Cyprus loves to eat. That is no secret and thankfully there is no shortage of places to chose. The island has award-winning restaurants, recognised by top industry professionals and venues that are little more than a hole in the wall, but which are the ones locals love eating at? The first People’s Eating Awards by Cyprus Eats aim to find out, putting the choice firmly in just the public’s hands.
‘You eat here. You decide’ says the awards’ tagline. Hosted by Cyprus Eats, one of the most popular and trusted food content creators on the island, the awards give the power to the people to choose the venues they love the most.
Public vote spans 22 categories
Until November 15, the public can vote across 22 categories, with the winners to be announced at a special awards ceremony on December 7. Alongside familiar categories such as favourite brunch spot, souvlaki joint and burger venue, there are more unusual ones, including Value for Money, Taste of Cyprus Award and Favourite Social Media Account.
“The people have been asking me for these awards,” says Cyprus Eats’ Akis. Across his eight years in the food blogging scene, he has not only reviewed hundreds of restaurants but has become a consultant and a connoisseur of the dining world, trusted by both restaurateurs and the public.
“I’ve tried many restaurants, locally and abroad. Cyprus has nothing to be jealous of overseas; we have great restaurants here,” he says.
“These awards are not about featuring my favourites, or collaborations, and I want to make that clear. Actually, about 70 per cent of the restaurants in the awards I probably haven’t even been to, or have never covered.”
Transparency and public participation have been central to the process. With an IT background, Akis spent the past year and a half building the voting platform. Once the system was finalised this summer, he invited a committee of 15 food bloggers and content creators to select the top 10 restaurants in each category.
“We did this Eurovision-style. Each category had at least 50 or 60 restaurants to choose from, and they would give 12 points to their favourite, 10 to the second favourite and so on. We looked at over 700 restaurants! The top 10 in each category were then selected.”
Voting system designed to ensure fairness
Some restaurants appear in more than one category, while others have landed in unexpected ones. A burger joint, for instance, might also be competing for Favourite Social Media Account, while a brunch spot might feature in the Sweet Tooth Award category instead of the brunch shortlist.
“Some restaurants were confused about the category they were nominated in if it wasn’t their speciality per se,” Akis explains. “But they were probably nominated in their correct category initially, just didn’t make the top 10 of that category. But if they are included in the top 10 of another category, it’s still a win!”
Restaurants were informed of their nominations only after the results were made public. The voting platform also randomises the order in which nominees appear, reshuffling the list each time someone returns to a category.
“People might not scroll down to the bottom or see only the first three, and I didn’t want that,” says Akis. “I wanted to give everyone a fair opportunity.”
There are plenty of hidden treasures to discover within the voting platform, and Cyprus Eats is preparing a video series about them. For example, the site includes games that unlock once a voter has cast a vote in all 22 categories. The top scorer in each game wins a prize, while those who complete all categories are entered into a draw to win 500 credits on their Bolt Food account, provided by the awards’ platinum sponsor.
A few more gifts are hidden and will be revealed throughout the next four weeks. Made to be interactive and attractive, CyprusEats still encourages people to be mindful when they vote. “Don’t just vote randomly to enter the draw,” Akis advises, “choose wisely as your voice matters.”
Plans for a more inclusive awards ceremony
The winners will be announced on December 7 at an invitation-only awards ceremony, which was not how Cyprus Eats originally envisioned the event.
“I’m going to be honest. I really wanted the people to be at the awards, and it was going to be at a street food event with food and activities. Not a black-tie event but something for the people, by the people.”
But with time running short, it was too complicated to organise it for this winter. That is the plan, however, for the second People’s Eating Awards next year, and Cyprus Eats has more ideas up its sleeve – a larger committee with the possibility of including everyday people to have more diversity and more voices. It is the People’s Awards, after all.
Votes are already coming in and so far, the data is unexpected. Restaurants that typically are the critics’ first choice are not necessarily the people’s.
“Everyday people eat and value differently,” concludes Akis. “The number one restaurant of Cyprus isn’t really number one because not everyone eats there. So, this is what my awards are. It’s not about the best, but the public’s favourite, and that’s important to recognise because they are doing something right. They are winning the people, and perhaps, that’s more important.”