Hot Dinners caught up with the chefs of the two UK restaurants in the World's 50 Best Restaurants list for 2013 last night, and it's fair to say they were both, very, very happy.
Brett Graham, Head Chef of the Ledbury told us: "I am really pleased for my team. We are open seven days a week and have a very strong team, so this award is very important to them. Just the fact we are in the Top 50 is fantastic."
He wasn't the only one celebrating, as Ashley Palmer-Watts, Head Chef at Dinner by Heston at the Mandarin Oriental found out last night that they'd risen even further in the Top 10 from 9 to 7. Asked how he was feeling he told us: "Over the moon! I'm totally shocked and somewhat lost for words. I had really been preparing my team for a drop in ranking to the late 30 or early 40s of the list, so this was a huge surprise."
Might this boost give him an incentive to take Dinner into new and different directions? Looks like it. "New plans are always on the go," he told us, "and Dinner is something we would like to recreate in other locations.
Meanwhile, Hedone's Mikael Jonsson, was celebrating his new entry at number 70 on the list and said he was "overwhelmed".
"I am actually staggered at what we have achieved. The support along the way has been really important too. I’m excited, invigorated and looking forward to our next big challenge.”
For the full 50, see our full round up of the World's 50 Best Restaurants 2013.
Thanks to Sabrina Ghayour for being our ears and eyes at the event last night.
