THEY’RE BACK! There were over 2,400 entrants nationwide – and on Sunday, 13th October the eyes of the Asian catering industry will be on the Park Plaza, Westminster as the 2,400 entrants are whittled down to just a couple of dozen category winners.
The organisers see the Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards (ARTA) as an opportunity to showcase – and reward – the craft, creativity and excellence which goes into making tasty Asian cuisine so popular in the UK.
The awards cover a range of categories which reflect the regional spread of Asian cuisine in the UK as well as its diversity in the vast and diverse continent of Asia.
•National and Regional Categories There will be awards for the best outlets in Scotland and Wales and in the English regions – North East, North West, South East, South Central, Surrey, South Central, South West, North London, South London, East London, West Midlands, East Midlands, East Anglia, Essex and Kent.
•Cuisine Categories There will be awards for the best Thai Restaurant and the best Chinese Restaurant.
•The Best of the Rest There will be awards for the Takeaway of the Year, Best Newcomer, Best Chef and, to top them all off, the National Champion of Champions.
What makes the awards so special is that they are handed out to the cooks and chefs who are most valued by their customers. Over 350,000 customer were surveyed this year, and the Awards will be handed out based on these survey results. This underlines not only how keen customers are to recognise the talent behind the tawas, the kudos in the korais and the heat under the handis – it shows how very many people “eat Asian” and how popular the cuisine now is. The UK curry industry is currently valued at £5 billion and there are more Indian restaurants in Greater London than there are in Delhi and Mumbai put together.
The Awards ceremony on Sunday will attract the best chefs and restaurant owners from across the UK as well as a huge array of well known guests – celebrities and well known politicians, business leaders, sports stars and other VIPs. The event will be co-hosted by Samantha Simmonds, former Sky News anchor, and entertainer Paul Martin.
Salik Mohammed Munim, founder and CEO of ARTA, said, “Year on year, the standard for this competition continues to defy imagination. With more entrants than ever before, we have been immensely impressed by the quality on show this year… Asian cuisine has embedded itself deep within the beating heart of British culture and brings about so much creativity, flavour, vibrancy and joy to so many. There is something truly special about the Asian cuisine industry, which binds communities, regions and an entire nation by the common love of incredible food. The ARTA is the perfect platform to recognise the magicians behind the magic that makes the food so superb.”
The digital partner of the Arta Awards is ChefOnline, the digital app which allows customers to order food and book tables, and which organised the customer survey on which the awards are based.
•Read more about it: AFRA winners take centre stage ARTA launches nominations in House of Lords