RAI Irish Restaurant Awards 2013 National Finals - Full Results

The Regional and All Ireland Winners of the Irish Restaurant Awards were announced at a ceremony which was held in the Burlington Hotel Dublin on Monday 10th June 2013.

I was invited up by Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, to do a spot of guest Tweeting for the night and you can check all the Tweets from the night here on the #FoodOscars hashtag.

These annual Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) 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 by members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

The Irish Restaurant Awards recognizes achievement and excellence in the Restaurant and Hospitality Industry throughout the Island of Ireland. The  event is organised by The Restaurants Association of Ireland and are sponsored by Santa Rita/Sunday Independent LIFE Magazine & others. The awards are the most prestigious and most coveted awards in the Irish Restaurant Industry's calendar.

County winners were announced at a number of Regional Events in the run up to this main event.  

Guests at the main event were treated to a five course menu prepared
by the winning Chefs in each of the five regions from last year.

There are 3 components to the final phase of the judging process to determine the Winners.

1. Mystery Guest Visit (35%) - This component of the awards was conducted by Prism Consulting headed by Hugo Arnold, independent food writer and consultant (http://www.hugoarnold.com). All County Winners received a mystery guest visit throughout the month of April.

2. National Awards Academy (55%) -The National Awards Academy were made up by representatives from each of the regional judging panels and they met during May to Judge the County Winners.

3. Menu Judging (10%) -All County winners and the Dublin Shortlist in each category were asked to submit a copy of their food menu and wine list for judging.

Our host for the evening was Brendan O'Connor, TV Presenter of The Saturday Night Show on RTÉ1. Brendan is also the editor of the Sunday Independent newspaper's LIFE Magazine.

And the 2013 Winners of the RAI Awards 2013 

in each of the following categories are:

BEST CASUAL DINING 2013

This category recognises the dining experience which best offers outstanding value, excellent food, appropriate service, genuine hospitality and an appropriate overall dining experience.

ULSTER - Coast Restaurant
MUNSTER - Sol y Sombra
LEINSTER - An Tintáin Restaurant
CONNAUGHT - Café Rua
DUBLIN - Saba
ALL-IRELAND WINNER - Best Casual Dining in Ireland: Saba, Dublin

BEST HOTEL RESTAURANT 2013

This category will recognise a hotel restaurant that demonstrates the very best in a dining experience as evidenced by attention to detail, a well-structured, balanced and appropriate menu, exemplary customer service and enjoyable and suitable atmosphere.

• ULSTER - Catalina at Lough Erne Resort
  MUNSTER - The Munster Room at Waterford Castle
  LEINSTER - The Lady Helen at Mount Juliet
  CONNAUGHT - The Kitchen at Mount Falcon Hotel
  DUBLIN - The Saddle Room at The Shelbourne Hotel
  ALL-IRELAND WINNER - The Lady Helen, Mount Juliet, Kilkenny

BEST GASTRO PUB 2013

Goes to the gastro pub with an impressive food aspect, genuine and demonstrable hospitality and an outstanding, relevant and complementary drinks offering.

ULSTER - The Brewer’s House
MUNSTER - The Derg Inn
LEINSTER - Harte’s Bar
CONNAUGHT - Eat @ Massimo
DUBLIN - The Purty Kitchen
ALL-IRELAND WINNER - The Brewer’s House, Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone

BEST CHEF 2013

The Chef who most impresses in their approach, design and execution of dishes and who is clearly pushing at culinary boundaries in Ireland.

ULSTER - Neven Maguire
MUNSTER - Paul Flynn
LEINSTER - Gary O’Hanlon
CONNAUGHT - Phillipe Farineau
DUBLIN - Sunil Ghai
ALL-IRELAND WINNER - Sunil Ghai, Ananda, Dundrum, Co. Dublin

BEST WINE EXPERIENCE 2013

This goes to the restaurant offering a balanced and appropriate wine list, an interesting range of producers and which strives for excellence in the service of wine.

Best Wine Experience Ireland - Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, Dublin

Best Restaurant 2013

This goes to the restaurant offering a balanced and appropriate wine list, an interesting range of producers and which strives for excellence in the service of wine.

ULSTER - Browns, Co. Derry
MUNSTER - The Tannery, Dungarvan
LEINSTER - Thyme, Athlone
CONNAUGHT - Aniar, Galway
DUBLIN - Ananda, Dundrum
ALL-IRELAND WINNER - The Tannery, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford

Chef Paul Flynn and his wife Marie of the Tannery, Dungarvan, Co Waterford
who won the Best Restaurant in Ireland 2013

Best Kids Size Me 2013

This award goes to the restaurant who aims to ensure children have access to healthier food options when dining out by making child size portions of appropriate adult meals available as an alternative to ordering from the standard children's menu.

Best Kid Size Me Menu Ireland - Sol Rio, Westport, Co. Mayo

Best Customer Service 2013

This award recognises the establishment that demonstrably goes above and beyond a normal level of service and does it consistently and in an appropriate manner.
ULSTER - The Olde Post Inn, Cavan
MUNSTER - Ballygarry House Hotel, Kerry
LEINSTER - Harte’s Bar & Grill, Kildare
CONNAUGHT - Eat @ Massimo, Galway
DUBLIN - The Purty Kitchen, Monkstown
ALL-IRELAND WINNER - Renvyle House Hotel, Galway

Local Food Hero 2013 

And the Winner of the Life Magazine Local Food Hero 2013 is
Glenilen Farm, Drimoleague, Co. Cork

Just Ask! Restaurant 2013


And the Winner of the Bord Bia Just Ask Restaurant 2013 is
Sargasso, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal

INDUSTRY CATEGORIES

Best Energy Management sponsored by CALOR: The Brasserie, Leopardstown, Dublin

Best Restaurant Design sponsored by BUNZL: Kai Café Restaurant, Galway

Best Cocktail Experience sponsored by MOJITO: The Exchequer, Dublin

Best Digital Marketing sponsored by QT Comments: The Happy Pear, Co. Wicklow

Best Cafe sponsored by UNITED COFFEE: Idaho Cafe, Cork

Best Newcomer sponsored by DINERS CLUB: OX Restaurant, Belfast

Best World Cuisine sponsored by TIGER BEER: Chameleon, Dublin 

Great Seafood Experience sponsored by WRIGHTS: Fishy Fishy Café, Kinsale, Co. Cork

Best Restaurant Manager sponsored by CHAMPAGNE PANNIER: Declan Maxwell, Chapter One, Dublin

Best Cookery School sponsored by AVONMORE: Dublin Cookery School, Blackrock, Dublin

Best Private Dining & Club Restaurant sponsored by TOTAL PRODUCE: Restaurant Forty-One, Dublin

Best Emerging Irish Cuisine sponsored by FAILTE IRELAND: Aniar, Galway

Sustainable Restaurant of the Year sponsored by UNILEVER: Castlemurray House Hotel, Donegal

 

ENGAGING WITH THE GATHERING AWARD

THIS SPECIAL 2013 AWARD WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE FOOD ESTABLISHMENT THAT SHOWCASES THE VERY BEST IN IRISH PRODUCE & HOSPITALITY AND WHO ARE ACTIVELY PROMOTING THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE GATHERING 2013

And the Winner is: 

The Sheraton, Athlone, Co. Westmeath

The Irish Restaurant Awards 2013 were independently supervised by:

For more details on the event see:  http://www.irishrestaurantawards.com

Congrats to everyone that got through to the National Finals, thanks to Adrian Cummins and all at the Restaurants Association of Ireland for inviting me to be a Guest Tweeter for the Night. Well done & more success to all our Irish Restaurants for the coming year! 

And The Real Winner is..... Irish Food!

Zack