'5 HOT CHILLIES' IN LINE-UP FOR RESTAURANT AWARD
(8 February 2005)

Unassuming Harrow-based curry house '5 Hot Chillies' is in the line-up for the 'Indian Restaurant of the Year' Award at the Tio Pepe ITV London Restuarant Awards 2005, alongside well-known new restaurants like Namita & Camellia Panjabi's 'Amaya', Vineet Bhatia's 'Rasoi', Westminster-based 'The Cinnamon Club' The Painted Heron and top wedding caterer 'Madhu's'. ITV news presenter Mary Nightingale today revealed the eagerly anticipated shortlist for the awards that are widely recognised as the most exciting and high profile event in London's restaurant calendar. For the ninth year running, competition in the 15 highly coveted award categories is extremely tough with more than 6,000 restaurants jostling for recognition.

With the line between celebrity and chef status becoming increasingly blurred, Frankie Dettori has jumped the first hurdle and appears on the shortlist with his inaugural restaurant, Frankie's Italian Bar and Grill, his collaboration with Marco Pierre White. Frankie will be competing with Gordon Ramsay's protégés Marcus Wareing and Hell's Kitchen star Angela Hartnett in the Outstanding Front of House Team category, with their respective restaurants Savoy Grill and Menu at the Connaught.

Even though Charlotte Street's Pied à Terre was destroyed by a fire in November last year, it was not enough to overshadow the success of the team behind the two-Michelin-starred restaurant, whose achievements are recognised in this year's shortlist. Despite the fact that the restaurant remains closed, it has won a nomination in the French Restaurant of the Year category, and chef Shane Osborn is also a contender for the title of Outstanding London Chef.

Fay Maschler MBE, chairman of the 2005 judging panel, says: "Judging for the 2005 Tio Pepe ITV London Restaurant Awards takes place throughout 2004, and during this time, Shane Osborn and Pied à Terre were so impressive that a shortlist of restaurants and chefs of this calibre would not be complete without them."

This year, an Eastern influence is evident across the categories with four of the six restaurants nominated in the New Restaurant of the Year category also appearing in the Oriental Restaurant and Indian Restaurant categories. Charlotte Street's newcomer Japanese-influenced Roka, and Alan Yau's Chinese Yauatcha represent the Oriental restaurants battling against Indian restaurants Amaya in Knightsbridge and Michelin-starred chef, Vineet Bhatia's restaurant, Rasoi Vineet Bhatia.

Last year's golden boy, Tom Aikens, winner of New Restaurant of the Year 2004 and the ultimate accolade, Tio Pepe ITV London Restaurant of the Year 2004, also faces an Eastern challenge this year. He will come up against Vineet Bhatia and Tong Che Hwee, two stalwarts in the Outstanding London Chef category as well as Shane Osborn, Rainer Becker from Roka and Kensington Place's Rowley Leigh who make up the rest of the category's nominations.

Fish Restaurant of the Year is this year's annually changing category, in acknowledgment of the excellence of restaurants in London specialising in fish dishes. Nominees include J. Sheekey, FishWorks, Le Suquet, One-o-One, Rasa Samudra and Sweetings.

Last year, another new category was introduced, London Gastropub of the Year. Challengers for this title continue to multiply and it has now become a permanent fixture in the Awards as a testimony to the rise in casual dining while recognising the superb quality of pub grub. 2004 title winner, The Anchor & Hope, is short-listed once again but whether it succeeds in taking the prize again this year or whether it has been superseded by other fine London offerings is still to be seen. Watch this space.

In the Oriental Restaurant category, Hakkasan - winner for the past two years - is nominated once again and will face stiff competition from its own proprietor. Alan Yau's newest creation, Yauatcha, is also up for the award, alongside Roka, Vietnamese Cay Tre, Royal China and Sushi-Say. Contenders in the Indian Restaurant category include 2004 winner, Painted Heron, Westminster favourite the Cinnamon Club, Pakistani-inspired Five Hot Chillies and Madhu's.

Nominations for the highly-prized London Restaurant Academy Award of Excellence - as judged by fellow restaurateurs * include two Spanish contingents: South Kensington's Cambio de Tercio and Fino in Bloomsbury. Other contenders include Mayfair's Nobu, Knightsbridge brasserie, Racine, Smithfield's St John and Chelsea's Haute Cuisine restaurant, Tom Aikens.

Fay Maschler, says: "The extraordinary volatility of the restaurant business and the passion, innovation and energy manifested make every year of judging a new challenge and a new delight".

The category winners will be revealed at a star-studded Awards Dinner, open to the public, at Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane on Monday 4 April 2005. Tio Pepe ITV London Restaurant Awards are due to be screened in a special programme on ITV1 London on 7 April at 23.00hr and repeated on ITV3.

SHORTLIST 2005

British Restaurant of the Year
Bluebird Dining Room
Franklins
The Goring
Inn the Park
Rivington Grill, Bar, Deli
St John

French Restaurant of the Year
Morgan M
Petit Max
Pied à Terre
Racine
Le Roussillon
Tom Aikens

Italian Restaurant of the Year
Al Duca
Assaggi
Enoteca Turi
Locanda Locatelli
Passione
Riva

Oriental Restaurant of the Year
Cay Tre
Hakkasan
Roka
Royal China (Bayswater)
Sushi-Say
Yauatcha

Indian Restaurant of the Year
Amaya
Cinnamon Club
Five Hot Chillies
Madhu's
Painted Heron
Rasoi Vineet Bhatia

Fish Restaurant of the Year
Fishworks
J Sheekey
One-o-One
Rasa Samudra
Le Suquet
Sweetings

New Restaurant of the Year
(Restaurants opened between December 2003 and November 2004.)
Amaya
Cipriani
Inn the Park
Rasoi Vineet Bhatia
Roka
Yauatcha

Most Exceptional Restaurant Wine List
(This award is given for a well balanced wine list that best matches the style and cuisine of the restaurant whilst encouraging customers to expand their interest.)
Bleeding Heart
Chez Bruce
Enoteca Turi
Fino
The Greenhouse
Putney Bridge

London Gastropub of the Year
The Anchor and Hope
The Fox
The Gun
The Hartley
The Havelock
The White Swan

Outstanding London Chef
Tom Aikens * Tom Aikens
Rainer Becker - Roka
Vineet Bhatia * Rasoi Vineet Bhatia
Tong Che Hwee - Hakkasan
Rowley Leigh * Kensington Place
Shane Osborn * Pied à Terre

Outstanding Front of House Team
(This award is not so much for an individual front of house leader, as for the whole service team in a restaurant)
Clarke's
Frankie's
Le Gavroche
Menu at the Connaught
Racine
Savoy Grill

LONDON RESTAURANT ACADEMY AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Cambio de Tercio
Fino
Nobu
Racine
St John
Tom Aikens

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION
(This is to a person or a supplier. There is no shortlist for this award)

EVENING STANDARD LONDON TONIGHT AWARDS
(Voted for by readers of the London Evening Standard)

TIO PEPE ITV LONDON RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
(The shortlist for this award includes all the winning restaurants in this years awards).

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