Ireland’s Blue Book is delighted to announce wins for Gregans Castle Hotel, Mount Juliet, Browns Restaurant & Champagne Lounge, Tankardstown House and Restaurant Forty-One at the Irish Restaurant Awards, held in Dublin on Monday May 16th 2016.
Over 900 restaurateurs and staff attended the black tie event which celebrated the hard work and achievements within the industry over the last 12 months, guests were treated to a lavish six course gala dinner prepared by a team of five chefs. The Awards Chef Team is hand-picked by the Restaurants Association each year and is made up of winning chefs from the previous year’s awards, including Rob Krawczyk of Brabazon @ Tankardstown House and Ed Cooney of The Merrion Hotel.
Gregans Castle Hotel was awarded Best Hotel Restaurant in Munster followed by the supreme – Best Hotel Restaurant in Ireland, while Head Chef David Hurley was once again recognised as the Best Chef in Munster.
The awards continued for Ireland’s Blue Book as the evening progressed, with The Lady Helen at Mount Juliet winning the award of Best Hotel Restaurant in Leinster and Brown’s Restaurant & Champagne Lounge achieving the title of Best Restaurant in Ulster.
Rob Krawczyk of Tankardstown House had to take a break from his kitchen duties to claim the title of Best Chef Leinster, while Restaurant Forty-One at The Residence won Best Private Dining & Club Restaurant
Speaking at the awards, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins commented, “This is the eighth and most successful year of the Irish Restaurant Awards to date. These Awards are the accolades of the Irish restaurant industry – everybody wants to win one. From over 70,000 online nominations cast earlier this year to 2,500 guests attending our regional events, it is clear that the stature, calibre and reputation of the awards is expanding at a considerable rate and it is all in aid of recognising the talent within our sector. All winners and finalists here tonight are very deserving of their awards.”
ABOUT THE AWARDS
The 2016 Irish Restaurant Awards are brought to you by The Restaurants Association of Ireland. The awards are the largest and most coveted awards in the Irish Restaurant Industry.
The Awards recognise achievement and excellence in the Restaurant and Hospitality Industry throughout the 32 counties on the Island of Ireland. The Awards are made up of 19 different categories and celebrate all aspects of the Industry from Chefs, Restaurants, Restaurant Managers, Cafes and Gastro Pubs to Food Producers and Cookery Schools.
The nomination and awards selection process is independently audited by BDO to ensure that best practices & standards have been adhered to throughout the process.
The 2016 Awards process ran from January until May 2016. 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. The Irish Restaurant Awards are the only kind restaurant awards in the country that carry out mystery guest inspections.
