RATHWOOD EARNS BEST CASUAL DINING IN CARLOW AT THE IRISH RESTAURANT AWARDS

Rathwood’s restaurant has swiped yet another award, this time the Best Casual Dining for Carlow at the Leinster Regional final of the 2017 Irish Restaurant Awards. The ceremony took place in the Lyrath Estate, Kilkenny. More than 600 people attended the RAI Leinster regional awards final where the top establishments in each county were named.

The ceremony honoured six regional titles including Best Casual Dining which was scooped by Rathwood’s popular restaurant.

Head Chef and restaurant manager Jimmy Schoeb expressed his delight at the award. ‘We work extremely hard here at Rathwood to ensure we can offer our customers casual dining – but just because we are not formal in style that does not mean we are not rigorous in standards. In particular we cherish our love of seasonal, organic vegetables and the fabulous flavours and dishes we can offer our customers,’ he says.

Speaking at the awards, Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI), said the Irish Restaurant Awards continue to showcase the ‘exquisite and admirable calibre of food available in our restaurants and pubs nationwide.

‘Online nominations have increased from 9,000 in 2013 to over 80,000 this year, and with the increase in interest comes an increase in standards, making the judging process more difficult than ever, said Mr Cummins.

All county winners now compete for the regional and all-Ireland title, which will be announced at the Irish Restaurant Awards on Monday 8 May. The next component in the awards includes a mystery guest visit and a national award academy, which includes representatives from each of the regional judging panels, food writers, journalists, bloggers, culinary academics and hospitality magazine editors.

Caption:
Sinead Doyle, Jimmy Schoeb, Patricia Paczek, Clodagh Condell