Three Mayo restaurants and three Mayo chefs have been shortlisted for awards in the prestigious Food and Wine Magazine Restaurant of the Year Awards.
An Port Mór in Westport, Ashford Castle Hotel in Cong and La Fougére Restaurant in Knockranny House Hotel in Westport have been shortlisted for the Best Restaurant in Connacht. The head chefs from the three shortlisted restaurants have also been shortlisted for the Best Chef in Connacht, with Frankie Mallon from An Port Mór, Jonathan Keane from The Lodge at Ashford and Seamus Commons from La Fougére Restaurant in Knockranny battling it out for the best chef award.
La Fougére in Knockranny has also made the national shortlist for the best wine experience, with their sommelier Nicholas Fajours up for the best sommelier in Ireland award.
The Food and Wine Magazine Restaurant of the Year Awards are now in their 14th year, and are considered the most prestigious and authoritative culinary awards in the Irish calendar. Recognising the best Irish restaurants and culinary talent, diners from all over Ireland were invited to nominate their favourite restaurants and chefs, with the top entries going forward for deliberation by a national culinary panel of judges, made up of industry experts and national food critics. After much deliberation on each category, each judge votes in secret for their top 10 in each category, including the top 10 restaurants and chefs from all four provinces, with Dublin treated separately.
The winners of the 14th annual Food and Wine Magazine Restaurant of the Year Awards will be announced at a gala luncheon on Sunday, August 17 at The Four Seasons, Dublin 4.
