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Compliments go to the chefs of London's best restaurants
Peter Dominiczak14 Oct 2009
The capital's best restaurants have been recognised in a new awards ceremony in east London.
More than 250 chefs, celebrities and restaurateurs attended the London Restaurant Festival awards at The Street in the Tea Building, Shoreditch, last night.
The festival was the first capital-wide celebration of food and organisers hoped the event would tempt more customers into restaurants amid the hardest trading conditions in 20 years.
The six-day programme began with a Vanity Fair party in Quaglino's last week and involved more than 1,000 restaurants as well as street parties and temporary venues.
During the festival hundreds voted for the best discount menus offered by some of the capital's finest restaurants. Affordable menus were available in 560 restaurants including Wahaca, Le Caprice, Yauatcha, and Jamie Oliver's Fifteen.
Last night's winners included Quo Vadis in Soho, which offered a two-course lunch for £15, and Michelin- starred chef Hélène Darroze at the Connaught for her £25 lunch menu. Six awards were created by the Standard's food critic Fay Maschler and a panel of judges to recognise significant contributions made to London's restaurant scene.
These included the Bravery Award, given to Wapping Food - an art gallery and restaurant based in a former power station in east London.
Deputy director Marta Michalowska said: "We won for having the courage to run a not-for-profit art gallery that is also a restaurant that serves exciting food that changes on a daily basis. We're a very unusual venue and people come from all over London and beyond to try us out."
Launceston Place, South Kensington, won the Understanding of Ceremony Award for its "gueridon service" - where the ingredients are assembled in front of diners at the table.
Head chef Tristan Welch said: "Awards like this are very important for a restaurant like ours. I think we won for our understated level of service where people can feel relaxed but still get a very high level of service."
Chloe Couchman of the London Restaurant Festival said: "We wanted these award to recognise not only restaurants but their staff and chefs as well. We wanted to highlight the significant contribution all these people make to the capital's restaurant scene.
"These awards show it's not only about how many Michelin stars a restaurant has."
The Winners
Best Festival Menu:
Two-course lunch for £10
St Germain
Two-course lunch for £15
Village East, Quo Vadis
Two-course lunch for £25
Whitechapel Gallery Dining Room, Hélène Darroze at the Connaught
Two-course lunch for £40
L'Anima
The Bravery Award: Wapping Food
Warmth and Welcome Award: Angelus
One Person's Passion Award: Mourad Mazouz
Understanding Ceremony Award: Launceston Place
Discovery Award Wahaca
Award for Fun: Portobello Pizzeria
Reader views (1)
I opened an envelope the other day and Giles Coren turned up, apparently it's quite common around the London area.
- Bob, Cheam, 15/10/2009 12:09
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