2024 Food and Travel Reader Awards - The Winners

The 2024 edition of the Food and Travel Reader Awards were held at the Royal Automobile Club on Monday 30 September in a spectacular evening of celebration.

This year’s event saw a star-studded line-up from the worlds of food, drink and travel attend a gala dinner with dishes from Tomos Parry (Brat and Mountain), Jeremy Lee (Quo Vadis) and Lisa Goodwin-Allen (Northcote).

Restaurants, chefs, hotels, destinations, tour operators, cruise companies and airlines were among those present for a fantastic night on Pall Mall.

Food and Travel publisher Gregor Rankin said: ‘What a tremendous evening celebrating the finest individuals and companies in food, drink and travel.'

'As ever, it was an honour to host such talent and recognise their achievements.'

'Also, a big thank you to our sponsors Champagne Pommery, Forest Feasts, Invest Northern Ireland, Just A Drop, Liberty Wines, Nicholson Gin, Sani Resort, The Glenturret and Denmaur Paper. Your support is greatly appreciated.’

The winners’ edition of the magazine is on sale on 18 October, so ensure you get your copy by subscribing at foodandtravel.com/subscribe

2024 FOOD AND TRAVEL READER AWARDS – THE WINNERS

LONDON RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: A Wong; Akoko; Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal; Bibi; Bouchon Racine; Chishuru; The Devonshire; The Ledbury; M Threadneedle Street; Manteca; Mountain; Pizarro Restaurant Bermondsey Street

WINNER: Pizarro Restaurant Bermondsey Street

OUTSIDE LONDON RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: The Black Swan (Oldstead); Crocadon (Saltash); Embers (Brighton); The Farm Table (Topsham); Grace & Savour (Hampton in Arden); Hern (Leeds); Lilac (Lyme Regis); The Little Chartroom (Edinburgh); Wedgwood the Restaurant (Edinburgh); Mana (Manchester); Mýse (York); Pine (East Wallhouses); The Three Horseshoes (Batcombe); Ynyshir (Machynlleth)

WINNER: Lilac (Lyme Regis)

RESTAURANT NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: (Open since May 2023) Akara; Camille; Donia; Josephine Bouchon; Kolae; Koyn Thai; Mambow; Oma; Roe (all London); Hansom Restaurant & Wine Bar (Bedale); Lyla (Edinburgh); Native (Tenbury Wells); Skof (Manchester)

WINNER: Lyla (Edinburgh)

TIMELESS CLASSIC OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Bob Bob Ricard Soho (London); Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons (Great Milton); Morston Hall (Holt); Northcote (Langho); Paul Ainsworth at No6 (Padstow); Restaurant Andrew Fairlie (Auchterarder); The Ritz Restaurant (London); The Seahorse (Dartmouth); St John Smithfield (London)

WINNER: Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons (Great Milton)

CHEF OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Adejoké Bakare; Mark Birchall; Claude Bosi; Alex Dilling; Mark Donald; Brett Graham; Ruth Hansom; Harriet Mansell; Tomos Parry; Cynthia Shanmugalingam; Gareth Ward

WINNER: Mark Donald (The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant)

BAR OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Equal Parts; Kwãnt Mayfair; Nipperkin; Vesper Bar at The Dorchester (all London); The American Bar at Gleneagles (Auchterarder); Couch Stirchley (Birmingham); The Hideout (Bath); Panda & Sons (Edinburgh); Schofield’s Bar (Manchester)

WINNER: Vesper Bar at The Dorchester (London)

CITY HOTEL OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane; The Hari; Hart Shoreditch Hotel London; The Ritz (all London); Hope Street Hotel (Liverpool); Kimpton Clocktower Hotel (Manchester); Malmaison Edinburgh (Edinburgh); No. 15 by Guesthouse Bath (Bath); The Nici (Bournemouth); Port Hotel (Eastbourne)

WINNER: No. 15 by Guesthouse Bath

RURAL HOTEL OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Carbis Bay Hotel (St Ives); Chewton Glen (New Milton); Cromlix (Dunblane); Douneside House (Tarland); Gravetye Manor (East Grinstead); Hampton Manor (Hampton in Arden); The Harper (Holt); Heckfield Place (Heckfield); The Idle Rocks (St Mawes)

WINNER: Cromlix (Dunblane)

GOURMET BOLTHOLE OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Boys Hall (Ashford); The Bull Inn (Totnes); The Dipping Lugger (Ullapool); The Feathered Nest (Nether Westcote); Meadowsweet (Holt); The Peat Inn (St Andrews); The Suffolk (Aldeburgh); Uig Sands (Isle of Lewis); Updown (Deal); Winteringham Fields (Winteringham)

WINNER: The Peat Inn (St Andrews)

BED AND BREAKFAST OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Chapel House (Penzance); Cnapan Guest House (Newport); Craigatin House (Pitlochry); Five Acre Barn (Leiston); Horseshoe Cottage Farm (Cropston); Stow House (Aysgarth); The Yard (Bath)

WINNER: Craigatin House (Pitlochry)

INTERNATIONAL HOTEL OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Borgo Santo Pietro (Italy); Eliamos Villas Hotel & Spa (Greece); Forsthofgut Naturhotel (Austria); Jade Mountain (St Lucia); Le Coucou Méribel (France); Royal Palm Beachcomber Luxury (Mauritius); Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge (South Africa); Sorrisniva (Norway); Wilderness Bisate (Rwanda); The Yeatman (Portugal)

WINNER: The Yeatman (Porto, Portugal)

LOCAL HERO

THE SHORTLIST: Matt Chatfield, Cull Yaw (mutton) sheep farmer (Cornwall); Charlotte Dawe and Angus Cowen, founders of Sea Sisters, craft seafood cannery (Bridport); Felix Nash, founder of The Fine Cider Company, merchant and champion of British cider and perry (London); Sgriob-ruadh Farm, cheese-makers distilling spirits from leftover whey (Isle of Mull); Amy Whitfield, founder of Triple A Food Tours walking tours (Newcastle)

WINNER: Sgriob-ruadh Farm (Isle of Mull)

BOOK OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Andaza (Sumayya Usmani); Brutto (Russell Norman); Comfort & Joy (Ravinder Bhogal); Fish for Dinner (Nathan Outlaw); The Irish Bakery (Cherie Denham and Andrew Montgomery); Pub Kitchen (Tom Kerridge); The Rice Book (Sri Owen); Roast Figs, Sugar Snow (Diana Henry)

WINNER: The Irish Bakery by Cherie Denham and Andrew Montgomery

TOUR OPERATOR OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Barrhead Travel; CV Villas; Five Star Greece; G Adventures; Intrepid; Journey Latin America; Kirker; Nuba; Sandals; True Travel; Tuscany Now & More; Villa Plus

WINNER: Barrhead Travel

RIVER CRUISE LINE OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: AmaWaterways; Avalon Waterways; Emerald Cruises; Riverside Luxury Cruises; Riviera Travel; Scenic; Uniworld River Cruises; Viking River

WINNER: Riviera Travel

OCEAN CRUISE LINE OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Celebrity Cruises; Celestyal Cruises; Cunard; Explora Journeys; Oceania Cruises; Regent Seven Seas Cruises; Saga; Silversea; Viking Ocean; Virgin Voyages

WINNER: Celebrity Cruises

BOUTIQUE/ADVENTURE CRUISE LINE OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Atlas Ocean Voyages; Hebridean Island Cruises; Noble Caledonia; HX Hurtigruten Expeditions; Quark Expeditions; Seabourn; SeaDream Yacht Club; Scenic; Swan Hellenic; Variety Cruises

WINNER: Seabourn

AIRLINE OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Aegean Airlines; Air France; Emirates; Etihad Airways; Norse Atlantic Airways; Qatar Airways; Singapore Airlines; Swiss; TAP Air Portugal; Turkish Airlines

WINNER: Emirates

COOKERY SCHOOL OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: The Cookery School at The Grand (York); Eckington Manor Cookery School (Eckington); Edinburgh New Town Cookery School (Edinburgh); L’Amuse Chez Kate (Swansea); Migrateful (London); Newlyns Farm Shop (Hook); Nick Nairn Cook School (Port of Menteith); The Pony Cookery School (Chew Valley); Swinton Cookery School (Swinton); WhitePepper Chef Academy (Poole)

WINNER: The Cookery School at The Grand (York)

LONG-HAUL DESTINATION OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Australia; Brazil; Canada; Caribbean; Japan; Maldives; Mauritius; Mexico; South Africa; USA; Vietnam

WINNER: South Africa

SHORT-HAUL DESTINATION OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Croatia; France; Germany; Greece; Italy; Luxembourg; Montenegro; Norway; Portugal; Spain; Switzerland; Türkiye

WINNER: Spain

CITY OF THE YEAR

THE SHORTLIST: Berlin; Bordeaux; Cape Town; Dubrovnik; Girona; Seoul; Sydney; Tokyo; Zurich

WINNER: Berlin

BREAKTHROUGH CHEF OF THE YEAR

An industry-voted award

WINNER: Ruth Hansom (Hansom Restaurant & Wine Bar)

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

An industry-voted award

WINNER: Chantelle Nicholson, Apricity Restaurant (London)