Held at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in partnership with OpenTable, the awards reward the best emerging talent and established excellence in British dining.
Ahead of the event on February 3, organisers have revealed the UK-wide shortlist, which includes awards for Restaurant of the Year, Most Beautiful Restaurant, Best Value Set Menu, Best New Restaurant, and Restaurateur of the Year.
Their stable of outlets in Kentish Town Road includes Mamasons ‘dirty’ ice-cream parlour, Pan-Asian restaurant Bintang, Latin American and Caribbean restaurant Guanabana, Filipino bakery Panadra, fusion Ramen bar Ramo Ramen, and West African takeaway Moi Moi Island.
They are up against the Public House Group, which opened acclaimed newcomer the Hero in Maida Vale last year, and Ham Group, which runs Bistro Freddie in Shoreditch.
Set in a former smokehouse near Smithfield market, nose-to-tail trailblazers St John, which has sister restaurants in Marylebone and Barbican, is up for the coveted Restaurant of the Year spot against The Ritz, Opheem in Birmingham, Restaurant Jericho in Leicestershire, and Osip in Somerset.
Jake Dolin of Manteca in Curtain Road, Shoreditch, has been shortlisted in the Chef to Watch category to spot the talents of tomorrow.
Manteca serves nose-to-tail cooking with hand rolled pasta, and fire-cooked cuts in dishes such as British lopp porchetta with rosemary salsa verde, or chitarra verde, preserved wild garlic, parmesan and egg yolk.
The seven entrants also include Meedu Sad of Super8 Restaurants London, who run Basque-influenced cooking-over-fire restaurant Brat and The Smoking Goat, both in Shoreditch, and Brat Climpson’s Arch in Helmsley Place, Hackney.
Kol, a Mexican restaurant in Seymour Street Marylebone, is noiminated for Drinks list of the Year. Their ‘Mezcalaria’ pays homage to Mexico’s Mezcal bars and serves spirits and cocktails including the Jalisco with Volcan XA tequila, oloroso sherry, juniper, pineapple weed and the Mountain Man with Pensador espadin mezcal, marigold, verjus, carrot, egg white.
Chloë Hamilton, co-editor of The Good Food Guide, said: “This year’s shortlist is a magnificent mix of starry names alongside some brilliant lesser-known talent that anyone interested in restaurants should be taking note of.
“If last year’s ceremony is anything to go by, our return to Theatre Royal Drury Lane is set to be a huge night of celebration with some revelations to remember.”
The Good Food Guide is funded by an annual membership fee offering full access to reviews, as well as hundreds of dining perks at the restaurants featured in the guide.
