The London Restaurant Festival 2013 culminated in an awards ceremony in central London. Chef and food writer Gizzi Erskine praised the quality of this year’s festival, saying that it had been “embraced from street level and by social media”. The festival, which took place over the last fortnight, comprised over 60 events with around 300 restaurants participating from across the capital. The ceremony was packed with chefs, restaurateurs, writers and many others who were involved in making the festival.
The awards were as follows:
Best children’s menu: Dishoom
Best side order (one-off events organised by the restaurants themselves): Burger v Burger
Best festival menu under £10: Banana Tree
Best festival menu £10-20: Kimchee
Best festival menu £20-30: Cucina Asellina
Best festival menu £30-40: Criterion
Best festival menu over £40: Apsleys
The Laurent Perrier Newcomer of the Year: Isaac McHale
Metro Restaurant of the Year: Social Eating House
American Express Chef of the Year: Marianne Lumb
Speaking to The Upcoming after the announcement, Lumb said that she was “absolutely shocked” to have won: “I have an awesome team at the restaurant, we’re still very young and cooking our hearts out, perfecting the dishes. We just want to get better and better.” Her restaurant, Marianne, only serves 14 covers. Asked if this small size was a conscious choice she replied, “Yes and no. It’s surprisingly quite a lot to manage because inevitably we have quite a small team. But we’re loving it and it’s a beautiful restaurant.”
With snacks provided by Tom Parker-Bowles, champagne by Laurent Perrier and music from DJs who are also chefs the atmosphere was exciting – a heartening reminder of the huge numbers of people whose hard work and dedication go into making the London restaurant scene so vibrant.
Timothy Bano
Photos: Adam Bennett
For further information about the London Restaurant Festival visit here.
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