As it turns out, Cape Town is not the gourmet capital of South Africa. Well, not exactly. Stellenbosch is. (So those people constantly bringing up the Cape Town versus Joburg restaurant debate should settle down, and rather pick on Stellenbosch. The sleepy mother city has its fair share of fantastic restaurants, but if you look at the nominees for the Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards, it’s clear that the winelands university town has the most nominated restaurants)

So here then, for those of us who are interested in these kind of details, is the low-down on the nominees, looking at everything from the geographical split and foreign influences, to the most experienced chefs, and the battle of the sexes.

The geography

Stellenbosch leads the pack with seven nominations, including Delaire Graff Restaurant, Jordan, Makaron, Overture, Rust en Vrede, Terroir and Tokara. A very close second is Cape Town, with six nominations (Bizerca, The Greenhouse, La Colombe, Planet, The Roundhouse and The Test Kitchen). Franschhoek can boast with three – Babel, Pierneef a La Motte and The Tasting Room.

The remaining three are in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands (Hartford House), Joburg (DW Eleven-13) and Pretoria (Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient).

Planning a gourmet tour of South Africa? Here’s our handy map. Click here to view a larger map, where you can click on the blue pins for more info and pics.

The past winners

Several of this year’s nominees have won spots in the top 10 in previous years. If our calculations are correct, Bizerca and The Test Kitchen have been in the Top 10 once before; The Greenhouse, DW Eleven-13, Hartford House, Jordan, Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient, The Roundhouse, have all appeared twice; Rust en Vrede three times, Overture has made the Top 10 four times, La Colombe five times, Terroir six and The Tasting Room ten times since 1998 when the awards began.

The newbies

Delaire Graff Restaurant and Makaron (last year’s winner of the Boschendal Style Award) are new on the nominees list this year.

The old hands

When it comes to experience in the kitchen, Laurent Deslandes of Bizerca takes the honours. Laurent has been cooking for 30 years – in France, SA and Australia. When it comes to loyalty, The Tasting Room’s Margot Janse comes up trumps: she’s been with the restaurant for an impressive 17 years. The newest chef is Tanja Kruger of Makaron, with just nine years in the kitchen. Kudos to you, Tanja!

The battle of the sexes

Cheffing may be a male-dominated field, but this year five out of the 19 nominees are headed up by ladies. Simone Rossouw of Babel,  Jackie Cameron of Hartford House, Tanja Kruger of Makaron, Chantel Dartnall of Restaurant Mosaic and Margot Janse of The Tasting Room are the roses amongst the thorns this year.

Foreigners vs locals

The locals outnumber the foreigners this year, 12 to 7. Eric Bulpitt of The Roundhouse is the closest foreigner to home, hailing from Walvisbaai in Namibia.

The Brits include Luke Dale-Roberts of the The Test Kitchen (though you’re more likely to notice dishes inspired by his time in Asia than bangers and mash on the menu), Rust en Vrede’s John Shuttleworth (from Derbyshire, England), and Jordan’s George Jardine (from Edinburgh, Scotland)

The other foreigners include Bizerca’s Laurent Deslandes, who hails from Angers, France, The Tasting Room’s Margot Janse, from The Netherlands and Peter Tempelhoff of The Greenhouse who hails from Boston in the USA.

The winners of the Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards will be announced at The Westin Cape Town on Sunday 25 November 2012. Want to attend the glittering ceremony? Click here for more information and to buy tickets.