Yet again, Merseyside has been overlooked by prestigious restaurant awards.
The recipients of this year's National Restaurant Awards were announced yesterday. There was good news for the North West, as Moor Hall in Aughton, West Lancashire, was named the best restaurant in England and the second best in the UK.
However, Merseyside walked away with little. None of the awards went to venues in our county, while only one of our restaurants featured in the list of the 100 best in the UK.
That one restaurant was Manifest, the Baltic Triangle brainchild of Paul Durand and Charlotte Jones. Manifest was named the 100th best restaurant in the UK - a great achievement, especially considering it has only been open for little more than a year.
READ MORE: Moor Hall named best in England at National Restaurant Awards 2023
That said, the lack of recognition beyond that does no justice to Merseyside's culinary offering - viewed by many to be in its strongest place ever.
In April, Mr Durand told the ECHO that there was lots to be proud of regarding Liverpool's food and drink scene. He spoke as the city was overlooked for a Michelin star yet again in this year's guide.
This year's Michelin saw a similar story to yesterday's awards, as West Lancashire was a big winner in the 2023 edition, with three restaurants in Aughton sharing four stars between them, Liverpool's wait for the top accolade continued. Nonetheless, many Merseyside restaurants were named in the guide, including Paul Askew's Art School and Barnacle, Mr Durand's Manifest, the city centre Roski, Belzan on Smithdown Road and Bistrot Vérité in Birkdale.
Regarding the city's lack of a star, Mr Durand told the ECHO: "I think a Michelin star will come to the city soon - the inspectors are after consistency so I think we need to carry on what we're doing and hopefully that will be recognised. I've been in hospitality for 20 years and cooking for 15.
"The food scene in Liverpool is the strongest I've seen it. About eight years ago I thought you had to move away to be able to cook at that next level.
"Now any ambitious chef in Liverpool will find their ambition matched by the food scene. We just need to concentrate on making people happy and anything other than that is a bonus."
This view was reflected by Hawksmoor CEO Will Beckett. The world-renowned steakhouse opened in India Buildings in November, having already enjoyed success in a number of cities including London, Dublin and Edinburgh.
Asked why Hawksmoor chose to set up a new restaurant in Liverpool, Mr Beckett told the ECHO: "If you’d asked me five, six or seven years ago, ‘what do you think about a Hawksmoor in Liverpool?’, I probably would have said ‘I’m not sure’.
"But I really feel like it’s a city that’s going places - generally and from a food and drink perspective. There’s been loads of interesting things happening in the restaurant scene in Liverpool, whether that’s fine dining stuff like Roski or the Arts School, or national chains like Mowgli which started there, or cool independent places like Manifest or Delifonseca, there is great stuff there."
It is the view of those in the industry that Liverpool has so much to offer from a food and drink perspective. However, like everywhere, it is not immune to challenges.
Lerpwl - viewed by many as the gold standard in the city - closed suddenly in March. Fraiche in Oxton, which held a Michelin star, closed earlier this year to move to the West Midlands.
Additionally, the cost of living crisis continues to wreak havoc on the hospitality industry, with pubs, breweries and restaurants closing at an alarming rate.
Despite that, Merseyside's restaurant scene remains stacked with quality. Hospitality is our region's lifeblood and Liverpool continues to be an incredibly popular destination for many, many reasons.
Few places can offer a night out like we can. Top quality restaurants are becoming an increasingly integral part of that offering, with great, creative cooking available across Merseyside - well beyond Liverpool city centre.
It's wonderful to see Manifest receive recognition and it is gratifying that areas like the Baltic Triangle can offer the springboard and space for creative businesses to reach such a level. However, it is time our wealth of great restaurants got more recognition.
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