A list maybe worth its expensive newsprint, and the rarer attention of its readers, for very few good reasons: as an assessment of merit by a (credible) critic. Or, as advice to readers, helping them make buying decisions — best colleges, best cars — backed by market research. Or, peer opinion, polled judiciously, with checks and balances, but importantly au courant.
In India, food awards/lists usually don’t have resonance with a larger public because they fail to spot change and change-makers early enough, and function as recommendations to the public instead of branding champions for whoever they are anointing. When was the last time you ate at a restaurant because its chef won an award?
In 2022, young chefs and taste makers are clamouring for change in the way restaurants work: many have braved job or personal loss, some have moved to smaller cities or home towns, many are rethinking how they’d like to live and, yes, cook more authentically.
