Golden Caps 2023 – Under the auspices and with the support of the Region of Attica and the Region of South Aegean

2023-09-12 14:00:10

The best restaurants in Greece and the 30 years of the institution

The taste compass of the Golden Caps pointed to the northwest and specifically to the Ionian Sea, bringing once again – the eleventh in a row – the Corfu-based “Etrusco” of Hector Botrini to the first place among the restaurants in the territory and indeed as the only one to be honored with two Golds Hats off, as it was rated 17/20. During the ceremony, which took place on the evening of last Monday, September 11, in the Grand Ball Room of the “Great Britain” hotel, a total of 39 restaurants were awarded: 17 of them are located in Athens, 10 in the Cyclades, 4 in the Ionian Islands, 3 in Halkidiki, 2 in the Peloponnese and one each in Thessaloniki, Rhodes and Crete. The new entries for 2023 are 9: “Delta”, “Botrini’s Santorini”, “Varoulko Santorini”, “Baos”, “Fiore”, “Kooc Secrets”, “Makris Dégustation”, “Melia” and “Le Pavillon”.

The anniversary evening was directed by Konstantinos Markoulakis and presented three pairs of excellent actors, who had something in common: During the 30 years of the institution, they have met again (some more than once) on stage as masters of ceremony of the Golden Caps. The evening opened with Stelios Maina and Akis Sakellariou, continued with Natalia Dragoumi and Evelina Papoulia and closed with Giorgos Karamichos and Krateros Katsoulis.

During the ceremony, through rich visual material, the 30-year process of the Golden Hats unfolded, since that evening in January 1994, at the “Pendelikon” hotel, where the first culinary awards were awarded to ten restaurants in Athens (“crazy things that is ” for the then data, as said by the presenters), until today.

The general secretary of the EOT Dimitris Fragakis said that it is particularly honorable to open the 30th ceremony “of an institution that helped us from the era of Greek cuisine, to move to that of the Greek culinary scene of international scope. Our goal is to include gastronomy as a basic experience of our tourism, promoting it as best as possible abroad”.

The creator of the institution, president of the Board of Directors. of Desmi Edtiki S.A. and head of the committee of the Golden Helmets, Anni Iliopoulou, referred to the tragedy that the country is experiencing in the last days: “All of us, with our hearts and with our thoughts, are close to the people of the Thessalian plain who are experiencing a sweeping disaster of many dimensions, on a personal, social, economic and productive level. Our sadness, however, does not only concern our fellow human beings but also our country, since through these third-world images that we all experienced, we understand the consequences in the agri-food sector and in our national economy. The wish of all of us is to achieve, as soon as possible, a solid reconstruction at the national level, with the most positive developments both for people’s personal lives and for the country’s economy”. He then focused on the factors of success and universal recognition of the institution: “We are entering the fourth decade”, he emphasized. “It is not simple for an evaluative institution to remain at the top for 30 years, established in everyone’s consciousness as the most important, the most reliable, the most influential and always sharp, dynamic and in the foam of current events. I have been asked many times about the reasons for this success. Of course, many parameters play a role, but the most important is its validity. And its validity is directly related to its tasting committee”.

Finally, in one of the most characteristic moments of the evening, Anni Iliopoulou presented to the audience – for the first time in the 30-year history of the institution – all the members of the evaluation committee of the Golden Caps, from 1993 until today, who received a standing ovation .

During the evening, the 30-year course of the institution was presented to the public, the 19 pioneering businessmen and chefs, who during these years opened new culinary paths, the great foreign and three-star chefs, who came to create the unique dinners de gala of the award ceremonies, but also our great Greek chefs who, at the award ceremonies of these 30 years, delighted us with their unique menus.

Also, the guests enjoyed an inventive compilation of the best moments of the presentations of the award ceremonies, starring the cream of the crop of Greek actors and directed by leading creators of our theater.

The dinner of this year’s ceremony was created by the 11 most influential chefs of Greece, as they were nominated through a large vote by the 220 Golden Hat awarded (or Golden Hat nominated) chefs of these 30 years. They are: Hector Botrini, Sotiris Evangelou, Athenagoras Kostakos, Tassos Mantis, Lefteris Lazarou, Yiannis Baxevanis, Christoforos Peskias, Alexandros Charalambopoulos, Pavlos Kyriakis, Herve Pronzato and Thanos Fescos. All 11 chefs, together with the executive chef of “Great Britain” Asterios Koustoudis, were applauded at the end of the dinner, both for the distinction they received (which is further marked by the fact that it was given after a choice of their colleagues) and for the dishes they created, proving that they were rightly so highly regarded by culinary professionals.

The prizes were handed over to the owners of the award-winning restaurants by the general secretary of the EOT Dimitris Fragakis, the general director of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) Maria Gatsou, Alexandros Thanos, authorized advisor of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), Sofia Dimtsa, director of Corporate Relations and Communication of PPC, Orestis Markopoulos, Junior Brand Manager – Mythos Family & Kaiser Brands, Angelina Deli, B2B Marketing manager of Synergia SA. (exclusive representative of Nespresso Professional), Nikos Grammatikos, deputy general manager of The Mart’s General Commercial Department, Anastasis Karafulidis, Brand ambassador Flor de Cana, Grigoris Manolelis, Bars & Restaurants Sales manager of Nestlé Waters, journalist Dimitris Antonopoulos from part of the tasting committee of “Athinorama”, the publisher of “Athinorama” Dimitris Iliopoulos and the president of the Board of Directors. of Desmi Edtiki S.A. and head of the Golden Caps committee Anni Iliopoulou.

The Top Notch awards, to the restaurants that scored 14.5 out of 20 and are one step ahead of the Golden Cap, will be awarded on October 2, at the Grand Hyatt Athens hotel.

The awarding ceremony of the Greek culinary awards “Golden Caps 2023” was held under the auspices and with the support of the Region of Attica and the Region of the South Aegean, as well as under the auspices of the Ministry of Development, the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Tourism and the Municipality of Athens .

Sponsors of the Golden Caps 2023 are: PPC, S.Pellegrino – Acqua Panna, Kaiser, The Mart, Nespresso Professional, Dodoni, Boutari Winery, Flor de Cana.

See the 2023 Golden Caps winners

Source athinorama.gr