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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, distributed by Maxxium UK.
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 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, Maxxium UK's 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) The Walnut Tree Inn (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 now
published priced £14.99
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