Accolade for top Liverpool restaurant

Apr 9 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

THE London Carriage Works has been named the best restaurant in the north of the country.

The latest accolade for the Hope Street eaterie came courtesy of the Northern Hospitality Awards earlier this week.

The awards took place at a presentation at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester.

Now in their fourth year, the Northern Hospitality Awards recognise the finest in the hospitality industry across the north of England, and have quickly become one of the most sought after and influential of their kind. Hundreds of entries were assessed by a panel of independent industry judges.

The London Carriage Works was the only restaurant from Liverpool that managed to make it to the finals.

The restaurant was recognised for its combination of high culinary and service standards, beating off competition from Newcastle upon Tyne, West Yorkshire, Cumbria and Derbyshire to take the best restaurant title.

Paul Askew, chef patron of the London Carriage Works, said: “The continued development of the hospitality awards is fantas- tic for the North of England.

“We have a thriving hospitality industry, with many outstanding businesses and talented individuals. All of us here at the London Carriage Works are delighted to have won this award and helped highlight Merseyside’s growing restaurant culture.”

Thom Hetherington, from award organisers Moorfield Media said: “The response to this year’s awards has been staggering, with a consistently excellent standard of entries.

“The high calibre of the industry experts on the judging panels and the rigorous selection criteria means we are confident we have selected the right winners.”

So far, Capital of Culture year is proving to be a memorable one for the London Carriage Works.

In January, Paul Askew was recognised for his championing of Merseyside and was presented with the Special Recognition Award at the 2008 Hi-Life Dining Awards.

Judges at that ceremony said Mr Askew was responsible for “almost single-handedly dragging his homeland into the 21st century”. He “helped to create an embryonic but growing restaurant culture in an area that was otherwise something of a culinary wilderness”, and “is now universally accredited with being the catalyst that has enabled some of the most exciting and cutting edge restaurants anywhere in the country to now be opening for a ready made local market.”

vickyanderson