Sponsored by
The Cheeseman

And the Winner is..
Awards Ceremony brought surprises
Around 100 invited restaurateurs, plus representatives from The Standard, The Cheeseman and the new co-sponsors for 2011, gathered at the Stables Winery last Sunday to enjoy some hospitality from The Cheeseman, founder and sponsor of the Zimbabwe on a Plate, Zimbabwe in a Glass, Restaurants of the Year Competition and Awards since 2005, and before that, since 2002, in its previous incarnation.
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Where Zim on a Plate is today Extracted from Rosie Mitchell’s speech at the Awards
This competition has survived the ravages of hyperinflation and economic meltdown, just as the hardy people gathered at Sunday’s Awards Ceremony, did.  The trade showed well of what tough stuff they are made during that darkest of years, Annis Horriblis 2008, and though reviews were briefly suspended for obvious reasons, the trade, and so the contest, was soon soldiering on and into 2009, and the beginnings of some sanity that the US dollar brought us.READ MORE

Zim on a Plate pays tribute to The Standard
The Zim on a Plate reviews are published year round in The Standard, which devotes this Double Page Spread to the competition, carrying the Restaurant Guide, the sponsors' paid advertising and the reviews and other relevant articles. READ MORE

Tony’s scoops triple awards
Tony’s is something of a legendary coffee shop which for many years has delighted visitors to the beautiful Bvumba mountains.  Much talked about, word of mouth has it that a visit to the Bvumba would simply not be complete without sampling the delicious fares and indeed, the whole experience offered there. READ MORE

The Most Imaginative Dining Experience – a double win of a new award - for The Boma
The judges introduced a new award for 2009 - The Most Imaginative Dining Experience Award. This award, they decided, would go to the restaurant offering the most exciting, unusual, memorable and imaginative dining experience, viewed as a whole package.  In addition, this experience would also have to be excellently and consistently executed. READ MORE

Leonardo’s does it again – TWICE!
In 2008, Daniel Marini of Leonardo’s Restaurant was named the Zimbabwe on a Plate Personality of the Year, for  ‘his unstinting efforts behind the scenes, to champion the cause of his trade and work as a true team-player to assist fellow restaurateurs in surmounting the challenges posed by a difficult operating environment’.READ MORE

Meikles’ Chef Gonzo wins Personality
of the Year Award 2009
The Personality of the Year Award is a special award given at the discretion of the sponsors and judges, to recognise truly note-worthy individuals operating in the restaurant trade, who have for any number of reasons, earned the respect of their peers in that trade and of those outside it as well.READ MORE

Coach House wins Award of Excellence 2009
Bulwayo’s Nesbitt Castle is the truly magnificent setting for a Deluxe Restaurant which has appeared every year on the list of Finalists in this category, since entering the competition, with an annual Five Plate Rating thus far.  Well-deserving of recognition for its unusual dining experience in a unique baronial style castle setting, with superb service and food, The Coach House won the Award of Excellence for 2009. READ MORE

White Horse Inn – Deluxe Family Restaurant of the Year 2010
The White Horse Inn is a very long established family owned and run hotel in the lovely Bvumba District, and many of us living in Zimbabwe, well recall happy times spent there way back in the 1960s and 70s, and ever since as well.  This delightful hostelry with its traditional ‘old English’ feel, beautiful view and lovely natural surroundings in the mountains, has through the sheer grit determination of owner David Graham, managed to survive through all the trials and tribulations of the past few decades, and it certainly hasn’t been easy! READ MORE

Victoria Falls Hotel topples Makuwa-kuwa – the competition’s well and truly on!
The Victoria Falls Hotel entered its 3 restaurants, The Livingstone Room, Jungle Junction and Stanley’s Terrace for the first time, in the competition in 2010, feeling well ready for the scrutiny, and after working really hard on its cuisine, to ensure it was meeting the exacting standards required of such a prestigious hotel, with such a long history. READ MORE

Millers proud of their 2009 double win
The Speciality Restaurant of the Year award 2009 went to Miller’s Grill in Ballantyne Park, a specialist steak house which is exceedingly popular and excels in its food, its presentation and service, and enjoys a strong following.  Miller’s were also very proud to win the Wine List of the Year Award – for the second consecutive year.  Miller’s boasts a very extensive, varied, and reasonably priced list of wines, liqueurs, brandies and whiskies, which are also, consistently in stock.  Angela Miller literally ran into the Awards Ceremony, to collect her award!  She had just completed the newly launched Sunshine City Marathon, in an impressive sub-four hours.

Bob Savania Remembered In the lead-up to the announcement of the Speciality Restaurant of the Year 2009, Rosie Mitchell paid tribute to a greatly missed pillar of the restaurant trade, and to the restaurant he owned and ran with his family - the Delhi Palace.  This popular restaurant, which specialised in Indian cuisine, enjoyed a loyal following in Harare and has very sadly now closed – but not before once again reaching the Finalist List for Speciality Restaurant of the Year for 2009, an award it had previously won twice since the Restaurant of the Year competition, which later became Zim on a Plate, sponsored by The Cheeseman, was first launched.  The Delhi Palace is very much missed by all those lovers of Indian food who regularly enjoyed a fine and authentic Indian dining experience there. Bob Savania’s untimely death came as a great shock to his wife Nicky, their families and friends and to the restaurant trade itself.  Nicky Savania attended the recent Awards ceremony and all those gathered there drank a toast to Bob, in fond and respectful remembrance of both this very likeable man, and of the strong mark he has left on his trade, and the dining public, who miss him still, before the announcement of the winner in this category.

Papa’s Meze and Grill wins Speciality category
in first year of operation
The Kalamatas family were delighted and amazed to hear that their newly rebranded and re-launched restaurant, Papa’s Meze and Grill in Newlands, Harare, had won Speciality Restaurant of the Year 2010.  This well known family in the restaurant trade have long done well in the competition and have previously won Family Restaurant of the Year – with their former restaurant, Mama Mia’s.  In 2010 they decided to re-invent themselves and go the specialist route, with a restaurant offering an authentic Greek dining experience.  Naming the new establishment Papa’s Meze and Grill, they entered in a new category, Speciality – and have won the award, the same year!