Did you make it? Nominations for the Oliver Awards 2020 are revealed

The awards, now in their 12th year, celebrate the beer gardens, roof terraces, restaurant dining rooms, cafes, breweries, the emerging brunch scene and the city’s finest eateries.

And so with that we reveal Yorkshire Evening Post’s Oliver Awards 2020 nominees list – recognising the achievements of the best in the business for Leeds’s flourishing food and drink scene.

It comes ahead of the glittering ceremony where for one night we provide the food and drink while the hard-working staff of the city’s bars, restaurants, pubs and cafes have a night off, let their hair down and enjoy the action as we unveil the winners of 16 hotly contested categories which feature the sought after Best Chef award and the Outstanding Contribution award.

A few things have changed since last year and we have introduced and re-worked a few categories.

They include an award for Best Speciality, which incorporates vegan, vegetarian and sea-food; Best Brunch, as this is a hot favourite among the Leeds socialites; Best Local Produce, as we seek to forage out those food producers who in turn are doing the same with home-grown ingredients and those to be found on the doorstep; Best Family Friendly place to eat; and Sustainability, which interprets everything from being more aware of food waste to the global footprint and sourcing ingredients.

Also on the table are awards for Best Cafe/Deli; Best Bar; Best Gastro pub/brewery; Best World; Best Newcomer; Best Customer Service; Best Fine-Dining; Best Chef; Outstanding Contribution; Overall Restaurant of the Year and the People’s Choice award. This was introduced last year and Olive and Feta at Farsley, a long established family run restaurant, were the winners.

Making the all-important decisions will be our expert panel of judges, returning for 2020 after their Oliver Awards debut last year, and they will be working based on the restaurant reviews published each week in the YEP.

They are consultant chef Stephanie Moon, a previous winner of the Outstanding Achievement award after having gained experience at The Dorchester in London and cooking for the Queen at a state banquet; food writer Amanda Wragg, who has worked in the hospitality industry for years, starting off by pulling pints in her parents’ pub in the Peak District when she was 10. As well as judging for the Yorkshire Evening Post, she writes for The Yorkshire Post and The Sunday Times; beer writer, author and journalist Simon Jenkins, a man who certainly knows his beer from his brandy wine completes the panel.

John Dammone of Salvo’s, which was the winner of the outstanding contribution award in 2019, said: “It is a fantastic opportunity to meet up with your colleagues in the industry and it is a great opportunity where we are not on duty to let our hair down and enjoy each other’s company.

“We hope we will be there again this year.”

Best Bar

Iberica, MOJO, Baracoa Luxe Bar, Dirty Martini Leeds, Stew and Oyster, Sky Lounge (DoubleTree), The Maven, The Hedonist, The Domino Club, The Watermark Bar, Blind Tyger, Wax Bar, Head of Steam, East 59th, Kori Bar at Issho, The Brunswick, Northern Monk, North Bar, Whitelocks, The Turks Head, Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen, Beck & Call, Bundobust.

Best Brunch

If Cafe Bar, Dill & Bay Restaurant, Episode One Cafe, Cha Lounge, Gron, Bake my Day, Sound Bites, Pride & Produce, The Restaurant Bar & Grill, Shears Yard, Cha Lounge Leeds, Rand Coffee Roastery, LS6 Cafe, Issho, East 59th, Buon Apps River Lounge & Italian Restaurant, Angelica, Alexander's, The Brunswick, Archive, The Owl, Laynes Espresso, Nordish.

Best Cafe/Deli

Episode one Cafe, Simpaticos Pizza, Gray’s, Salvo's, Cha Lounge, LS6 Cafe, Heaney & Mill - Deli & Dine, Hepworth’s Deli, Falafel Guys, Bake my Day, The Wild Plum Harrogate, Hayley & Clifford, Blacker Hall Farm, Cha Lounge Leeds, The Dairy Farm, The Greenhouse Horsforth, Laynes Espresso, IF Cafe, Cafe 164, Archive, OWT, Salvos Salumeria, Fika North, Bundobust.

Best Customer Service

The Moody Cow Restaurant, The Whitehall Restaurant and Bar, The Box Tree, The Reliance, Iberica, Kendells Bistro, Sukhothai Chapel Allerton, Sukhothai South Parade, Tharavadu, Gallery FortyOne, Dill & Bay Restaurant, Salvo's, Rudding Park- Akef, Box Tree- Rena, Buon Apps River Lounge & Italian Restaurant, Shears Yard, The Restaurant Bar & Grill, Bengal Brasserie, Agarah, The Brunswick, Laynes Espresso, Sarto, Tattu, Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall, Grantley Arms, Issho, Crafthouse.

Best Family Friendly

Dill & Bay Restaurant, Kendells Bistro, Salute at the White Swan, The Clarendon hotel, The Oliver Chapel Allerton, Zaap Thai Street Food, Salvo's, Fazenda, Almost Famous Leeds, George's Great British Kitchen, LIvin’ Italy, Eat North, Beck and Call, Buon Apps River Lounge & Italian Restaurant.

Chef of the Year

Oliver Stringer- The Moody Cow, Ainsleigh Pickard- The Whitehall, The Box Tree, The Reliance, Iberica, Ajith Nair- Tharavadu, Steve Kendell- Kendells Bistro, Paul Huddleston- Waterside Restaurant, Jonathan Strub- Clarendon Hotel, Oliver Edwards - Salvo's, Josh Whitehead- Harewood Food and Drink Project, Murray Wilson- Craft House, Jono Hawthorne- Vice and Virtue, Michael O'Hare- The Man Behind the Curtain, Matt Healy- The Foundry, Liz Cottam - Home, Head Chef Yanni (Ian Chapman Sarto), Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall, Jono Hawthorne, Joel Monkman- The Host.

Fine Dining

Grand Cru Restaurant, The Box Tree, Iberica, Kendells Bistro, The Coniston Hotel Country Estate & Spa, Swine that Dines, HOME, Ox Club, Dakota, The Foundry, Issho, Crafthouse

Shears Yard, The Owl, Arts, Tattu, Brasserie Blanc, Grantley Hall.

Newcomer

Grand Cru, The Whitehall Restaurant and Bar, The Olive Chapel Allerton, Episode One Cafe, Gray’s (coffee shop), LaLa's, El Gato Negro, Sarto, Village Pizza, Humpit Hummus, Craft Asylum, Rand Coffee Roastery, De Baga, Franco Manca, The Owl, Archive, Grantley Hall, El Gato Negro Tapas.

Local Produce

Grand Cru, Village Pizza, The Box Tree, The Reliance, Ambiente Tapas, The Clarendon Hotel, The Waterside Restaurant, Dill & Bay Restaurant, Vice and Virtue, Queen o' t’ owd Thatch

Thorpe Park Hotel, Stockdales of Yorkshire, Cha Lounge, Gron Kafe, Blacker Hall Farm, The Owl, OWT, Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall, Grantley Hall, Gastro & Brewery, Bridge House Brewery, Quirky Ales, Tapped, Northern Monk, Tapped, Saltaire Brewery, Salt Beer Factory, The Owl, North Brewing Company, Anthology Brewing Company

Specialty

Iberica, LaLa's, The Oliver Chapel Allerton, Knaves Kitchen, Kendells Bistro, Episode one Cafe, Kendells Bistro, Salvo's, Roots and Fruits, Swine that Dines, Northern Block Vegan Icecream, Bundobust, De Baga, AagrahLeeds, Tharavadu, The Greenhouse Horsforth, Alexander's, Sarto, Clam & Cork, Tattu, The Beehive X Thorner.

World

Iberica, LaLa's, Sukhothai South Parade, Tharavadu, Gallery FortyOne, Buon Apps River Lounge & Italian Restaurant, Zaap Thai Street Food, Kendells Bistro, Humpit, Issho Rooftop, Restaurant & Bar, Smak the Polish Kitchen, Lupe's Cantina Mexicana, Ciao Bella, Wens, Ambiente Leeds, Hana Matsuri, Poco Sicilian, De Baga, Bengal Brasserie, Aagrah Leeds, Bundobust, Kanassa (Kirkgate), Tattu, Brasserie Blanc, Punch Bar and Tapas, Devour @ The Dyehouse, Sarto, Phranakhon, Kuala Lumpur Cafe, De Baga, El Gato Negro Tapas.

Outstanding

The Reliance, Sharon Kendell, Manfred Zenner- Buon Apps River Lounge & Italian Restaurant, Lionel Strub - Clarendon Hotel, George- The Olive Tree, The Owl, Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall, Host, The Grantley Bar & Restaurant.

Sustainability

Clarendon Hotel, Roots and Fruits, Swinton Park, Leeds Cookery School, Great Food at Leeds (Leeds Uni), Cha lounge, Gron, Blacker Hall Farm, North Star Coffee, Laynes, The Owl, The Greenhouse Horsforth.