Oysters Claims Prestigious Industry Award
Oysters Restaurant in Strabane took the title of Restaurant of the Year at the Licensed & Catering News Awards, which were held at The Europa Hotel in Belfast on Friday evening, June 6, hosted by broadcaster, Pamela Ballantine.
The restaurant beat off stiff competition from a number of very highly regarded venues in order to take the title this year. Among those who had been in the running were Browns in Derry-Londonderry, The Boathouse in Bangor and Shu in Belfast.
Speaking after collecting his award, Kevin Clarke of Oysters said:
“It is a major achievement and it’s one of the biggest awards in the industry so we are really delighted. It motivates us now to see how else we can improve and we are so happy for the team and for everyone that’s involved.”
Host for the evening, Pamela Ballantine, presented awards in 17 categories to a packed Grand Ballroom at the Europa on Friday evening. Among the other awards presented were Off-Licence of the Year, which went to Direct Wine Shipments in Belfast; Best Use of Social Media in Hospitality, which went to The Albany on Belfast’s Lisburn Road and Guest House of the Year, which was won by Newforge House in Magheralin.
Speaking afterward, Bill Penton, organiser of the awards and publisher of LCN magazine, said:
“We’re just delighted with the way this event has gone tonight. These awards have always been about recognising and rewarding excellence across the hospitality industry and we’re very happy that we’ve been able to do that tonight in such a public way. It’s a great achievement to be named as a winner or a finalist at the LCN Awards, it’s a great morale boost and it recognises the professionalism and creativity of the businesses concerned. I’d like to say a very big well done to all our worthy winners tonight.”
Among the special guests attending Friday evening’s event were SDLP leader, Alasdair McDonnell MP; newly-elected Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Marie Hendron and the newly-elected chairman of the Institute of Hospitality in Northern Ireland, Michael Cafolla.
Caption: Pictured receiving his award from Andrew Schnell (left), from category sponsor, Woodford Bourne NI is Kevin Clarke of Oysters Restaurant in Strabane.
If you need any further information, please don’t hesitate to contact Russell Campbell at 028 90 457 457 or email russell.campbell@pentonpublications.co.uk
