Top restaurants in Ireland announced at the Santa Rita - Life Magazine Irish Restaurant Awards 2012
15 May 2012
Garrett Byrne crowned Best Chef in Ireland
Chapter One scoops Best Restaurant Award and Garrett Byrne, Head Chef at Campagne crowned Best Chef in Ireland at the Santa Rita/Sunday Independent Irish Restaurant Awards 2012 in the Burlington Hotel, Monday 14th May 2012. Almost 700 Industry peers attended Irelands leading Restaurant Awards where Regional and All Ireland Winners were announced in the following categories.
Chapter One - Best Restaurant 2012 Sponsored by Santa Rita
Garrett Byrne for Campagne - Best Chef 2012 Sponsored by Tipperary Water
The Long Room @ Doonbeg - Best Hotel Restaurant 2012 Sponsored By Pallas Foods
The Chop House - Best Gastro Pub 2012 Sponsored by Faustino
O'Connells - Best Casual Dining 2012 Sponsored By Joseph Drouhin
Harveys Point Hotel - Best Customer Service 2012 Sponsored by Miele
West @ The Twelve Hotel - Best Wine Experience 2012 Sponsored by Thomas Barton
Ely Gastro Pub, Dublin - Best Kids Size Me Menu 2012 Sponsored by Heinz
Comeragh Mountain Lamb - Local Food Hero 2012 Sponsored by Life Magazine
THE IRISH RESTAURANT AWARDS 2012
Brian Fallon, President, Restaurants Association Of Ireland said:
"Since their inception, the Irish Restaurant Awards have cast a spotlight on Irelands hottest restaurants and chefs. They have become a byword for quality, class and achievement... The awards everyone wants to win. As a testament to their success, the entries have doubled since last year, with 6,000 nominations made for Ireland's favourite Restaurants, Chefs, Gastro Pubs, Hotel Restaurants and Local Food Heroes throughout the Country. We celebrate the award winning cuisines and the great restaurateurs and chefs who have brought international recognition and accolades to the Irish restaurant scene. We are the economic engine rooms in every town in Ireland, creating and maintaining much needed local employment. Our industry has annual sales in excess of €2 billion and we employ 64,000 people. In fact, we are the largest employer within the Irish Tourism Sector."
Sallyanne Cooney - General Manager, Gleeson's incorporating Gilbey's, sponsor of this year's awards said
"Santa Rita, the number one Chilean wine brand in Ireland, is delighted to be associated with these prestigious awards and their acknowledgement and recognition of excellence in the restaurant and hospitality industry throughout Ireland. As the established hospitality industry Chilean wine, we are delighted to be in a position to reward this ongoing achievement of these nominated chefs and restaurants who themselves, in these tough economic times, have created, built and sustained something that is quite unique but delivers the right ingredients to their customers. A heartfelt congratulations to all the winners and finalists from this year's awards from all at Santa Rita."
ABOUT THE AWARDS
The Irish Restaurant Awards are brought to you by The Restaurants Association of Ireland and are kindly sponsored by Santa Rita/Sunday Independent LIFE Magazine. The awards are the largest and most coveted awards in the Irish Restaurant Industry.
This year's event will recognise achievement and excellence in the Restaurant and Hospitality Industry throughout the Island of Ireland in 23 categories. The awards celebrate all aspects of the Industry from Chefs and Restaurants to Food Producers, Local Food Heroes and Cookery Schools. Nominations for the awards are made by readers of the Sunday Independent LIFE Magazine and members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland.
The awards process runs from the beginning of February 2012 until the 14th of May 2012. 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. County winners are announced at a number of Regional Events in the run up to the Main Event on the 14th May in the Burlington Hotel Dublin.
The selection process to become a County winner in the main category involves 2 stages.
Firstly, a Chef / Restaurant / Hotel / Gastro Pub must be nominated by a reader of the Sunday Independent or a member of The Restaurant Association of Ireland. The nomination period is open for 3 weeks in February. All of the nominations are then audited by our independent adjudicators KPMG.
In early March our Regional judging panels, made up of industry experts across the 5 regions meet to assess the nominations. The results from our Judging panel, which makes up 60% of the overall vote, plus the results from the reader's nominations, which makes up 40% of the vote, are combined and then reviewed by KPMG to give an overall winner. The winner of each category is that chef / restaurant / hotel or gastro pub who has the highest combined judges and readers vote.
County Winners and the Dublin Shortlist then go on to compete for the Regional and all Ireland title, which will be announced in the Burlington Hotel on 14th May 2012.
There are 3 elements to this stage of the process:
Mystery Guest Visit - 35%
All County Winners receive a mystery guest visit. The Irish Restaurant awards are the only awards in the Industry where each of the Restaurants receive a visit from an independent Mystery Guest visitor who assess the dining experience in terms of food quality, menu, customer service, premises and over all experience.
National Awards Academy - 55%
Our National Awards Academy made up of judges from each of the regions meet early May to cast their votes.
Menu Judging - 10%
Each of the County winners must submit their food and wine menus for judging as part of the process.
All of these scores are again combined and then reviewed by KPMG who give us our Regional and All Ireland winners.
Members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland nominate in the Industry Category. These nominations will also be judged by our National Awards Academy.
Guests on the night will be treated to a sumptuous meal at this glittering black tie event - a fantastic celebration of all that is great in the Irish Restaurant Industry.
Opening Course
Chicken Liver & Foie Gras Parfait, Red Onion Compote, Fresh Brioche
Philippe Farineau - Mount Falcon House Hotel
Soup Course
Wild Irish Mushroom & Truffle Soup, Fermanagh Black Back Bacon
Noel McMeel - Lough Erne Resort
Fish Course
Goatsbridge Trout, Natural Yogurt, Ballyfin Demesne Wild Garlic, Apple, Irish Caviar
Fred Cordonnier - Ballyfin Demesne
Main Course
Rare Breed Rack of Pork, Quinoa Crust, Confit of Potato, Summer Greens, Smoked Hay Velouté
Raymond McArdle - Restaurant 23 at Balmoral
Dessert
Earl Grey Infused Opera Chocolate served with Raspberries
Graham Neville - Restaurant FortyOne at Residence
WINNERS
Best Casual Dining sponsored by Joseph Drouhin
- ULSTER - Il Pirata
- MUNSTER - La Cucina
- LEINSTER - A. Caviston
- CONNAUGHT - Mulberrys Restaurant & Wine Bar
- DUBLIN - O'Connells
- ALL-IRELAND WINNER - O'Connells
Best Customer Service sponsored by Miele
- ULSTER - Harveys Point Hotel
- MUNSTER - Isaacs Restaurant
- LEINSTER - Viewmount House
- CONNAUGHT - Renvyle House
- DUBLIN - Rasam
- ALL-IRELAND WINNER - Harveys Point Hotel
Best Gastro Pub sponsored by Faustino
- ULSTER - The Brewers House
- MUNSTER - The Roadside Tavern
- LEINSTER - The Fatted Calf
- CONNAUGHT - Bar One
- DUBLIN - The Chop House
- ALL-IRELAND WINNER - The Chop House
Best Hotel Restaurant sponsored by Pallas Foods
- ULSTER - The River Room @ Galgorm Resort
- MUNSTER - The Long Room @ Doonbeg
- LEINSTER - Beaches Restaurant @ Kelly's Resort Hotel
- CONNAUGHT - Ballynahinch Castle
- DUBLIN - Seasons Restaurant @ The Four Seasons Hotel
- ALL-IRELAND WINNER - The Long Room @ Doonbeg
Best Chef sponsored by Tipperary Water
- ULSTER - Joery Castel, The Boathouse
- MUNSTER - Wade Murphy, The Long Room @ Doonbeg
- LEINSTER - Garrett Byrne, Campagne
- CONNAUGHT - Philippe Farineau, Mount Falcon
- DUBLIN - Ross Lewis, Chapter One
- ALL-IRELAND WINNER - Garrett Byrne, Campagne
Best Restaurant sponsored by Santa Rita
- ULSTER - James Street South
- MUNSTER - Les Gourmandises
- LEINSTER - Campagne
- CONNAUGHT - Artisan
- DUBLIN - Chapter One
- ALL-IRELAND WINNER - Chapter One
Best Wine Experience Ireland sponsored by Thomas Barton - West @ The Twelve Hotel
Best Kid Size Me Menu Ireland sponsored by Heinz - Ely Gastro Pub, Dublin
INDUSTRY CATEGORY
Best Restaurant Website sponsored by Lightbox - Milano, Ireland
Best Coffee Experience sponsored by Robert Roberts - 3FE, Dublin
Best Ethnic Restaurant sponsored by Tiger Beer - Ananda, Dublin
Best Artisan Producer sponsored by IFSA - Boulabane Ice-Cream
Best Club Restaurant sponsored by La Rousse - Restaurant FortyOne @ Residence, Dublin
Just Ask 2012 sponsored by Bord Bia - L. Mulligan Grocer, Dublin
Best Seafood Experience sponsored by Kish - O'Gradys On The Pier, Co. Galway
Best Supplier sponsored by RAI - Pallas Foods
Great Value Dining sponsored by Tourism Ireland - Thyme, Co. Westmeath
Best Practice in Energy Management sponsored by Calor - Dromoland Castle, Co. Clare
Best Innovative Restaurant sponsored by Failte Ireland - Mulberry Garden, Dublin
Best Restaurant Design sponsored by Hugh Jordan - Bijou, Dublin
Best Cocktail Experience sponsored by Smirnoff Mojito - The Exchequer, Dublin
Best Newcomer sponsored by Elavon - The Green House, Dublin
Best Cookery School sponsored by Avonmore - The Tannery Cookery School, Co. Waterford
