Sweet victory for Darina in Paris
TWO Irish restaurants have won awards at a ceremony in Paris.
Ballymaloe House and vegetarian restaurant Paradiso, both in Cork, triumphed at the inaugural World Restaurants Awards – dubbed the Oscars of the food world.
Ballymaloe House won the Trolley Of The Year award for the dessert offerings at the renowned eatery.
Celebrity chef Darina Allen, of Ballymaloe, dedicated the award to her late mother-in-law Myrtle Allen, who died last year, saying: ‘I hope she’s looking down tonight.’ She praised Ballymaloe’s pastry chef JR Ryall for bringing ‘a little bit of magic’ to the restaurant’s renowned sweet trolley, which features dishes including Carrageen Moss pudding, made with seaweed.
Co. Cork enjoyed double success with vegetarian restaurant Cafe Paradiso’s long-standing partnership with Gortnanain farm recognised for nearly two decades of close collaboration. Ultan Walsh, who runs Gortnanain farm with his wife-to-be Lucy Stewart, has been supplying vegetables to Paradiso for nearly 20 years.
Restaurateur Denis Cotter, of Paradiso, said it was a ‘huge honour’ to win the Collaboration of the Year crown. ‘It’s also an amazing recognition and a very unusual recognition of what we do and what we have been doing behind the scenes for such a long time,’ he said.
The ceremony took place in Paris on Monday night. South African eatery Wolfgat was named Restaurant of the Year.