National Restaurant Awards: Gymkhana takes 2014 title
Gymkhana chef-patron Karam Sethi, who opened his Indian restaurant in September to critical acclaim, took to the stage this evening (30 June) at the Hurlingham Club in London to collect his award from guest of honour Ferran Adrià.
"To be voted the number one restaurant in the UK is a big surprise and beyond our wildest dreams," said Sethi. "There are so many brilliant restaurants and inspiring chefs in the list who probably deserve it more, so to be recognised by the industry in this way is incredible. It's a credit to all the Gymkhana team who have worked extremely hard to create a restaurant we are so proud of."
Top 100 restaurants
Now in their seventh year, the National Restaurant Awards, organised by Restaurant Magazine and sponsored by Estrella Damn, recognise the top 100 UK restaurants in the UK, as voted for by industry experts.
Isaac McHale’s crowd-funded Shoreditch restaurant The Clove Club climbed three places to number two, while The Ledbury slipped to third place.
Last year’s winner, Tom Kerridge’s The Hand & Flowers was Gastropub of the Year for the third year running and came in at number four on the list.
Other noticeable achievements included Mikael Jonsson’s Hedone (7), which climbed seven places to make it into the top 10 for the first time, and Restaurant Story, which was the Highest Climber after moving up an impressive 69 places to 25.
Special awards
Regional awards went to The Walnut Tree (14) - voted Best Restaurant in Wales, Restaurant Andrew Farlie (20) – voted Best Restaurant in Scotland and Shu (76) – voted Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (9) head chef Ashley Palmer-Watts was voted Chef’s Chef of the Year, while the Waterside Inn (16) won the Service Award and The Dairy won the OpenTable Diners’ Choice ‘Fit for Foodies’ Award, based on the combined opinions of more than 325,000 OpenTable reviews.
Special awards also went to Le Gavroche (Wine List of the Year), Grain Store (Cocktail List of the Year) and James Lowe’s Shoreditch restaurant Lyle’s, which was this year’s One to Watch.
The Sustainable Restaurant of the Year award, given in conjunction with the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), went to The Pig (73) in Brockenhurst, which grows much of its produce in its own garden, has an in-house forager to find wild food from the forest, and sources almost everything else from suppliers within a 25 mile radius.
Industry Votes
For restaurants to make it onto the top 100 list, they must be voted for by members of the National Restaurant Awards Academy – which is made up of 150 restaurateurs, chefs, food critics and journalists across 12 regions.
Each voter casts seven votes best on their best restaurant experiences over the previous 12 months, and nobody is allowed to vote for their own restaurant or restaurants in which they have a commercial interest.
Members of the voting panel can vote for up to five restaurants in their own region, with the remaining two votes reserved for restaurants outside their region.
Check out the latest issue of Restaurant Magazine for detailed listings of the winners and an interview with Karam Sethi.
The Top 100 Restaurants in the UK:
- Gymkhana - National Restaurant of the Year
- The Clove Cub
- The Ledbury
- The Hand & Flowers - Gastropub of the Year
- Pollen Street Social
- The Sportsman
- Hedone
- L'Enclume
- Dinner by Heston Blumenthal - Chefs' Chef of the Year - Ashley Palmer-Watts
- The Square
- Restaurant Sat Bains
- Midsummer House
- Le Manoir
- The Walnut Tree - Best Restaurant in Wales
- Kitchen Table
- The Waterside Inn - The Service Award
- Chiltern Firehouse
- The Fat Duck
- Nathan Outlaw
- Restaurant Andrew Fairlie - Best Restaurant in Scotland
- Le Gavroche - Wine List of the Year
- Koya
- The Hardwick
- The Dairy - OpenTable Diners' Choice 'Fit for Foodies' Award
- Hibiscus
- Restaurant Story - Highest Climber
- Casamia
- Grain Store - Cocktail List of the Year
- Brasserie Chavot
- Mayfields
- Bocca di Lupo
- The Kitchin
- The River Café
- St John
- Quo Vadis
- 64 Degrees
- The Quality Chop House
- Jose
- Sticky Walnut
- Goodman Mayfair
- Sushi Tetsu
- The Seahorse
- Social Eating House
- The Royal Oak Paley Street
- Galvin at Windows
- Berners Tavern
- Barrafina
- HKK
- Marcus
- Tyddyn Llan
- Restaurant Martin Wishart
- The French
- Merchants Tavern
- Ynyshir Hall
- The Chilli Pickle
- Andre Garret at Cliveden
- Hawksmoor Air Street
- Paul Ainsworth at No6
- Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
- 10 Greek Street
- Ember Yard
- Simpsons
- Ondine
- Koffmanns
- L'Anima
- Manchester House
- 40 Maltby Street
- Le Champignon Sauvage
- Alyn Williams at The Westbury
- Pitt Cue
- Drakes
- Loves
- The Pig - Sustainable Restaurant of the Year
- The Elephant
- The Ethicurean
- Shu - Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland
- The Goods Shed
- The Pipe & Glass Inn
- Hutong
- MeatLiquor
- Mark Greenaway
- Flinty Red
- Chez Bruce
- The Hinds Head
- The Star Inn
- La Trompette
- Bar Boulud
- Timberyard
- Café Murano
- Toasted
- The Wolseley
- Newman Street Tavern
- Aumbry
- Moro
- Monachyle Mhor
- The Kingham Plough
- The Greenhouse
- La Petite Maison
- Gauthier Soho
- Umu