Prestigious award for leading Mayo chef Barry Ralph

Barry Ralph, House of Plates, Chapel Street, Castlebar, has been named the best chef in Connaught.

The award was presented to him at the Irish Restaurant Awards at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin.

The awards are organised annually by the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the judging process involved public nominations, of which a record number in excess of 130,000 were made this year.

The national final was presided over by RAI chief executive Adrian Cummins, with the organisation’s national judging academy, comprised of industry experts, food writers, culinary and hospitality experts.

Stated a delighted Barry: "It’s a great honour to receive this recognition.

"It all comes down to having a hard working dedicated team and we are lucky to have that in House of Plates’