The Oman Today Restaurant Awards, in its fifth year now, has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 2002. Excitement, anticipation, supreme happiness and severe disappointment – every emotion was at play at the glittering awards ceremony last month. For the first time ever, judges were introduced into the voting system and their identity was finally disclosed on the gala dinner night. Some of the winners were old, some new and there were a couple of unexpected but very well-deserved wins. Restaurateurs went away satisfied with the new format of the competition, with most of this year’s runners-up vowing to make sure they would walk away with the
coveted silver trophy next year.
In keeping with the Christmas spirit – the season to eat, drink and make merry – we have also extended our Cooking section to include tried and tested recipes from the chefs at some of the award winning restaurants of 2006.

Mohana Prabhakar
Managing Editor