Ireland’s best restaurant crowned at the Irish Restaurant Awards 2024
Cork restaurants emerged as the big winners on the night with Dede at the Custom House Baltimore named Best Restaurant at the event while Aishling Moore of Goldie was crowned Best Chef.
In total, this year’s Irish Restaurant Awards – the 15th year of the Awards – received over 160,000 public nominations for restaurants, cafés and other food services establishments across the country, the highest number yet.
Nominations were made by the public through The Irish Times website, the Irish Restaurant Awards’ media partner.
Over the past few months, regional events were held in Kilkenny, Kerry, Mayo and Armagh where county winners across various categories were announced. The overall All-Ireland winners were chosen from these local winners.
Speaking at the event, President of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, Paul Lenehan, said: “During these undoubtedly tough times for our industry, celebrating Ireland’s food and hospitality offering is as crucial as ever. Above all, the Awards give us the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the hard work of Ireland’s talented restaurant, café and food-led hospitality staff.
“These Awards highlight the resilience and innovation in our food industry. Behind every great dish is a team of individuals committed to creating memorable dining experiences.
“As ever, this year’s Irish Restaurant Awards showcased the very best of the country’s culinary talent.
“I would personally like to extend my congratulations to all the winners and nominees for their dedication and passion.”
Each year, funds are raised for a chosen charity at the All-Ireland final of the Irish Restaurant Awards. This year, substantial funds were raised for the Irish Kidney Association.
Carol Moore, CEO of the Irish Kidney Association, said: “We are delighted to be selected as the event’s charity partner and enjoyed attending the Gala Awards dinner, where almost 1,200 people attended what was a very entertaining evening.
“Not only were a substantial amount of funds raised but awareness of the need for more organ donors and the need to screen for kidney disease were highlighted.”
