Nice Personality: Who's Who In The 2012 Reader Restaurant Awards?
Voting is now open in the Beijinger's 9th Annual Reader Restaurant Awards! From now until March 13 you have the chance to tell us what you really think of the city's dining scene. The awards are bigger than ever this year, and one of the new additions to the ballot is the Personality of the Year category. We've tweaked the previous award of Chef of the Year to take into account the other factors that go toward making a restaurant great. This is your chance to highlight the people who define your dining experiences, however that may be.
Here are the 13 people vying to be Personality of the Year in the Beijinger's 2012 Reader Restaurant Awards - and a little as to why our nominators may have included them this year.
Gaby Alves, Salt/Terra - Gaby's SALT is a Beijing institution, Terra may be following in its footsteps
Max Levy, Apothecary - Once of Bei, Max has been delighting discerning drinkers with down-home delicacies
Andy Bright, Union Bar & Grille - Andy runs a tight ship, heading up one of the best teams in town and taking customer service the extra mile
Daniel Urdaneta, Mosto/Modo - Daniel whips up a storm in the kitchen at Mosto and Modo
Seth Grossman, Home Plate Bar-B-Que - Seth is the face of Home Plate, which has established itself as a reader favorite in less than a year
Ignace Lecleir, Temple Restaurant Beijing - formerly of Maison Bould, Ignace has launched one of the most highly anticipated restaurants in Beijing ever
Alex Molina, Modo/Mosto - Alex is the front of house for two of the city's most fondly regarded foreign restaurants
Brian Reimer, Maison Boulud - The chef responsible for helping to make Boulud your "Non-Chinese Restaurant of the Year" in 2011 inevitably commands respect
Reto Kistler, Sureno - Zipping around the tables, talking to guests without lingering too long, Reto has the knack of making you feel like he was with you throughout your entire meal
Nicolas Socquet, Maison Boulud - For making top-class service look effortless
Billy Bolton, Chef Too - His restaurant is neither the biggest nor fanciest, but Chef Billy's passion for the product is infectious
Dong Zhenxiang, Da Dong Roast Duck - The icon of the contemporary Chinese dining scene
Alan Wong, Hatsune/Kagen - Still a huge influence on Beijing dining, ten years after Hatsune first opened
If your favorite is not up there then why not vote for a write-in candidate of your choice?
Voting is simpler than ever. All you need to do is use the survey embedded on this post below:
Reminder: If you don't have a strong favorite in a category, please leave it blank.
A full list of restaurants can be found online at thebeijinger.com
How We Do It
With the broadest coverage and biggest reader participation, our awards are the most trusted in town. the Beijinger’s 2012 Reader Restaurant Awards are determined by a two-step process.
Step one: A nomination panel of over 100 Beijing gourmands, along with a randomly selected list of 100 voters from last year’s balloting, were provided a blank ballot and asked to name their favorite restaurants in each of over 60 categories. We tabulated the results and drew up shortlists of nominated restaurants in the 50 most competitive categories.
Step two: We now turn the ballots over to the public to vote online for three weeks, from Feb 22-Mar 13. Each vote will be examined thoroughly for eligibility. Duplicated ballots will be discarded, as will any attempts at ballot stuffing. The remaining ballots will then be verified, tabulated and each restaurant ranked accordingly. The top vote-getter in each category will be named "Best," while the second and third highest vote-getters (joint third, in the case of ties) will be named "Outstanding." All the results will be revealed at our awards ceremony, which will be held in mid-March.
