- BY RUPALI & AKANKSHA DEAN

#50BESTTALKS The coming to the�#50BestTalks, part of the 2018 Asia�s 50 Best Awards,�couldn�t have been more elegant as the unveiling gradually made its way up Macau�s city centre. Landing at the steps of the�Wynn Macau, this was the impeccable reminder of Macau�s heirloom as host for the assembly bonding Asia�s top chefs and professionals from the industry. The listing was stellar and the room bursting with members keen to learn from a sequence of shared discussions. First up came�the trio of chefs at the helm of�Mume�in Taipei, Taiwan ��Richie Lin,�Long Xiong�and�Kai Ward!�The second session saw Hiroe Higuchi, the chef at Japan�s�Shima Kanko�Hotel�emphasis on sustainability for her talk! Next up was [caption id="attachment_1618" align="alignnone" width="682"] Live Cooking[/caption] mixologist�Vijay Mudaliar�who has to his credit a drinks list that characterizes the melting pot culture of Singapore, snubbing non-local spirits like tequila for Indian, Chinese and spirits from other parts of Asia. Last but not the least Chef Andre Chiang spoke about his future plans; �I feel unsatisfied that I don�t know more about Taiwan,� he confessed. His restaurant Raw�in Taipei is already the best in Taiwan, though! Chef Andre also declared�two new concepts for 2018: one on the site of the non-operational Restaurant�Andr�in Singapore and one in an as yet undisclosed Asian city. [caption id="attachment_1619" align="aligncenter" width="733"] Gaggan Anand bags No.1 position 4th year in a row[/caption] THREE RESTAURANTS FROM THE INDIA SUBCONTINET MAKE IT TO THE LIST OF ASIA�S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS The extraordinary and the honourable of Asia�s restaurant industry and we (Akanksha & I) collected at the Wynn Palace Macau last Tuesday night for the broadcast of the S. Pellegrino and Acqua Panna Asia�s 50 Best Restaurants 2018. Gaggan, the Indian restaurant in Bangkok, took first place fourth year in a row but there were three winners from the India subcontinent as well. In a press conference post the awards ceremony, held at the Wynn Palace, Macau, on Tuesday night, Chef Gaggan Anand said that in 2015, when the [caption id="attachment_1620" align="alignnone" width="695"] Chef Dharshan Munidasa of Ministry of Crab, Colombo, Srilanka[/caption] restaurant first came in first place, �Everyone thought it was a fluke.� �The second year, people thought we had bribed�, the culinary magician continued. �The third year, we won it. This year, we don�t have to prove we won it�. Gaggan is scheduled to shut down in 2020! On the challenges of staying on top, Gaggan commented, �We change our menu completely every four months. About 80 per cent of the dishes we test go into the bin�.� He further said, �A guest might eat at my restaurant numerous times a year but when he says that the menu he ate this time was enhanced than the last time, not that the menu last time was better than this one, that�s significant but that�s the test I face.� [caption id="attachment_1621" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Awards Evening[/caption] The India subcontinent had three wins on this year�s list in the S. Pellegrino and Acqua Panna Asia�s 50 Best Restaurants 2018�.The country saw Indian Accent, at number nineteen, led by Manish Mehrotra and Wasabi at Taj Mahal Mumbai on No forty nine. And Dharshan Munidasa�s Ministry of Crab in Colombo, Srilanka on number twenty five. Other big winners were Den in Tokyo, at number two; Thomas & Mathias Suhring from Bangkok at number four; Taiwanese chef Andr� Chiang, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Bee Satongun of Paste in Bangkok, who was named Asia's Best Female Chef, with her restaurant at number 31. Additionally among those taking trophies home were Chef�s Choice Award winner Yoshihiro Narisawa of Japan�s Narisawa at number six; Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet in Shanghai at number eight, which won the Art of Hospitality Award; and Toyo Eatery in Manila, which was named The One to Watch. [caption id="attachment_1622" align="aligncenter" width="736"] Rashmi Uday Singh with professionals from the industry[/caption] SPECIAL MENTION Chef Andre Chiang Wins the Diners club Life Time Achievement Award at Asia�s 50 best Restaurants Award Ceremony in Macau Celebrated Taiwan-born chef Andre Chiang, who�closed his two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Andre�in Singapore on February 14, has been honoured with the 2018 Diners Club Lifetime Achievement Award - Asia. The award is part of the Asia�s 50 Best Restaurants awards programme, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. The honour is elected on by members of Asia�s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, encompassing over three hundred leaders in the restaurant and gastronomic industries through Asia. The Asia�s 50 Best Restaurants list is a sprout of the sought-after yearly World�s 50 Best Restaurants list, [caption id="attachment_1623" align="alignnone" width="684"] Akanksha & Rupali Dean with the Best female chef of Asia - Chef bee[/caption] published by William Reed Business Media. Chiang�s award was presented to him at the sixth annual Asia�s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony held at Wynn Palace, Macau, on March 27th. Chef Andre also co-owns and accomplishes six other restaurants, including the five-year-old Burnt Ends in Singapore and The Bridge in Chengdu, which is partly open. Andre wants to dedicate time to teaching the future generation of chefs in Taiwan & sees himself now as �more of a coach than a player.� Keen to learn more about Taiwanese ingredients, he hopes the new upsurge of Taiwanese cooks will clutch the standing of [caption id="attachment_1624" align="alignnone" width="684"] some yummy carrot cake at the talks[/caption] obtaining locally, and understand that in order to go global; you have to epitomize what�s local first and produce something that fits the local community. �The most successful restaurant is one that is needed,� he sums up!