RESTAURANTS, HOTELS & CHEFS HONOURED AT PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS

The Leinster Regional Final of the Santa Rita/ LIFE Magazine Irish Restaurant Awards took place in the new The Marker Hotel, Grand Canal Square , last night and named the top restaurants in the region for 2013.

Over 350 restaurant owners and staff celebrated their hard work and achievements at the Awards, which saw many well-known restaurateurs of Leinster turn out to see if they had been awarded one of the prestigious awards.

Speaking at the awards last night, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins said; “In their fifth year now, the Irish Restaurant Awards continue to go from strength to strength. Each year, the awards cast a spotlight on the brightest and best players on the Irish restaurant scene. The Irish Restaurant Awards are the awards everyone wants to win. This year the nominations went online for the first time and we got a spectacular response from the public- nominations doubled and we received 10,000 votes for over 2,000 of  Ireland’s favourite restaurants, chefs, gastro pubs, hotel restaurants and customer service experience.

“We celebrate the award winning cuisines and the great restaurateurs and chefs who are constantly bringing international recognition and accolades to the Irish restaurant scene. Restaurateurs are entrepreneurs, and that is reflected in the fact that the restaurant sector is the biggest employer within the hospitality industry. We provide employment to 64,000 people and the industry has annual sales in excess of €2 billion; tonight, everyone is a winner.”

For all the information on the judging process and the All-Ireland event; please see www.irishrestaurantawards.com.

For a full list of winners, see below.

Food outlets were nominated under the categories of Best Customer Service, Best Gastro Pub, Best Casual Dining, Best Hotel Restaurant, Best Chef, Best Restaurant, Best Wine Experience, Best Kids Size Me, sponsored by Heinz, Engaging with The Gathering, sponsored by Tourism Ireland and Best Just Ask! Menu, sponsored by Bord Bia.

The Shortlist of the Top 8 in Dublin in the each category were also announced during the Leinster Regional Awards. The winners results and certs for Dublin will be announced and presented at the All-Ireland event on June 10th, in The Burlington Hotel.

Best Customer Service

• CARLOW- Lennons @ Visual
• KILDARE- Fallons of Kilcullen
• KILKENNY- Zuni
• LAOIS- Preston House
• LONGFORD- Viewmount House
• LOUTH- Eastern Seaboard Bar & Grill
• MEATH- Conyngham Arms
• OFFALY- Kinnitty Castle
• WESTMEATH- The WIneport Lodge
• WEXFORD- The Pigs Tale
• WICKLOW- Ocean Bar & Grill

Dublin Shortlist for Best Customer Service:

• Chapter One
• Dax Restaurant
• Jaipur Dalkey
• Jamie’s Italian
• Il Primo
• Rasam
• Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud
• Saba

Best Gastro Pub – Sponsored by Faustino

• CARLOW- Teach Dolmain
• KILDARE- Hartes Bar & Grill
• KILKENNY- Marble City Bar @ Langtons
• LAOIS- McEvoys Steak & Wine Bar
• LONGFORD- Eddie Valentines
• LOUTH- Fitzpatricks
• MEATH- The Central
• OFFALY- The Thatch Bar
• WESTMEATH- The Fatted Calf
• WEXFORD- Murphy’s Bar & Bistro
• WICKLOW- The Roundwood Inn

Dublin Shortlist for Best Gastro Pub:

• Ely Gastro Pub
• Hole In The Wall
• The Exchequer
• The Magpie Inn
• The Chophouse
• The Purty Kitchen
• L. Mulligan Grocer
• The Waterloo Bar and Grill

Best Casual Dining – Sponsored by Joseph Drouhin

• CARLOW- The Arboretum/ Rachel’s Garden Café
• KILDARE- Zest Café & Restaurant
• KILKENNY- Café Sol Bistro
• LAOIS- Season’s Bistro
• LONGFORD- Aubergine Gallery Café
• LOUTH- Magees Seafood Bistro
• MEATH- La Bucca
• OFFALY- Emma’s Café
• WESTMEATH- An Tintáin Restaurant
• WEXFORD- Cistín Eile
• WICKLOW- A. Caviston

Dublin Shortlist for Best Casual Dining:

• Bite
• The Brass Monkey
• Whitefriar Grill
• Isabel’s
• Ely Winebar
• Saba
• Jamie’s Italian
• Fade Street Social

Best Hotel Restaurant – Sponsored by Pallas Foods

• CARLOW- Rubens Restaurant @ The Step House Hotel
• KILDARE- The River Room Restaurant @ The K Club
• KILKENNY- Lady Helen @ Mount Juliet
• LAOIS- Castle Durrow
• LONGFORD- VM Restaurant
• LOUTH- Scholars Townhouse Hotel
• MEATH- Brabazon Restaurant @ Tankardstown House
• OFFALY- The Charleville Restaurant @ The Bridge House Hotel
• WESTMEATH- Killinure Restaurant @ Glasson
• WEXFORD- Monart Restaurant
• WICKLOW- The Strawberry Tree @ Brooklodge

Dublin Shortlist for Best Hotel Restaurant:

• Cliff Town House
• Citron
• Samphire
• The Cellar
• Wilde
• The Dylan Restaurant
• The Dungeon
• The Saddle Room

Best Chef – Sponsored by Tipperary Water

• CARLOW- Alan Foley of The Step House Hotel
• KILDARE- Josef Zammit of The Brown Bear
• KILKENNY- Cormac Rowe of The Lady Helen
• LAOIS- Graham Gallagher of Castle Durrow
• LONGFORD- Gary O’Hanlon of VM Restaurant
• LOUTH- Reuven Diaz of Eastern Seaboard Bar and Grill
• MEATH- Paul McCullagh of Zucchini’s
• OFFALY- Anthony Holland of Kinnitty Castle
• WESTMEATH- Fergal O’Donnell of The Fatted Calf
• WEXFORD- Kevin Dundon of Dunbrody House
• WICKLOW- Lalit Kumar of Chakra by Jaipur

Dublin Shortlist for Best Chef:

• Niall O’Sullivan of Isabel’s
• Ross Lewis of Chapter One
• Jerome Fernandez of La Reserve
• Mikael Viljanen of The Greenhouse
• Graham Neville of Restaurant Forty One
• Kevin Thornton of Thornton’s
• Sunil Ghai of Ananda Restaurant
• Tom Walsh of Samphire At The Waterside

Best Restaurant – Sponsored by Santa Rita

• CARLOW- Sha Roe Bistro
• KILDARE- Trax Brasserie
• KILKENNY– Campagne
• LAOIS- The Candied Walnut
• LONGFORD- The Black Olive
• LOUTH- The BayTree Restaurant @ Belvedere House
• MEATH- Zucchinis
• OFFALY- Siroccos
• WESTMEATH- Thyme Restaurant
• WEXFORD- Aldridge Lodge
• WICKLOW- Chakra by Jaipur

Dublin Shortlist for Best Restaurant:

• Ananda
• Chapter One
• Dax Restaurant
• La Reserve Brasserie
• Locks Brasserie
• Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud
• The Greenhouse
• The Pig’s Ear

Best Wine Experience – Sponsored by Thomas Barton

The K Club, Kildare

Dublin Shortlist for Best Wine Experience:

• One Pico
• Restaurant Patrick Guilbauds
• D’Vine
• Dublin Wine Rooms
• La Bodega
• Ely Wine Bar
• Fallon & Byrne
• Beaufield Mews

Best Kids Size Me – Sponsored by Heinz

The Olive Grove, Westmeath

Dublin Shortlist for Best Kids Size Me:

• Ely Gastro Pub
• Juniors
• Joels
• La Banca
• Bewleys Hotel Ballsbridge
• Ely Bar & Brasserie
• The Gables

Engaging with The Gathering Award – Sponsored by Tourism Ireland
Sheraton Hotel, Athlone, Westmeath

Just Ask! Award – Sponsored by Bord Bia

Sqigl Restaurant @ Roches Bar, Wexford

ENDS

For further information contact:

Adrian Cummins,
Chief Executive Officer
Mobile: +353 86 8263311
Telephone: +353 1 6779901
Email: Adrian@rai.ie
Website: www.rai.ie

Twitter: @restawards

Facebook: www.facebook.com/IrishRestaurantAwards

www.irishrestaurantawards.com