Sustainable Restaurant Awards 2015: Winners announced

Daylesford Farm and The Captain's Galley have been named joint winners of this year’s Sustainable Restaurant award 2015 presented by Raymond Blanc, President of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, at last night’s ceremony; although 700 miles apart both share the same commitment to sustainability.

The winning restaurants demonstrate perfectly the democratisation of sustainable dining, offering diners the chance to eat well wherever they live and whatever their budget.

Jim Cowie worked as a fish trader for more than 30 years and had never so much as boiled an egg before opening his harbour-side restaurant in Scrabster, Caithness. He refuses to serve popular seafood items in his 18-seat restaurant, unless they are in season and in plentiful supply. This autumn, he is organising a sustainable seafood festival to help people better understand which fish to eat and enjoy.

Both restaurants launched in same year, 2002, with a mission to serve high quality food from ingredients produced with principles on their doorstep. Daylesford’s 2,000-acre organic farm provides the majority of the ingredients for its three cafes, in Kingham in Gloucestershire, Notting Hill and Pimlico, while the ocean outside the Captain’s Galley doors in Scrabster, serves as its larder.

Daylesford’s 2,000-acres organic farm provides the majority of the ingredients for its three cafes, in Kingham in Gloucestershire, Notting Hill and Pimlico. It shares the same passion for increasing public awareness about sustainability and has established its own foundation to educate children and young people in sustainable food, growing and farming.

Meanwhile, Star Bistro has been named The People’s Favourite, topping a poll of five restaurants shortlisted from more than 850 nominations. Rob Rees, who founded Star Bistro, said: “This is an incredible endorsement of what we are doing at Star Bistro.

“This recognition is a huge motivator. And it’s fantastic to know we’re not alone – all of the restaurants on the shortlist are doing amazing things and it encourages me that this really is becoming the norm.”

Tom Kerridge, who worked as sous chef under Rob Rees at The Country Elephant for two years in the 1990s, said: “I’m so pleased for Rob and the team from Star Bistro, what a fantastic achievement all round, I know how much hard work and dedication these guys put in to make the business such a success.”

At the Sustainable Restaurant Awards gala lunch at Oval Space in East London, Raymond Blanc said: “These awards are for me as important as Michelin Stars. They represent what everybody who is passionate about food should regard as the perfect ingredients: good ethics, an understanding that food touches every part of our lives and a desire to ensure that future generations will be able to experience from it the same pleasure as we have.”

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was this year’s recipient of the Raymond Blanc Sustainability Hero award for standing out as ‘the person who shows the greatest connection to seasonality, sustainability and traceability.’

The Sustainable Restaurant Awards honour and celebrate those hospitality businesses planning for the future as well as catering for the present. Fifteen of the 19 awards are decided on the basis of the scores achieved by businesses in their SRA Sustainability Rating, across the three pillars of sustainability – Sourcing, Environment and Society.

 Full list of winners

SRA Award for Sourcing

Sponsored by Reynolds

WINNERS:        ODE-dining, Devon

River Cottage HQ, Devon

RUNNERS-UP:  The Pig, Hampshire

Poco, Bristol

 

SRA Award for Society

Sponsored by TUCO Ltd

WINNERS:        The Brookwood Partnership

Carluccio’s

RUNNERS-UP:  Boston Tea Party, South West and Midlands

Geronimo Inns, South East

 

SRA Award for the Environment

Sponsored by Specialist Waste Recycling

WINNER:         Arbor Restaurant at The Green House Hotel, Bournemouth

RUNNERS-UP:  The Captain’s Galley, Caithness

Bistrot Bruno Loubet at The Zetter Hotel, London

 

English Sustainable Restaurant of the Year*

Sponsored by Eureka Search & Selection

WINNER:         Daylesford, Gloucestershire and London

RUNNERS-UP:  THE PIG, Hampshire

ODE-dining, Devon

 

Scottish Sustainable Restaurant of the Year

Sponsored by Speyside Glenlivet

WINNER:         The Captain’s Galley, Caithness

RUNNERS-UP:  The Bay Fish and Chips, Aberdeenshire

Cafe St Honoré, Edinburgh

 

Welsh Sustainable Restaurant of the Year

Sponsored by Action Against Hunger

WINNER:         The Gallery, South Wales

RUNNERS-UP:  The Clink, Cardiff

Enochs Fish and Chips, Llandudno

 

Irish Sustainable Restaurant of the Year

Sponsored by Hospitality Action

WINNER:         KSG, Cork

RUNNERS-UP:  Made in Belfast, Belfast

Two and You, Dublin

 

International Sustainable Restaurant of the Year

Sponsored by Mensa Heating

WINNER:         Les Orangeries, France

RUNNERS-UP:  The Lodge, Verbier (Virgin Limited Edition) Switzerland

Azurmendi, Spain

 

Sustainable Small Group of the Year

Sponsored by Yealands Family Wine

WINNER:         Lussmanns Fish & Grill, Hertfordshire

RUNNERS-UP:  Drake & Morgan, London

Hawksmoor, London

 

Sustainable Large Group of the Year

Sponsored by Chapman Ventilation

WINNER:         D&D London

RUNNERS-UP:  Carluccio’s

Wahaca

Boston Tea Party, South West and Midlands

 

Sustainable Pub of the Year

Sponsored by Mr. Lyan

WINNER:         The Truscott Arms, London

RUNNERS-UP:  Orwells, Oxon

The Imperial, London

 

Sustainable Restaurant of the Year

WINNERS:        Daylesford

The Captain’s Galley

 

Sustainable Hotel Restaurant of the Year

Sponsored by Gram UK

WINNER:         THE PIG, Hampshire

RUNNERS-UP:  Bistrot Bruno Loubet at The Zetter Hotel, London

The Jetty, Dorset

 

Sustainable Caterer of the Year

Sponsored by Space Catering

WINNER:         bartlett mitchell Ltd

RUNNERS-UP:  Lexington Catering

Artizian Catering Service

 

Most Improved Sustainability

Sponsored by Paper Round

WINNER:         Ceviche, London

RUNNERS-UP:  The Akeman (Oakman Inns), Hertfordshire

Bingham Hotel, London

The Montpelier, London

 

The People’s Favourite

Sponsored by Bookatable

WINNER:         Star Bistro, Gloucestershire

RUNNERS-UP:  The Bay Fish and Chips, Aberdeenshire

The Eagle and Child, Lancashire

The Real Junk Food Project, Armley, Leeds

Silo, Brighton

 

Sustainable Innovation Award

Sponsored by Costa

WINNER:         Wahaca

RUNNERS-UP:  Boston Tea Party, South West and Midlands

Silo, Brighton

 

Best Food Waste Strategy

Sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions

WINNER:         Bennett Hay

RUNNERS-UP:  The Roebuck, London

The Brookwood Partnership

 

Raymond Blanc Sustainability Hero

Winner:           Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) is a not for profit membership organisation helping restaurants become more sustainable and diners make more sustainable choices when dining out.