The Ledbury has been crowned the best in London’s Ultimate Restaurant top 100 for the fourth year running. The two Michelin-starred restaurant, which is based in Notting Hill, adds the trophy to an already large collection celebrating the All in One Ultimate Restaurant list.
The head chef and co-owner of The Ledbury, Brett Graham spoke about the keys to his restaurant’s success upon accepting the award. He said: “We constantly focus on the customer and push to improve in all areas.” He went onto speak about the strength’s of his team: "this award shows what a great job our team is doing here seven days a week." Each year the list of London’s top 100 restaurants is compiled by the website All In London, it unifies and normalises the myriad of dining awards and ratings into one easy to digest, definitive index. The website’s development team has formulated a mathematical algorithm, which assesses the various local, national and global awards, accolades and industry momentum to rank restaurants based on their standing over the past 12 months. Paul Carter of All In London explained why the award is so prestigious: “The robustness of the Ultimate Restaurant List means that to get placed in the top 100 an eatery needs to be turning out a dining experience at the very highest level; our algorithm rewards consistency and that’s the real reason we’re seeing The Ledbury topping this list time and time again."
Michel Roux Jr.’s own Le Gavroche, which has slowly improved its position in the list over the years; took this year second place and third place went to Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. The highest new entry in this year’s list is Fera at Claridges under the supervision of Simon Rogan which has been wowing critics over the past twelve months. Outside of the main top ten, the next highest entry came from the modern Indian cooking of Gymkhana, at 14; where the colonial feel coupled with delicious food has put it in the ascendancy. A new entrant at number 16, Patty & Bun's, their take on burgers has capitalised on the current trend towards up-market fast food, and clearly plenty of people and critics feel like they've hit the spot just right. In similar fashion, Brixton pizzeria Franco Manca has stormed in to number 18 on the list beating plenty with Michelin stars to their name.
All In One: Ultimate Restaurant List 2014, Top 10:
- The Ledbury
- Le Gavroche
- Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
- Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
- The Square
- Fera at Claridges
- Pollen Street Social
- Hibiscus
- Marcus
- Alain DuCasse at The Dorchester
Some of the most anticipated entries for 2016 include; the new opening from Jason Atherton, Social Wine and Tapas, The Marksman run by Tom Harris and Jon Rotheram formally of St John and Taberna do Mercado, which offers Portuguese inspired cuisine by Nuno Mendes. A hardcopy of 2015’s All In One: Ultimate Restaurant List is now available across London and via All In London.co.uk. Alongside a run-down of the capital’s top 100 restaurants the guide also features Q&As and recipes from some of London’s most pre-eminent chefs including Michel Roux Jr, Marcus Eaves, Jocelyn Herland and Brett Graham.
