Five Mayo restaurants are bidding for some of the most coveted awards in the Irish food industry at the upcoming Irish Restaurant Awards on Monday night.
An Port Mor has been nominated in two categories, for Best Restaurant and for a Best Chef award for Frankie Mallon.
The Restaurant at Belleek Castle is competing in the best hotel category and Danny Mayer from the same establishment is also up for a Best Restaurant Manager award.
Sol Rio Restaurant, Westport, is competing in the best casual dining category while Bar One in Castlebar is hoping to make the cut in the Best Gastro Pub category.
The fifth Mayo restaurant represented at the awards is Ashford Castle, which is competing in the Best Wine Experience category.
The awards take place on Monday in The Double Tree by Hilton in Dublin, which some 800 restaurant owners, staff and industry experts will attend.
Chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, Adrian Cummins, said the awards, now in their sixth year, cast a spotlight on the brightest and best players on the Irish restaurant scene.
“This year, our online nominations doubled, bringing us to a staggering 19,000 votes for Ireland’s favourite restaurants, chefs, gastro pubs, hotel restaurants and customer service experiences,” he explained.
“We celebrate the award winning cuisines and the great restaurateurs and chefs who are constantly bringing international recognition and accolades to the Irish restaurant scene. Restaurateurs are entrepreneurs, and that is reflected in the fact that the restaurant sector is the biggest employer within the hospitality industry. We provide employment to 64,000 people and the industry has annual sales in excess of €2 billion.”
