Cape Town does it again. A Bantry Bay restaurant has scooped an award in what is largely considered the Oscars of gastronomy!
Cape Town, South Africa (04 November 2025) – Amare, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant tucked into Bantry Bay, has just been named Africa’s Best New Restaurant 2025 at the World Culinary Awards.
The win puts SA’s coastal dining scene right back in the spotlight and marks a major milestone for a restaurant that only just turned one years old.
Since opening in October 2024, Amare has built a golden reputation. Their hospitality is warm, they’ve made seaside dining warm and opulent, and their ingredients are fresh and seasonal, playing into those deliciously bold Mediterranean flavours with a twist of Cape Town.
“Our guests are our family,” says the team behind Amare. “They expect dishes inspired by the sun-drenched flavours of France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The coastal cuisine paired with South African award winning boutique wines along with a selection of few international offerings makes Amare a favourite with tourists and the local communities.”
The restaurant is parented by Arteche Investment, which also owns the award-winning Aurum.
The World Culinary Awards are regarded as the ‘Oscars of gastronomy’. They look at excellence across the global restaurant and hospitality industry to crown the very best of the best.
Amare took its spot as Africa’s Best New Restaurant, alongside other big names in Italy last week.
This year, it was hosted at the Forte Village Resort in Sardinia, which was named World’s Best Culinary Resort in the awards. An Italian restaurant, Le Calandre, also took the overall title as World’s Best Restaurant.
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Winners are chosen through a global voting process by industry professionals and the public.
If you’d like to get a taste of Africa’s Best New Restaurant, you could book for Amare’s new jazz evening. It’s an intimate dinner-and-music experience that combines a specially curated tasting menu paired and live performances by some of SA’s most talented jazz artists. Sounds lavish.
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