Harden’s has today released the final shortlist for this year’s definitive London Restaurant Awards, sponsored by Gusbourne, and with the support of Haysmacintyre, BluRhapsody, Purezza Premium Water and Exmoor Caviar.
The event takes place at noon on Monday 6 September in the ballroom of The Langham, London.
Nominations for the awards are derived from Harden’s 31-year-old annual survey of UK restaurant-goers. This year over 3,000 people contributed 30,000 nominations within the categories specified by Harden’s. The awards shortlist reflects the number of nominations within each category, with two places in each category reserved for up-and-coming names that have opened in the last 2-3 years.
Vying for the BluRhapsody award for Top Gastronomic Experience are Clare Smyth for her Notting Hill legend Core, along with David Moore for his long-established Fitzrovia temple of gastronomy, Pied a Terre.
David’s erstwhile chef and collaborator Tom Aikens is also in the running for his spectacular debut at Muse near Sloane Square. Another newcomer – Victor Garvey’s instantly celebrated So|La – completes an extremely strong field for this year’s category.
Fenn in Fulham – a sibling to Hackney’s Nest; Imogen Davis and Ivan Tisdall-Downes’s Native at Browns; St James’s gracious Maison Francois, and Woongchul Park and Bomee Ki’s Korean-influenced Sollip are all in contention to become London’s Purezza Premium Water Top Newcomer.
As well as the categories derived from the Harden’s annual survey, the ceremony will again include an award for Outstanding Achievement in the restaurant trade, as judged by the guide’s editors.
The Outstanding Achievement category will once again be sponsored by accountants haysmacintyre, publishers of the annual haysmacintyre UK Hospitality Index compiled from a survey of operators within the hospitality sector.
Peter Harden, co-founder of Harden’s and host of the awards, commented:
“Over the last eighteen months, London’s Restaurants and their chefs and backers have demonstrated in spades their huge creativity, resourcefulness and sheer entrepreneurialism in facing the disruption caused by the pandemic. We will be doing our utmost to recognise their successes.”
Street-food vendors will rub shoulders with London’s most famous chefs, restaurateurs and food journalists and influencers, as we recognise all types of restaurant – from the budget rising stars to veteran celebrity kitchens – all of which continue to make London the world’s best restaurant city.”
The awards ceremony, now entering its fifth year, is presented by the BBC’s Nigel Barden, and will take place amidst the luxurious surroundings of The Langham, London on 6 September 2021, starting at noon.
The Shortlist in full:
TOP NEWCOMER
Fenn
Native at Browns
Maison Francois
Sollip
TOP BAR OR PUB
Canton Arms
The Eagle
The Alma SE23
The Hunter’s Moon
BEST FOR BUSINESS
Galvin La Chapelle
Wiltons
Noble Rot Soho
Maison Francois
BEST FOR ROMANCE
L’Escargot
Cafe du Marché
NoMad London
Behind
WINE LIST OF THE YEAR
Medlar
Andrew Edmunds
NobleRot Soho
Trivet
BEST AFTERNOON TEA
The Savoy Hotel, Thames Foyer
The Wolseley
Lanesborough
116 at the Athenaeum
BEST VEGAN OR VEGETARIAN
The Gate W6
Amrutha
123V
Club Mexicana Taqueria
BEST BREAKFAST OR BRUNCH
The Delaunay
Greenberry
Cafe
Buvette
Sam’s Cafe NW1
BEST FISH & SEAFOOD
RAW
Behind
Lyons
The Melusine
BEST STEAKS & GRILLS
Blacklock W1
Smokehouse Islington
Lurra
Zoilo
TOP COFFEE HOUSE
Bar Italia
Ginger & White
Kiss the Hippo
Tamp coffee
TOP CHEAP EAT
Lina Stores W1
Silk Road
Vardo
Coqfighter
BEST STREET FOOD
Bob’s Lobster
Dumpling Shack x Fen Noodles
Mama Jerk
Mei Mei
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The ceremony will include the recognition of outstanding achievement in the London restaurant scene, as judged by the editors drawing on performance in the Harden’s survey over a number of years.
