The nation’s favourite restaurants were recognised at Deliveroo’s inaugural Restaurant Awards in London last night. Over 100 restaurants were shortlisted for an award and the winners were chosen by public vote, with Brits backing their favourite local restaurant.
The awards ceremony was a celebration of British culinary talent, showcasing the quality and diversity of cuisine restaurants have to offer. The range of award categories, from Best Italian and Best Family Restaurant to Most Innovative Dish and Best Vegan Offering, reflected both traditional tastes and the latest trends in the UK restaurant industry.
Over 70,000 votes were cast over the course of the competition, as the public showed their support for family-run independents and high street favourites alike.
The final award of the night - Restaurant of the Year - was won by Oowee Vegan (team pictured) in Bristol. The restaurant started off as a ‘virtual brand’ of burger joint Oowee Diner in a Deliveroo Editions site, with the aim of recreating its menu but with entirely vegan ingredients.
However, its success on Deliveroo meant that it soon earned its own bricks and mortar site providing vegan burgers to Bristolians. Oowee Diner has now decided to only open vegan sites moving forward, with a new site in the pipeline in london for the start
of 2020.
This award was decided by a panel of judges, including restaurant critic Giles Coren; celebrity chef Isaac Carew; restaurateur, TV presenter and cook Jasmine Hemsley; and Deliveroo CEO and founder Will Shu.
Each of the award winners will receive support from Deliveroo to help them grow their business, and will also be part of an upcoming marketing campaign worth up to £30k to showcase the very best of British restaurants.
Charlie Watson, Founder of Oowee Vegan, said, ‘It’s incredible to win this award and be recognised by some of the biggest names in the UK restaurant industry. There were so many great restaurants up for awards, and it’s really encouraging to see such a range of talented chefs and varied cuisines on show.’
Deliveroo founder and CEO Will Shu said, ‘I’m really proud that Deliveroo works with over 20,000 of the UK’s best local restaurants, bringing amazing meals straight to people’s front doors.
'We understand the hard work, dedication, incredible skill and creativity that goes into making a restaurant successful and so it is an honour for us to be celebrating Britain’s best loved restaurants.’
For the full list of winners, please go to Caterlyst's Award Winners right hand column tab on the homepage.
