This year’s The Slovenia Restaurant Awards 2018 is already in full swing. Chefs & Foodies Academy, composed of chefs from selected restaurants approximately 300 cook experts, journalists, critics, bloggers, experts and lovers in the field of enogastronomy, numerous winemakers, sommeliers and representatives of various industry associations have already cast their votes. On February 9, 2018, the ballot papers are also opened to the public and can be voted on the website www.the-slovenia.com/tsra.
The auditing house Deloitte d.o.o. will audit the voting results this year, which will review the voting system. The certified auditors will therefore carry out procedures to confirm the integrity and credibility of the voting process and the resulting list.
The criteria for selecting the best Slovenian restaurants are as follows: According to professional criteria and personal experiences, the expert commission has prepared an extensive list of restaurants, which he considers the quality of food and services to offer a superb culinary experience. Slovenia was divided into 5 regions; north, south, east, west and Ljubljana with central Slovenia. Each member suggested up to 15 restaurants per region or regions, up to 25 for Ljubljana with central Slovenia. Every member of the expert commission had to visit, at least once in the last two years, the restaurant they had proposed on the list.
Members of the commission were selected on the following basis:
• The restaurant must be open for at least one year. The restaurants opened in 2016 will only be able to run for 2018.
• Food and beverages (variety, ingredients quality, presentation of dishes, taste compliance, innovation and proper food and drink combination)
• Service (greeting, service, food and drink recommendation, and knowledge of the staff)
• Based on this, a common assessment of “general satisfaction” was made when visiting the restaurant.
As many as 164 restaurants from 5 regions participate in this year’s competition, and on the basis of a wider list, up to 10 best restaurants in each region will be selected.