RESTAURANTS, HOTELS & CHEFS HONOURED AT PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS

The Munster Regional Final of the Santa Rita/ LIFE Magazine Irish Restaurant Awards took place in The Imperial Hotel, Cork, last night and named the top restaurants in the south for 2013.

Over 350 restaurant owners and staff celebrated their hard work and achievements at the Awards, which saw many well-known restaurateurs of Munster 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.

Best Customer Service

• CLARE- Noel’s Restaurant
• CORK- Castle Hotel
• KERRY- Ballygarry House Hotel
• LIMERICK- Market Place Brasserie
• TIPPERARY- Larkins Bar & Restaurant
• WATERFORD- Bodega! Restaurant

Best Gastro Pub – Sponsored by Faustino

• CLARE – JP Clarkes
• CORK – The Elm Tree
• KERRY – The Bridge Bar
• LIMERICK – Bobby Byrne’s Bar
• TIPPERARY – The Derg Inn
• WATERFORD – Merrys Bar & Restaurant

Best Casual Dining – Sponsored by Joseph Drouhin

• CLARE – L’Arco
• CORK – House Café
• KERRY – Sol y Sombra
• LIMERICK – La Cucina
• TIPPERARY – Café Hans
• WATERFORD – The Copper Hen

Best Hotel Restaurant – Sponsored by Pallas Foods

• CLARE – Earl of Thomond @ Dromoland Castle
• CORK – Ballymaloe House
• KERRY – The Malton Hotel
• LIMERICK – The Mustard Seed
• TIPPERARY – The Old Convent
• WATERFORD – Munster Room @ Waterford Castle

Best Chef – Sponsored by Tipperary Water

• CLARE – David McCann of Dromoland Castle
• CORK – Denis Cotter of Café Paradiso
• KERRY – Simon Regan of Hotel Europe
• LIMERICK – Tom Flavin of The River Restaurant
• TIPPERARY – Dermot Gannon of The Old Convent
• WATERFORD – Paul Flynn of The Tannery

Best Restaurant – Sponsored by Santa Rita

• CLARE – Wild Honey Inn
• CORK – Jacques
• KERRY – The Global Village
• LIMERICK – Cornstore
• TIPPERARY – Chez Hans
• WATERFORD – The Tannery

Best Wine Experience – Sponsored by Thomas Barton

Hayfield Manor, Cork

Best Kids Size Me – Sponsored by Heinz

Cornstore Restaurant, Cork

Engaging with The Gathering Award – Sponsored by Tourism Ireland

Paddys Bar & Restaurant, Tipperary

ENDS

For further information contact:

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

Twitter: @restawards
Facebook: www.facebook.com/IrishRestaurantAwards
www.irishrestaurantawards.com