GQ Food & Drink Awards

A panel of expert judges will decide on the winners, who will be revealed at an awards ceremony presented by Veuve Clicquot at the end of April. The shortlist for the GQ Food & Drinks Awards 2018 is as follows:

Best Restaurant
Westerns Laundry (London)
Core by Clare Smyth (London)
Native (London)
The Barbary (London)
The Spanish Butcher (Glasgow)

Best Bar in partnership with Belvedere Vodka
Black Rock/The Devil’s Darling (London)
Swift (London)
Mint Gun Club (London)
The American Bar (Perthshire)
Punch Room (London)

Best Sommelier
Patrick Frawley at Restaurant Story (London)
Christopher Lecoufle at Les 110 De Taillevent (London)
Sonal Clare at Purnell’s (Birmingham)
Arnaud Goubet at Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons (Oxfordshire)
Alastair England at Zuma Group

Best Chef
Andrew Wong at A Wong (London)
Anne-Sophie Pic at La Dame De Pic (London)
Tom Sellers at Restaurant Story (London)
Paul Ainsworth at No6 (Padstow)
Mitsuhiro Araki at The Araki (London)

Best Restaurateur
Ben Chapman of Smoking Goat (London)
Karam, Sunaina and Jyotin Sethi of JKS Restaurants
Jeremy Roberts of Living Ventures
Zoë and Leo Paskin of The Palomar (London)
Tom Kerridge

Best Hotel
Lympstone Manor (Exmouth)
Nobu (London)
The Ned (London)
The Mandrake (London)
Dakota (Leeds)

Best Interior
Ichibuns (London)
Sketch (London)
Nine Lives (London)
Isabel (London)
Bob Bob Ricard (London)

Best Front of House
David Galetti at Mere (London)
Joe Paulinski at Restaurant Story (London)
Ed Thaw at Ellory (London)
Sandia Chang at Bubbledogs (London)
Daniel Crump at The Oxford Blue (Berkshire)

Best Overall Experience
Carousel (London)
Swingers (London)
L’Enclume (Cumbria)
The Man Behind the Curtain (Leeds)
The Woodspeen (Berkshire)

Best Breakthrough
Ceremony (London)
The Frog (London) Smoke & Salt, Pop Brixton (London)
Moor Hall (Lancashire)
108 Garage (London)

Best Pub
The Duck Inn (Norfolk)
The Oxford Blue (Berkshire)
The Hunworth Bell (Norfolk)
The King’s Arms (Oxfordshire)
The Fuzzy Duck (Warwickshire)

Veuve Clicquot Innovator Award
Untitled (London)
Cook for Syria (London)
Dan Barber at wastED (London)
Ikoyi (Londno)
Soho House Group

Lifetime Achievement
No shortlist – winner announced on the night

Dylan Jones, Editor of British GQ, commented, “The GQ Food & Drinks Awards recognise Britain’s position at the forefront of culinary excellence, whether for innovation, creativity, service, the finest ingredients or a winning environment. We celebrate the high end, the informal, the interesting and the memorable.

“In its fourth year, the Awards represent the views of our sophisticated audience, whose votes comprise the shortlist we’ve announced today. We’re thrilled to present these Awards with Veuve Clicquot, who have been involved in this initiative since its inception, and who are masters at the art of entertaining. Our crack judging panel now begin their deliberations, and we look forward to celebrating the winners next month.”

The judging panel is comprised of Dylan Jones, Richard Corrigan, Ryan Chetiyawardana, Nieves Barragain Mohacho, Mark Hix, Bertrand Steip, Oliver Peyton, Tara Bernerd and Matt Hobbs.

Bertrand Steip, Managing Director of Moët Hennessy UK, added, “Veuve Clicquot is proud to be part of the GQ Food and Drink Awards, celebrating those making a difference to the hospitality industry in the UK. Recognising everyone from sommeliers, mixologists and chefs to those running front of house, the Awards truly encapsulate the talent behind such a thriving industry.

"We also look forward to announcing The Veuve Clicquot Innovator Award, a shortlist who are all breaking through the industry with innovation and audacious creativity.”

Winners will be announced on April 23 at an awards celebration at The Rosewood Ballroom, co-hosted by Veuve Clicquot. Results will appear in the June issue of GQ.