It is a myth that a gastronomic divide exists between North and South according to regular UK restaurant-goers who contributed to this year’s Harden’s survey in association with Rémy Martin Fine Champagne Cognac.
On the basis of the 85,000 reports from more than 8,000 regular diners, Yorkshire is hailed as having more good quality restaurants (113) than any other county in the UK, far exceeding the totals in southern dining heartlands such as Surrey (43) and East Sussex (35). North Yorkshire in particular emerges as having a very high number of quality dining establishments (44) in relation to its small population.
Over the Pennines in Lancashire, Northcote was rated as offering the best food in Britain – eclipsing any restaurant in the capital. Formerly known as Northcote Manor, the establishment was one of the earliest proponents in the UK of the use of local ingredients, which continues to be a hallmark of its style.
The survey also helps identify the rising stars of the UK restaurant scene. Using the huge number of contributions, the Rémy Martin Restaurant Awards identify the new restaurants across the UK which have achieved outstanding levels of excellence. This year the top accolade, the Rémy Martin Excellence Award, goes to L’Anima, a contemporary Italian on the trendy northern fringe of The City of London. L’Anima meaning the soul in Italian is the brainchild of renowned chef Francesco Mazzei. The restaurant’s backer Peter Marano, kept the site vacant for three years while he found the right chef for the space and his long search would seem to be vindicated by the award.
Other regional winners include the The Highwayman (the North West award winner) an offshoot of Northcote which impressed survey reporters with its 21st century version of ‘the local’ and Barn Asia in Newcastle who win the North East regional award for their Asian style tapas.
Richard Harden, co-editor of the Harden’s UK Restaurant Guide says, “The UK restaurant scene is more diverse and varied than people might think with pockets of excellence all over the country. There is most definitely no simple ‘north/south’ disparity when it comes to dining out. It will certainly come as a surprise to the capital’s chef to hear that reporters in our national survey find the very best restaurant food of all in the North West.”
Eileen Livingston, Marketing Manager for Rémy Martin UK said: “People clearly recognise that great food can be found anywhere and with so many restaurants opening each year these awards give a great indication as to the increasing standards in the UK dining scene. Rémy Martin and Harden’s are united in a passion for great food and drink and through these awards we are committed to supporting the UK restaurant trade and highlighting and developing new talent.”
The winners of the Rémy Martin Restaurant Awards are as follows:
L’Anima (Excellence Award)
2 Fore Street (West and South West)
Ristorante Semplice (London)
TerraVina (South East)
Texture (London)
Nut Tree Inn (The Midlands)
Pearl Liang (London)
Walnut Tree (Wales)
Two Fat Ladies at The Buttery (Scotland)
Barn Asia (North East)
The Highwayman (North West)
Harden’s UK Restaurants guide is produced in association with Rémy Martin, the world’s favourite premium cognac. With over 1,750 listings, the new guide offers great coverage of UK. The 11th edition is published today priced £14.99.
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