South Tipp restaurants compete for all-Ireland titles

Chez Hans and Cafe Hans in Cashel and the Old Convent in Clogheen have celebrated success in the Munster Regional Irish Restaurant Awards, and will now go on to represent their county for the national titles at the All-Ireland at Santa Rita/LIFE Magazine Irish Restaurant Awards 2013 which takes place on June 10 in the Burlington Hotel.

Nominated across six categories, restaurants from Tipperary will face competition in a pool of 32 county award winners and a shortlist of Dublin restaurants in each category, kindly sponsored by Santa Rita, Faustino, Joseph Drouhin, Pallas Foods, Tipperary Water and Tourism Ireland.

Cashel’s Chez Hans is up for the Santa Rita Best Restaurant in Ireland award, while Café Hans is competing in the Joseph Drouhin Best Casual Dining in Ireland category.

The Old Convent is vying for the Pallas Foods Best Hotel Restaurant in Ireland Award and its chef, Dermot Gannon, is hoping to win the Tipperary Water Best Chef in Ireland award

Chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, Adrian Cummins, said in their fifth year, the Irish Restaurant Awards continue to go from strength to strength.

“Each year, the awards cast a spotlight on the brightest and best players on the Irish restaurant scene. The Irish Restaurant Awards are the awards everyone wants to win. This year the nominations went online for the first time and we got a spectacular response from the public. Nominations doubled and we received 10,000 votes for Ireland’s favourite restaurants, chefs, gastro pubs, hotel restaurants and customer service experience,” he said.

“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; on the night, everyone is a winner.”

The 2013 Irish Restaurant Awards recognise achievement and excellence in the restaurant and hospitality industry throughout the 32 counties of the island of Ireland in 21 categories and celebrate all aspects of the industry from chefs and restaurants, cafes and gastro pubs, to food producers, local food heroes and cookery schools.

Nominations for the Awards are made by readers of the Sunday Independent LIFE Magazine and members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

The nomination & awards selection process is also independently audited by KPMG to ensure that best practices and standards have been adhered to throughout the process.