Revealed: Full list of winners from the Irish restaurant Oscars 2023

Dublin restaurants, pubs and cafes take the lion’s share of top awards at nationwide awards ceremony attended by more than 1,200 restaurateurs and staff

There was good news once again for Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen and Ross Lewis at the Irish Restaurant Awards.

Mon May 15 2023 - 23:30

Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen, in Dublin 1, has retained the best restaurant title for a second consecutive year at the Irish Restaurant Awards 2023. Paul McNamara, who heads the kitchen at Uno Mas, also in Dublin, was named best chef. The winners in the 14th staging of the nationwide competition were announced at a gala dinner attended by more than 1,200 restaurant and hospitality industry representatives in Dublin on Monday night.

Chapter One, which has two Michelin stars, is co-owned by Viljanen and restaurateur and chef Ross Lewis. It was awarded a perfect score of 10/10 by Irish Times restaurant critic Corinna Hardgrave, and has also been positively reviewed by influential UK restaurant writers Andy Hayler and Marina O’Loughlin. There was speculation that the restaurant, which is located in a basement below the Dublin Writers Museum on Parnell Square, could be upgraded to three stars in the current Michelin Guide, but that did not transpire when the guide was published in March.

Best chef honours went to Paul McNamara, head chef at Uno Mas, Aungier Street, Dublin 2. Photograph: Aidan Crawley

Uno Mas on Aungier Street in Dublin 2, serves “superbly executed, unfussy Spanish mains which come with many layers of flavour and texture”, according to the guide. As well as being head chef, Paul McNamara is a business partner in the restaurant along with Liz Matthews and Simon Barrett, who also own Etto on Merrion Row. McNamara was previously in the kitchen at Locks in Portobello.

Dublin restaurants were also successful in several additional categories, including best emerging Irish cuisine for Library Street in Dublin 2; best world cuisine for Pickle, also in Dublin 2; best casual dining for Crudo in Dublin 4; best restaurant manager, won by Denise McBrien of The Old Spot gastropub, again in Dublin 4, and best customer service, awarded to The Guinea Pig in Dalkey.

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Newcomer of the year honours went to the popular Blackrock Cottage in Galway, while The Bishop’s Buttery at the Cashel Palace hotel in Co Tipperary took the hotel and guesthouse restaurant award. The local food hero for 2023 is Con Traas of The Apple Farm in Cahir, Co Tipperary.

Newcomer of the Year is Blackrock Cottage in Galway. Photograph: Julia Dunin

The awards are organised by the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the judging process involves public nominations, of which a record number in excess of 130,000 were made this year, followed by regional judging rounds, and a national final presided over by RAI chief executive Adrian Cummins, with the organisation’s national judging academy, comprised of industry experts, food writers, culinary and hospitality experts.