Ashley Palmer Watts, head chef at Dinner by Heston, crossed town last night from his kitchen in Knightsbridge to pick up his third award in as many weeks. Dinner was given the award for Pioneer at the Spitalfields ceremony to close this year's London Restaurant Festival.
Other awards of the night included:
- High Street Hero: Tom Byng of Byron
- Inspiration: Roganic
- Putting the fun back into restaurants: Russell Norman and Richard Beatty
- Discovery: Brixton Market & Space Makers Agency
- Spirit of London: Brawn
- Understanding of ceremony: The Wolseley
- One person's passion: Petra Barron of Eat St - London's street food cooperative
- Warmth and welcome: 28-50's Xavier Rousset
Perhaps the most apposite award for the night was Bravery which went to chef Mikael Jonsson and his staff from Hedone. The award was actually given for his approach to innovative cooking at Hedone. But the award proved more relevant than anticipated when Jonsson accepted his award with a pretty nasty scar above his eye. The chef, who along with his front of house manager Aurelie, was attacked by a gang on Friday night, sustaining a knife injury which required 12 stitches. But he still turned up to do service on Saturday night. When asked how he was on Twitter by the Metro's review Marina O'Loughlin, the trouper tweeted: 'A few stitches and some bruises but we had a great service last night."
