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Six chefs compete to be best in London... and all are British
Ellen Widdup, Evening Standard11.06.08
An all-British line-up of top chefs will go head to head for a prestigious restaurant award.
For the first time in the 10-year history of the London Restaurant Awards, all six nominees vying for the title of outstanding London chef are homegrown.
Anthony Demetre of Arbutus, Chris Galvin of Windows, Jason Atherton of Maze, Mark Hix of Le Caprice, Rowley Leigh of Kensington Place and Theo Randall of The InterContinental are all in contention.
They will join hundreds of other chefs and dining rooms competing in 18 categories - ranging from British restaurant of the year to new restaurant of the year.
The announcement of the awards shortlist today is bad news for Gordon Ramsay.
His flagship restaurants - Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea; Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's and Petrus in Knightsbridge - failed to secure a nomination in any category.
In fact, the only restaurant under the Gordon Ramsay Holdings umbrella to receive a nomination is Maze in Grosvenor Square with outstanding London chef nominee Atherton also being nominated for the award of excellence.
This year's event also includes an Evening Standard Londoners' award.
Readers are being asked to vote for the best restaurant in the capital which offers lunch or dinner for two for less than £60, including wine.
Award judge and Standard food writer Charles Campion said it would be difficult to pick a winner.
"Given the calibre of nominees, it will be a highly contested competition," he said. "As a judge, it is an incredibly daunting task to choose the city's best from such an amazing selection."
The shortlisted restaurants offer cuisine from around the world, ranging from Thai pub kitchens and Turkish cafés to sushi bars and Chinese banquets.
Among them are Lemonia, a Greek taverna in Primrose Hill; Matsu, a Japanese restaurant in east London; and The Red Pepper, an Italian in Maida Vale.
Readers will be asked to vote for their favourite from the list by awarding marks out of 10.
The competition will start on 25 June and run through next month.
All the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, on 1 September.
The nominations
BRITISH RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Great Queen Street
Hix Oyster & Chop House
Magdalen
Rules
St John
Scott's
FRENCH RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon
Arbutus
Galvin Bistrot Deluxe
Le Gavroche
The Greenhouse
Hibiscus
ITALIAN RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Locanda Locatelli
Number Twelve
Ristorante Semplice
Theo Randall at the InterContinental
Vasco & Piero's Pavilion
Zafferano
ORIENTAL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Aaya
Dinings
Dragon Castle
Pearl Liang
Royal China Club
Umu
INDIAN RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Amaya
New Tayyab
Painted Heron
Quilon
Rooburoo
Urban Turban
LOCAL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
L'Absinthe, Camden
The Carpenter's Arms, W6
Hereford Road, Notting Hill
Market, Camden
Ottolenghi, N1
Upstairs, Brixton
NEW RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Acorn House
Le Café Anglais
Cha Cha Moon
Great Queen Street
Hibiscus
Hix Oyster & Chop House
Scott's
BEST BUSINESS LUNCH
Coq d'Argent
Gaucho Grill
The Landau
Lanes
Ooze
The Wolseley
OUTSTANDING LONDON CHEF
Jason Atherton
Anthony Demetre
Chris Galvin
Mark Hix
Rowley Leigh
Theo Randall
RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR
Marlon Abela
Mike Belben
Sam and Eddie Hart
Nick Jones
The Panjabi Family
Alan Yau
You can vote later this month here at www.standard.co.uk
