Shortlist announced for Harden’s London Restaurant Awards 2021

HardensBytes

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.

The Langham, London – Venue for the ceremony

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.

From left to right: Jessica Edwards partner at Haysmacintyre presents Jyotin and Sunaina Sethi of JKS Restaurants with their outstanding achievement award, alongside host Nigel Barden and Harden’s co-founder Peter Harden (Image Darren Bell)

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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 GASTRONOMIC EXPERIENCE

  • Core
  • Pied a Terre
  • Muse
  • So|La

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.

About the Awards

The Harden’s London Restaurant Awards comprises a total of 15 categories – with nominees in all but the Outstanding Achievement award taken from those who performed best in the annual Harden’s restaurant survey. This year, more than 3,000 foodies contributed 30,000 reviews.

Each category consists of four nominees, two selected purely on the strength of diners’ votes, and a further two selected on a similar basis, but solely from newer restaurant openings of the last 2-3 years. Where a restaurant has already won an award or been nominated in prior years, the editors may substitute another high-ranking name in the shortlist.

From the four candidates, the Harden’s editors pick the final winner, with a bias to recognising rising talent that possesses the potential to emerge as some of London’s very best in any given category.

The awards ceremony, presented by the BBC’s Nigel Barden, will take place at The Langham Hotel in London’s West End on 6 September 2021.

For any press enquiries please contact ph@hardens.com.

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