Chef of the Year - Kevin Murphy, idas
Kevin Murphy’s cooking is like an Impressionist painting: it engages with the body and brain by provoking sensual reactions, so one dish makes you think of the shoreline, whilst another makes you think of the forest, and the next makes you think of a hilltop. This is no accident: Mr Murphy trained as a painter, and his cooking in Dingle’s lovely idas restaurant condenses food ingredients into miniaturised masterpieces on your plate. He’s a mighty cook, and idas is home to mighty cooking. idasdingle.com
Restaurant of the Year - Hang Dai
Karl Whelan put the va-va-voom! into a number of Dublin restaurants before he and his partner Will Dempsey got the doors open on Hang Dai, their new restaurant on Dublin’s Camden Street. But Hang Dai takes the va-va-voom! to a new level, as food, style, sounds and service combine to lift this incredible space into the culinary stratosphere. Ireland has never seen an Oriental restaurant like this, and Hang Dai is simply deadly. hangdaichinese.com
Hotel of the Year - Killeen House
In their beautiful hotel, just a few miles outside Killarney town, Michael and Geraldine Rosney define what an Irish welcome is. The Rosneys have never resiled from their promise, made 25 years ago when they opened their doors, that all guests be called by their christian names. The effect is palpable: never mind that this is a 23-room hotel, because for everyone who stays here, Killeen House feels like home. killeenhousehotel.com
