Lukas Nagl is awarded Chef of the Year, Benjamin Parth wins the fifth chef’s toque.

Chefs and Talents of the Year 2023

The most anticipated awards of the Austrian gastronomic industry were finally presented in person after a forced break due to the coronavirus. The winners received many applause on 16 November in the modern and friendly atmosphere of the SO/Vienna Hotel. With such remarkable protagonists, it is difficult to highlight individual personalities. Nevertheless, the nomination as “Chef of the Year” by Gault&Millau is undoubtedly the most important award in the culinary industry. The new recipient of this year’s title is Lukas Nagl from Restaurant Bootshaus am Traunsee.

A great deal of attention is also always paid to the question of whether there is movement at the top of the quality pyramid. We can therefore also congratulate another extremely talented chef on his fifth toque: Benjamin Parth of the Stüva restaurant in Ischgl.

Guide 2023, a new record

The new Gault&Millau guide gives a new burst of optimism in the middle of the general gloom. The crises do not end, but creativity and ingenuity continue to grow and make eating out a real pleasure for indulgent customers, especially in these difficult times. Nevertheless, restaurants are not having an easy time of it at the moment. The coronavirus pandemic was followed by the energy crisis and record inflation, and an almost dramatic shortage of employees.

Despite the extremely difficult conditions, the Gault&Millau 2023 Guide can identify no less than 762 award-winning restaurants, carrying a total of 1,486 toques. This is a new record, there have never been so many. Newcomers can be found across the spectrum: 45 companies were awarded toques for the first time, 36 were upgraded by one, two or even three points.