The first round of voting has begun in the 2011 Abu Dhabi Gourmet Stars awards for the UAE capital’s hospitality industry.

Around 134 industry professionals and 57 outlets have been nominated in the prestigious programme which recognises individuals and organisations who contribute to Abu Dhabi’s evolution into an internationally-acclaimed gastronomic destination.
Public voting is now open online at gourmetabudhabi.ae and will run until December 4.

The awards will be presented on February 17 at the awards dinner of Gourmet Abu Dhabi, the 16-day annual culinary festival presented by Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).

“This time around award nominees must have been in their position or with a specific hotel or restaurant for a minimum of six months,” said Noura Al Dhaheri, acting leisure products development manager, Gourmet Abu Dhabi.

“We want to ensure that the awards live up to their aim of recognising those who have truly contributed to Abu Dhabi’s culinary and hospitality advancement. At the same time the number of nominees has grown by 10 per cent and the number of outlets by 35 per cent.”

The awards, now in their third year, have ten categories – recognising chefs, food & beverage managers, cuisine and restaurant managers, restaurants and their hosts.

“The nominee line-up this year is powerful and the competition will be fierce,” explained Al Dhaheri.

“The line-up features outlets which have joined Abu Dhabi’s expanding hospitality portfolio over the past 18 months, many within hotels and resorts but others which are standalone city centre outlets which have built up a considerable following over the years. The nomination list does serve as something of a weathervane to Abu Dhabi’s recent culinary advancement.”

Five years ago, Abu Dhabi had only 62  licensed hotel properties, today it has 114, out of which 20 are classified as five-star as opposed to 13 in 2005.

“The Abu Dhabi Gourmet Stars awards for the local industry which are staged alongside Gourmet Abu Dhabi have also gone a long way to lifting local industry benchmarks and are now actively pursued by the emirate’s growing F&B community,” said Al Dhaheri.

Gourmet Abu Dhabi 2011, running from February 2 to 16, 2011, will feature significant additional offerings including a charity dinner and a day of chocolate and pastry workshops conducted by women pastry chefs. – TradeArabia News Service