JLT Restaurant Awards 2019: Thank you! It’s a wrap!
The gala ceremony for the third JLT Restaurant Awards took place on 25th November at the Pullman Dubai Jumeirah Lakes Towers
Following a month of online voting and input by expert industry judges, the 2019 JLT Restaurant Awards concluded with a glitzy ceremony held at the Pullman Hotel in JLT. A capacity crowd witnessed the big reveal of the winners and runners-up of the 21 categories in Dubai’s only neighbourhood F&B awards.
On Monday, 25th November 2019, the Pullman Dubai Jumeirah Lakes Towers played host to the gala ceremony marking the end of the third JLT Restaurant Awards. The event, which this year focused on “sustainability”, saw the winners and runners-up of the Awards’ 21 categories announced by the MC and food industry insider, Farida Ahmed (Frying Pan Food Adventures), and was attended by 120 local restaurateurs, F&B professionals, and foodies.
The third edition of Dubai’s only neighbourhood F&B awards attracted 70 nominations across 21 categories and recorded 16,831 online votes for the 18 publicly voted categories, which ranged from “Best Indian” to “Best Café”, “Best Middle Eastern”, “Best Brunch”, and “Best Burger”. Three additional categories, “Best Sustainability Initiative”, “Best Newcomer”, and “Best Overall”, were judged by an expert panel of industry insiders consisting of Peggy Li, Managing Partner, Strategic Partnership Solutions; Annamaria Lambri, Associate Professor for Interior Design and renowned hospitality architect, American University Dubai; Giacomo Puntel, award-winning Director of F&B, Anantara The Palm Resort Dubai; and Scott Gregory, JLT resident & hospitality technology professional.
Just like the 2018 Awards, the 2019 JLT Dining Awards also featured a “Hidden Gem in JLT” category, with an online voting shortlist based on suggestions submitted by JLT residents, office dwellers, visitors, and Dubai foodies during August and September 2019.
Notable winners were: Bait Maryam for Best Overall and Best Middle Eastern, Pickl for Best Newcomer, Beirut Bites for Best Hidden Gem, Pullman Dubai Jumeirah Lakes Towers for Best Sustainability Initiative, and Streetery for Best Streetfood, Best South-East Asian, and Best Chinese.
Among the other prominent winners were:
Best Indian: Kulcha King
Best South Asian: Little Lahore
Best Pizza: Cibo Italiano
Best Service: The Cavendish Restaurant
Best Brunch: McGettigan’s JLT
Best Bar: [u]bk – Urban Bar & Kitchen
Best European (Licensed): Mythos Kouzina & Grill
“Congratulation to all winners and runners-up and a big thank you to everyone who participated and helped us to make the third JLT Restaurant Awards even better than the first two editions”, says JLT Dining’s Chief Munch Officer Ina Kubler, and continues “Although, there could only be one winner and one runner-up for each of the 21 categories, everyone who took part in the awards is a winner! Together, we put JLT’s burgeoning food scene on the map, created awareness, and – most importantly – forged connections and friendships between local restaurateurs, hospitality professionals, and foodies.”
The awards will take place again in 2020 and the details and provisional timeline are available here.
The awards were supported by a number of technical partners and sponsors including Repeat (headline sponsor), vegberry (silver sponsor), law firm Charles Russell Speechlys (official legal partner), and Monviso (official water supplier). The awards were also supported by Fruitful Day, Liquid of Life, iiko Middle East, and Mr and Mrs Brunch.
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