Luna, Dublin Wins Best Restaurant at The Irish Restaurant Awards 2016

Over Fifty Restaurants, Hotel Restaurants & Chefs Honoured at the Prestigious Awards

Tuesday, 17^th May 2016, Dublin.

The Restaurants Association of Ireland is pleased to announce that the All-Ireland Irish Restaurant Awards took place in the The DoubleTree by Hilton, Dublin last night and named the top restaurants in Ireland for 2016. Over 900 restaurateurs and staff attended the sold out, black tie event which celebrated the hard work and achievements within the industry over the last 12 months.

Luna restaurant in Dublin was named as the 2016 All-Ireland Best Restaurant while Enda McEvoy of Loam, Galway took home the 2016 All-Ireland Best Chef title. Guests were treated to a lavish six course gala dinner prepared by a team of five chefs. The Awards Chef Team is hand-picked by the Restaurants Association each year and is made up of winning chefs from the previous year’s awards with each Chef representing a region of Ireland.

Speaking at the awards, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins commented, “This is the eighth and most successful year of the Irish Restaurant Awards to date. These Awards are the accolades of the Irish restaurant industry – everybody wants to win one. From over 70,000 online nominations cast earlier this year to 2,500 guests attending our regional events, it is clear that the stature, calibre and reputation of the awards is expanding at a considerable rate and it is all in aid of recognising the talent within our sector. All winners and finalists here tonight are very deserving of their awards.”

The full list of regional and All-Ireland winners is as follows;

Best Restaurant – Sponsored by Dalcassian Wines & Spirits and Astoria Wines

• All -Ireland –Luna, Dublin
• Dublin – Luna, Dublin
• Connaught – Loam, Galway
• Leinster – The Pigeon House, Wicklow
• Munster – 1826 Adare, Limerick
• Ulster – Browns Restaurant & Champagne Lounge, Derry

Best Chef – Sponsored by La Rousse Foods

• All-Ireland – Enda McEvoy of Loam, Galway
• Dublin – John Wyer of Forest Avenue, Dublin
• Connaught – Enda McEvoy of Loam, Galway
• Leinster – Rob Krawczyk of Brabazon at Tankardstown House, Meath
• Munster – David Hurley of The Dining Room at Gregans Castle Hotel, Clare
• Ulster – David Gillmore of James Street South, Antrim

Best Restaurant Manager – Sponsored by Tindal Wine Merchants

• All-Ireland – Alain Kerloc’h of OX, Antrim
• Dublin – Declan Maxwell of Luna

Best Hotel Restaurant – Sponsored by Elavon

• All-Ireland – The Dining Room at Gregans Castle Hotel, Clare
• Dublin – The Brasserie at The Marker, Dublin
• Connaught – The Library Restaurant at Belleek Castle, Mayo
• Leinster – The Lady Helen at Mount Juliet, Kilkenny
• Munster – The Dining Room at Gregans Castle Hotel, Clare
• Ulster – Harvey’s Restaurant at Harvey’s Point, Donegal

Best Casual Dining – Sponsored by San Pellegrino

• All-Ireland – ETTO, Dublin
• Dublin – ETTO, Dublin
• Connaught – The Pantry and Corkscrew, Mayo
• Leinster – Foodworks, Kilkenny
• Munster – Elbow Lane Brew & Smokehouse, Cork
• Ulster – The Ginger Bistro, Antrim

Best Gastro Pub – Sponsored by Bunzl McLaughlin

• All-Ireland – The Oarsman, Leitrim
• Dublin – Mulligan Grocer, Dublin
• Connaught – The Oarsman, Leitrim
• Leinster – Left Bank, Kilkenny
• Munster – Merry’s Gastro Pub, Waterford
• Ulster – Sweet Afton Bar & Kitchen, Antrim

Best Café – Sponsored by Aryzta Food Solutions

• All-Ireland – Rua, Mayo
• Dublin – The Pepper Pot, Dublin
• Connaught – Rua, Mayo
• Leinster – Blackberry Café, Kilkenny
• Munster – The Granary Café, Waterford
• Ulster – Aroma Café, Donegal

Best World Cuisine – Sponsored by Keelings Farm Fresh

• All-Ireland – Chakra by Jaipur, Wicklow
• Dublin – Boqueria, Dublin
• Connaught -Miso Sushi, Sligo
• Leinster – Chakra by Jaipur, Wicklow
• Munster – Iyer’s, Cork
• Ulster – DinaDina, Antrim

Best Emerging Irish Cuisine – Sponsored by Odaios Foods

• All-Ireland – Locks 1 Windsor Terrace, Dublin
• Dublin – Locks 1 Windsor Terrace, Dublin

Best Customer Service- Sponsored by TheTaste.ie

• All-Ireland – Kai Café & Restaurant, Galway
• Dublin – Luna, Dublin
• Connaught – Kai Café & Restaurant, Galway
• Leinster – Chakra by Jaipur, Wicklow
• Munster – Inch House Country House & Restaurant, Tipperary
• Ulster – The Great Room Restaurant at The Merchant Hotel, Antrim

Best Wine Experience – Sponsored by Classic Drinks and Champagne Pannier

• All-Ireland – George V Dining Room at Ashford Castle, Mayo
• Dublin – ETTO, Dublin
• Connaught – George V Dining Room at Ashford Castle, Mayo
• Leinster – Ristorante Rinuccini, Kilkenny
• Munster – La Bohème Restaurant & Winebar, Waterford
• Ulster – OX Cave, Antrim

Local Food Hero – Sponsored by Rewarding Times

• All-Ireland – JP McMahon of Aniar, Galway
• Dublin – Pádraic Óg Gallagher of Gallagher’s Boxty House, Dublin

Best Kids Size Me – Sponsored by Heinz & Kids Size Me

• All-Ireland – Momo Restaurant, Waterford
• Dublin – Jamie’s Italian, Dublin

Best Newcomer – Sponsored by BWG Foodservice

• All-Ireland – The Bay Tree Bistro, Waterford
• Dublin – Craft, Dublin
• Connaught – The Idle Wall, Mayo
• Leinster – The Lighthouse Seafood Restaurant, Wicklow
• Munster – The Bay Tree Bistro, Waterford
• Ulster – The Muddler’s Club, Antrim

Best Cocktail Experience – Sponsored by Ketel One & Diageo Reserve                                 

• All-Ireland – The Exchequer, Dublin

Best Seafood Experience – Sponsored by Pallas Foods                                 

• All-Ireland – O’Grady’s on the Pier, Galway

Best Cookery School – Sponsored by Avonmore

• All-Ireland – Tannery Cookery School, Waterford

Best Digital Marketing – Sponsored by Open Table

• All-Ireland – Coqbull, Cork

Best Private Dining & Club Restaurant – Sponsored by Peroni

• All-Ireland – Restaurant FortyOne at Residence, Dublin

Ends

For further information contact:

Adrian Cummins, Chief Executive Officer

Restaurants Association of Ireland

Mobile: +353 86 8263311

Telephone: +353 1 6779901

Fax: +353 1 6718414

Email: awards@rai.ie

Website: www.irishrestaurantawards.com

Twitter: @restawards

Facebook: www.facebook.com/IrishRestaurantAwards

Instagram: @irishrestawards

Notes for the Editor:

ABOUT THE AWARDS

The 2016 Irish Restaurant Awards are brought to you by The Restaurants Association of Ireland. The awards are the largest and most coveted awards in the Irish Restaurant Industry.

The Awards recognise achievement and excellence in the Restaurant and Hospitality Industry throughout the 32 counties on the Island of Ireland. The Awards are made up of 19 different categories and celebrate all aspects of the Industry from Chefs, Restaurants, Restaurant Managers, Cafes and Gastro Pubs to Food Producers and Cookery Schools.

The nomination and awards selection process is independently audited by BDO to ensure that best practices & standards have been adhered to throughout the process.

The 2016 Awards process ran from January until May 2016. It is a detailed and thorough process whereby nominated Restaurants face rigorous scrutiny from the Consumer, Regional Judges, a Mystery Guest Visitor and finally, the National Awards Academy. The Irish Restaurant Awards are the only kind restaurant awards in the country that carry out mystery guest inspections.

There are two phases of voting. Phase one comprises of the public nomination, which went online on www.irishtimes.com/irishrestaurantawards , bringing in over 70,000 online nominations in the weeks of the public nominating.

There are three components to phase two of the process. Each element is independently assessed by BDO.

1. Mystery Guest Visit (55%) This component of the awards is conducted by Customer Perceptions Ltd, specialists in mystery shopping, consumer insights and customer satisfaction surveys. All County Winners and Dublin shortlists will receive a mystery guest visit throughout the month of March, April or May.
2. National Awards Academy (35%) Our National Awards Academy is made up representatives from each of the regional judging panels and will meet in early May to judge the County Winners. The Academy members include food writers, journalists, bloggers, culinary academics and hospitality magazine editors.
3. Menu Judging (10%) All County winners and the Dublin Shortlist in each category are asked to submit a copy of their food menu and wine list for judging.