The restaurant industry’s most prestigious event, the London Restaurant Awards, returned with a gala ceremony on 01 September 2008 at Grosvenor House, London.
Its return, after an absence of two years, celebrated more categories for dining excellence in the capital than ever before. And for the first time ever there was also an award for restaurants outside London. A number of categories were also open for voting through our partners, the Evening Standard and toptable.com
The Great Room
Grosvenor House
1 September 2008
Presented by Jack Dee
Breaking news Winners announced
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2008 Awards
On Tuesday 10 June ITN’s Katie Derham revealed the nominees for the London Restaurant Awards 2008. Photos of the event can be found in our gallery. For the first time in the history of the London Restaurant Awards, all six nominees for “Outstanding London Chef” are British, highlighting the emergence of our home grown talent.
Anthony Demetre, Chris Galvin, Jason Atherton, Mark Hix, Rowley Leigh and Theo Randall were named as the award finalists by Katie Derham at ITV’s studios this afternoon, at the launch event revealing all nominees for this year’s London Restaurant Awards, which will take place on 1 September.
Restaurateur Mark Hix leads the charge of nominations across the board after being short listed for “British Restaurant of the Year”, “New Restaurant of the Year” and “Outstanding London Chef”.
Newly relocated restaurant Hibiscus is competing alongside some of London’s most established restaurants for “French Restaurant of the Year” as well as “New Restaurant of the Year”.
Other names among the front runners include Scott’s and Great Queen Street, each receiving three nominations.
London Restaurant Awards organiser, Amanda Biddle, said: “For the first time in history, every name in the “Outstanding London Chef” category is British, showing that home-grown talent is excelling among the capital’s leading chefs.”
This will also be the first time restaurants beyond London will be recognised at the awards with the introduction of “Top 10 Restaurants Outside London” accolade.
Award judge, Charles Campion, said: “Given the calibre of nominees, the London Restaurant Awards will be a highly contested competition this year. As a judge, it’s an incredibly daunting task to choose the city’s best from such an amazing selection.”
2008 will mark the 10th London Restaurant Awards after a two year break and will be judged by some of the UK’s most respected and well-known critics, selecting the best dining experiences from 18 categories.
Winners of the 2008 London Restaurant Awards will be announced on 01 September at Grosvenor House, Park Lane.