Presentation of awards to Eva Ivanova, Sage Restaurant. Photo: Paul Sherwood

Mayo success at Irish Restaurant Awards

THERE was success for Mayo restaurants at the Irish Restaurant Awards, attended by over 1,100 guests, celebrating the hard work and achievements of those working in the Irish restaurant industry over the last 12 months.

A national award also went to Sage Restaurant in Westport, with the Best Restaurant Manager category won by Eva Ivanova.

At the gala, Loam Restaurant in Galway was named All-Ireland Best Restaurant 2019.

Mayo restaurants picked up a number of regional awards with the Best Chef award for Connaught going to Barry Ralph of House of Plates in Castlebar.

As well as the All-Ireland title, Best Restaurant Manager category for Connaught went to Eva Ivanova, Sage Restaurant.

Pub of the Year in Connaught was J. Doherty's, with the Best Gastro Pub for the province going to Bar One in Castlebar.

The Best Emerging Irish Cuisine award for Connaught went to An Port Mór in Westport.

Speaking at the awards, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins commented: “This is the 11th year of the Irish Restaurant Awards, and it has been the biggest year for the awards to date. Over 90,000 nominations were received from the public in January, and over 2,000 restaurateurs attended the Regional Awards, which were held in Kildare, Monaghan, Limerick and Sligo. The standard for judging this year has been very high.”