2010 London Restaurant Festival Awards - the winners

Nicola Piggott 19 October 2010

fay maschler Rising stars of London’s restaurant industry joined seasoned pros as the London Restaurant Festival 2010 came to a glittering conclusion last night.

Casual Soho eateries mingled with fine dining legends at the London Restaurant Festival Awards in Spitalfields Market, which marked the end of the two-week long festival. And what a success it was: during the last two weeks, over 25,000 festival menus have been served at over 550 participating restaurants – more than double the number the year before.

This year's awards focused not only on price brackets, but also on the intangible elements of the dining experience – rewarding 'fun', 'passion' and 'ceremony' and acknowledging cuisines from around the world.

Critics’ darlings Bob Bob Ricard and Tinello may have come away empty handed, but the night proved lucky for others. Jeremy Lee’s Blueprint Café was praised for its use of indigenous seasonal ingredients and refreshingly unpretentious take on modern British cuisine. (“I’m not a chef – I’m a cook,” he has bluntly said).

“I was so pleased to see Jeremy Lee rewarded for his hard work,” said Festival Chair Fay Maschler when we caught her for a comment after the ceremony. “He’s truly brilliant and deserves the recognition.”

Elsewhere, an excited and bearded Nuno Mendez carried off the ‘bravery’ award for Viajante, the Bethnal Green eaterie which Awards host BBC London’s Nigel Barden called, “one of the friendliest kitchens in the northern hemisphere”.

Recognition for “warmth and welcome” allowed Exmouth Market’s Caravan to defeat favourite Tinello. Described as ‘laidback in the best possible way”, Caravan’s inventive fusion menu trumped other strong contenders, including Boundary, Bull & Last and Texture.

While established names such as Bistro Bruno Loubet and Covent Garden legend Rules were also recognized, the night belonged to the innovative newcomers in the pack. John Devitt’s Soho noodle house Koya scooped the ‘discovery’ award, and was praised for its meticulous eye to detail. Due undoubtedly to the mythology around the traditional production of their thick wheat flour noodles – including kneading the noodle dough by foot – Koya can expect a new stampede of noodle addicts to their doors.

“Places like Koya are breaking new ground”, said Fay Maschler. “No-reservations policies have made the newest wave of London restaurants much more accessible.”

Pablo Flack and David Waddington, the acclaimed duo behind pop-up concept Bistrotheque, were celebrating after accepting the Amex award for innovation. Recognised for their modernism and originality, the team’s enthusiastic addiction to what they once called “the crack cocaine of restaurant running” has energised and reinvented the London pop-up dining scene.

Congratulations to all winners and nominees - we’ll see you all for the London Restaurant Festival 2011!

Full award list