The Irish Restaurant Awards were officially launched yesterday at the Anantara The Marker Dublin Hotel, marking the 15th year of the industry awards.
This year, the public can nominate candidates across 23 categories, including 17 Main Award categories and six National Award categories.
New categories introduced this year include Employee Excellence, Food Truck of the Year and Outstanding Achievement awards.
'Local Community'
"We look forward to highlighting and celebrating the best our island has to offer in terms of food and hospitality," said Paul Lenehan, president of the Restaurants Association of Ireland.
“We especially look forward to the public having its voice heard as to which restaurants, cafés and other food-led businesses have transformed their local community."
Public Vote
As in previous years, the Irish Restaurant Awards process begins with an online public vote hosted by The Irish Times.
The nomination window runs from 12pm noon on Wednesday, January 17 to 12pm noon on Wednesday, January 31.
All Ireland Final
The public nomination process will be followed by a judging process of national experts, culminating in regional events in the four provinces at which county winners will be announced, followed then by a Dublin shortlist.
Finally, in May, the Irish Restaurant Awards’ All Ireland Final at which regional and national winners will be announced will take place.
'Challenging Times'
“Despite some extremely challenging times for our industry, year after year, the Irish Restaurant Awards serve as an excellent reminder of the passion and innovation that exist within the island of Ireland’s food-led hospitality industry," said Lenehan.
“Above all, the Irish Restaurant Awards provide us with an opportunity to reflect on all that makes our food and hospitality offering great - in particular, the wonderful teams that make everything tick and leave locals and tourists with a smile on their faces time and time again."
Most Popular Yet
Regional and All Ireland Winners including in categories such as Best Restaurant and Best Chef will be revealed at the All Ireland Awards Gala Dinner which will take place at the Clayton Hotel on Burlington Road, Dublin 4 in May.
Ticket and event information will be released in April following regional events.
Last year’s Irish Restaurant Awards were the most popular yet, with the public making over 130,000 nominations for Ireland’s best food-led hospitality businesses and the people behind them.
