Wicklow Winners At The Irish Restaurant Awards

The town was well-represented at the Leinster leg of the Irish Restaurant Awards ceremony tonight, held in the Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny.

Now in its 9th year, the slap-up back-slap organised by the Restaurants Association of Ireland received over 80,000 individual nominations this year, cast online between January 11th and 25th. 

That’s an increase of 10,000 nominations from last year, meaning the competition itself is growing along with the number of restaurants and cafes around the country.

Greystones alone has 327 coffee shops. And that’s just on the main street.

When it came to Wicklow tonight, the winners included The Wild Goose (Best Newcomer), Rathsallagh House Hotel (Best Customer Service), the Sika Restaurant (Best Wine Experience), Riccardo Cavaliere of Ristorante Rinuccini (Best Restaurant Manager), Glenmalure Lodge (Best Pub), Meg Kirwan of Goatsbridge Trout Farm (Local Food Hero), Seasons Restaurant (Best Kids Size Me), Byrne And Woods (Best Gastro Pub) and the Canteen Restaurant (Best Emerging Irish Cuisine).

All went home happy. Even if they did rob some of our local heroes of an award. Including the mighty Three Q’s, who were up for a staggering 11 awards, but walked away with nada.

Those neighbours who did score at the party included Bray’s Dockyard No. 8, which won Best Casual Dining, whilst even closer to home, Chakra By Jaipur once again bagged the Best World Cuisine cup, and Delgany’s Pigeon House [above] won not once, but twice, picking up Best Restaurant and their big cheese, Francois Jacusse, picked up Best Chef.

Congrats to the winners, and cheers to the local nominees – which also included La Touche Wines and The Baker’s Table [above left] – who are all winners in our eyes. Especially when we’re hungry and parched…

You can catch our interview with the Chakra champs from last year right here.