Cover Mastercard returns as experience partner for the Tatler Best Awards, celebrating the region’s finest chefs, mixologists and hoteliers
Mastercard returns as experience partner for the Tatler Best Awards, celebrating the region’s finest chefs, mixologists and hoteliers
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Mastercard
From the Takeover Series to the Best New awards to a menu that tells you exactly what to expect, Mastercard supports Tatler Best in turning celebration into something we can all sit down for
Tatler Best is in the business of naming excellence. Our Tatler Best 100 lists, Best-in-Class trophies, and a region-wide event that fills a room with chefs, mixologists and hoteliers who have dedicated their lives to perfecting the details. These are the things our awards exist to honour, and to celebrate in the company of those who understand them best. Mastercard has been part of that project since the very first Tatler Best Awards, as our experience partner, and their belief in what we do has shaped each edition.
The Tatler Best Takeover Series is the most dynamic expression of that partnership. Presented by Mastercard, the Takeovers bring award-winning chefs and bartenders into kitchens and bars across a host city for limited-run collaborations and exclusive experiences that gather together people who love food and drink, and the community that forms around them. Shanghai hosted these experiences this October, with top talent from Macau, Hong Kong, Manila, Seoul and Penang cooking alongside the city’s own. Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Phuket have each played host over the years, every edition offering guests the chance to taste something that usually requires a plane ticket. For Mastercard cardholders, these experiences are bookable through Priceless.com, with perks like guaranteed window seating and welcome drinks at select events, turning a celebrated name on a list into a table you can reserve and experience.
The team from Alice Cheongdam at the Tatler Best Takeover in Shanghai
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At the Tatler Best Asia Pacific 2026 Awards in Shanghai, Julie Nestor, Mastercard’s Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Asia-Pacific, presented three of the evening’s most anticipated honours: Best New Bar, Best New Restaurant, and Best New Hotel. The winners: Mius in Hong Kong, Celera in Makati and The Hanok Heritage in Yeongwol, represent the kind of fresh energy that keeps the region’s hospitality scene moving. Mius is Shelley Tai’s neighbourhood cocktail bar, where reimagined classics are stripped back to their essential elements. Celera brings polished modern Asian cooking to Manila, drawing on influences from across the region. The Hanok Heritage, in Gangwon Province, was built entirely in traditional Korean architectural style, using wood and natural materials. Nestor’s presence as presenter placed Mastercard at the moment when hospitality’s next chapter gets named.
Mius in Hong Kong, Shelley Tai's neighbourhood cocktail bar, took home Best New Bar with its stripped-back reimagining of classic cocktails
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The Sensory Notes initiative is another part of the partnership’s reach. Traditional menus list ingredients and maybe a poetic flourish. They assume the diner can picture the plate, anticipate the texture, brace for the intensity. For autistic diners and people with sensory sensitivities, that assumption creates a barrier before the food ever arrives. Sensory Notes describes dishes in literal terms: appearance, preparation, arrangement and taste, so that the experience of eating out becomes legible in advance. The framework was co-designed with Autism CRC and autistic Australians, piloted at the Australian Open, and is now available to restaurants through Mastercard’s Inclusion Hub.
Above Guests at the Tatler Best reception competed to identify a canapé from its written sensory description, with the correct guess rewarded by the dish itself
Guests at the Tatler Best reception competed to identify a canapé from its written sensory description, with the correct guess rewarded by the dish itself
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At the Tatler Best reception, guests encountered an activation built around this idea: a canapé to be won by identifying it through a written description of its sensory qualities. Those who guessed right were rewarded with the dish itself, a playful challenge with a pointed lesson at its heart. A video with an important message was also played during the ceremony, making the case for inclusion at the dinner table in terms that hospitality professionals could not easily dismiss. Nestor spoke after the segment, sharing her personal perspective on why inclusion matters, reminding the room that hospitality is at its most meaningful when every guest feels welcome.
Above Julie Nestor, Mastercard's Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Asia-Pacific, presents the Best New awards at the Tatler Best Asia Pacific 2026 Awards in Shanghai
Julie Nestor, Mastercard's Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Asia-Pacific, presents the Best New awards at the Tatler Best Asia Pacific 2026 Awards in Shanghai
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For Tatler Best, the partnership with Mastercard has meant a particular kind of reach. The awards celebrate the region’s finest venues, and together, we have built collaborations and experiences that bring the community closer to the talent behind them. Mastercard’s support of Tatler Best sits within a broader commitment to offering world-class experiences, ones the brand continuously curates and makes bookable through Priceless.com.
The Tatler Best Asia Pacific 2026 Awards ceremony in Shanghai, where the Best 100 Hotels, Restaurants and Bars lists and Best-in-Class honours were unveiled before an audience of over 600 hospitality figures
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That commitment extends to the table itself. Sensory Notes, a menu framework that describes dishes in clear, sensory detail, ensures every guest, neurodivergent or otherwise, can order with confidence. The celebration matters. The inclusion matters just as much.
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Established in 1977, Tatler Asia is the region’s leading lifestyle and business media authority, chronicling the influential leaders, culture, and lifestyle shaping modern Asia.
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