The Academy and Voting Process
The National Restaurant Awards is compiled from the votes of the National Restaurant Awards Academy. We divide the country into 12 regions, with each region having a panel of carefully selected voters comprising restaurateurs, chefs, food critics and journalists.
There is no list of nominees; each member of our national voting panel votes for their personal choice of seven restaurants. They may vote for up to five restaurants in their own region, the remaining votes must be cast outside their home region.
Nobody is allowed to vote for their own restaurant or restaurants they have a commercial interest or formal involvement with, an voters must have eaten in the restaurants they nominate within the past 12 months. Example of members of the voting Academy include:
• Sheila Dillon (BBC Radio 4's Food Programme)
• Richard Vines (Chief Food Critic, Bloomberg)
• Peter McCombie MW
• Fay Maschler (Critic, Evening Standard)
• Bruce Palling (Wall Street Journal Europe)
• David Mulcahy (Culinary Director, Sodexo)
• Alex Renton (The Times, OFM)
• Danny Pecorelli (CEO, Exclusive Hotels)
• Andrew Fairlie (Restaurant Andrew Fairlie)
• Chris Galvin (Galvin Restaurants)
• Simon Hulstone (Chef Patron, The Elephant)
• Jason Atherton (Jason Atherton Restaurants)
• Will Holland (Chef Patron, La Becasse)
• Jocelyn Herland (Exec Chef, Alain Ducasse)
