New Haven-style apizza brand Lenny’s claimed the One to Watch award, having started out in a pub in Finsbury Park before partnering with MJMK to open an impressive site in Covent Garden.
The Innovation of the Year award recognised Lenny, a hospitality recruitment platform for young people established by Nell’s Pizza’s co-founder Charlotte Heyes to connect 14 to 17-year-olds with hospitality jobs across Greater Manchester and Salford.
Bleecker Burger won QSR Brand of the Year, while Hawksmoor secured the International Group of the Year title.
HOP Vietnamese was named Best Scalable Concept.
Flat Iron was crowned Restaurant Group of the Year – 20 sites and under, with Rudy’s Pizza and Albert’s Schloss operator Mission Mars winning the award for groups with more than 20 sites.
Public House Group was named Food-Led Pub Group of the Year following a string of high-profile London openings including The Hart and The Horses.
The annual awards, created by Restaurant, celebrate excellence in the hospitality sector and are voted for by industry professionals.
They were held last night (2 November) at a special dinner at D3 Collective’s Idalia restaurant in the recently overhauled west London venue Olympia.
Incipio took home Opening of the Year for its hugely ambitious, recently launched restaurants Lillie’s, Wolves of Tokyo and Juno, which are also located at Olympia.
The evening concluded with the Person of the Year award, presented to Leon co-founder John Vincent, who recently returned to the business.
Restaurant editor Stefan Chomka says: “Vincent has put his money where his mouth is and returned to a much-loved brand he co-founded over 20 years ago but which lost its way, and is proof that a passion for a business never leaves you.”
The winners in full
Opening of the Year: Incipio (sponsored by One Voice Hospitality)
One to Watch: Lenny’s (sponsored by Chapman Ventilation)
Best Scalable Concept: HOP Vietnamese (sponsored by Greenwoods)
Innovation of the Year: Lenny – hospitality recruitment for young people (sponsored by illy)
International Group of the Year: Hawksmoor (sponsored by Oatly)
QSR Brand of the Year: Bleecker Burger (sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions)
Food-Led Pub Group of the Year: Public House Group (sponsored by Zonal)
Bar Group of the Year: Inception Group (sponsor not specified)
Restaurant Group of the Year – 20 sites and under: Flat Iron (sponsored by Food Alert)
Restaurant Group of the Year – over 20 sites: Mission Mars (sponsored by Paperchase)
The Impact Award: The Ivy Collection sale (sponsored by Elavon)
Person of the Year: John Vincent (sponsored by Poppleston Allen)