famous breakfasts, long after their meal is over, for his truly excellent service.
Meantime, we continue to take a closer look at more of the 2009 Award Winners.
By Rosie Mitchell
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