ITS A TOUGH JOB, BUT SOMEONE

WITH less than two weeks to go before this year's Carlton London Restaurant Awards, hundreds of entries have poured in for the Evening Standard/London Tonight Award.

This is the special accolade that gives unsung local restaurants the chance to compete alongside culinary giants like Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay.

More to the point, it gives readers and viewers the chance to nominate their favourite eating place and win a year's free dining there, plus a midweek break in France as guests at the chateau that is home to Laurent Perrier champagne. We have had hundreds of letters singing the praises of restaurants throughout London, all of them demonstrating that, whether you prefer Cordon Bleu or Cantonese cooking, you can't beat a good, reliable "local". With the deadline for entries closed, we have whittled them down to 10 finalists. These represent the variety of London cuisine today - French, Italian, Greek, Indian, Chinese, Malaysian and even vegetarian. There was much debate over whether to include the nomination for Burger King in Kingston. Independent MP Martin Bell and former MP Ernle Money are among those who wrote in. Mr Bell nominates La Gaffe, the Hampstead restaurant he has frequented since 1964. He held his wedding party there and intends his wake to be held there, too. "It has been my retreat, my Cheers, my Shangri-La and the social headquarters of the eighth-largest Parliamentary Party," he writes. Meanwhile, Mildreds is commended by Kirstie McKie for its top- class vegetarian food, "cosy, intimate surroundings" and the likelihood of meeting someone interesting at a shared table. Daniele Statiras remembers a romantic celebration at Moxon's which might have ended in disaster when her boyfriend realised he did not have enough money for their seafood banquet. The owner let them off the difference and insisted they keep some for a cab home. The Old Bexley Greek Taverna wins a special mark from David Harvey for its attentive waiters and the owner's complimentary carnation for the ladies, whereas Kaya House is commended purely for its Malaysian and Chinese food. Says David Nicholls: "The food is everything - we concentrate on that." During the next 10 days the judges will be visiting each finalist restaurant before we choose the winner, to be announced at the awards ceremony on 15 March - and to be televised the following night. Our 10 finalists are: MILDREDS, Greek Street, Soho (nominated by Kirstie McKie) OLD BEXLEY GREEK TAVERNA, High Street, Bexley, Kent (David Harvey) NE'ALS BRASSERIE, High Road, Loughton (Helen Dryer) CAFE REST, Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush (John Spencer) TRATTORIA PARMIGIANA, High Road, Leytonstone (Arthur Russell) THE WATER PALACE, High Road,Yiewsley, Middlesex (Debbie Timson) KAYA HOUSE, Deptford Broadway, Deptford (David Nicholls) MOXON'S, Clapham Park Road, Clapham (Daniele Statiras) LA GAFFE, Heath Street, Hampstead (Martin Bell) SITARA, Holloway Road, Holloway (Ernle Money)

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.