Latin America's 50 Best 2021: Past and Future
On the night of November 22nd, at the Center for Contemporary Art, the Ecuador gala for the 100 best restaurants in Latin America was held. The event was attended by a large majority of the country's gastronomic industry players.
The venue where the awards ceremony took place was presented beautifully, decorated for the occasion, where the presence of the 15 restaurants belonging to the 50 Best Discovery list presented in mid-year stood out.
In this edition, the list was compiled using a different criterion than what the organization has accustomed us to. Restaurants that have been on this list for the eight years the event has been held and have obtained the most points since 2013, the year The 50 Best Restaurants was created, were awarded. In this way, this list is now composed of 100 restaurants, and they are the best that have belonged to this count throughout these years. The organization chose this system because it did not consider it fair to hold the vote when many of the restaurants had to temporarily or permanently close due to the pandemic.
The awards ceremony took place virtually, with the signal generated from the 50 Best headquarters in London. It began precisely at 6:00 PM Ecuador time, and seven cities connected simultaneously: São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Lima, Bogotá, Oaxaca, and our capital.
Attendees had high expectations, as last year there was no in-person event due to the pandemic. Quito was to be the host of this awards ceremony, and the local organization spared no effort to make this event a true celebration in honor of a growing industry with a great future in the region and the world.
Proudly, an Ecuadorian restaurant, Nuema, made it onto the list again, ranking at number 93. This restaurant debuted on this countdown last year, becoming the Best Restaurant in Ecuador.
El Nuema is run by Alejandro Chamorro and his wife Pía Salazar, and together they have conceived one of the most avant-garde and innovative offerings in our cuisine. They enhance the richness and quality of local products in their dishes, creating incredible preparations. It is also worth mentioning that Pía Salazar was nominated for the Latin America’s Female Rising Star 2021 award.
Also, they awarded the most sustainable restaurant and gave an award for the best hospitality.
The attendees of this gala enjoyed excellent catering prepared by Epikus from USFQ, tapas from universities and gastronomy schools such as UTE, Escuela de los Chefs, and GQB, they sampled products from participating global brands, and the event's organization was handled by one of the most important chocolate companies in the world, República del Cacao.
Undoubtedly, a whole event that caught the attention of Ecuador's gastronomic sector.