 | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(March 2014) |
SquareMeal is a restaurant and venues guide that offers professional restaurant critic reviews, along with a directory of restaurants and venues.
| This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(March 2014) |
SquareMeal is a restaurant and venues guide that offers professional restaurant critic reviews, along with a directory of restaurants and venues.
SquareMeal was co-founded by school friends Mark de Wesselow and Simon White in 1989 [1] as a print - and later online - guide to eating out in the Square Mile, London’s historic financial centre. The guide has since expanded into covering the whole of the UK, along with sister sites in UAE, Ireland, Hong Kong and Singapore.
In 2018 Dean Yardley - founder & former MD of wedding planning website and venues directory hitched.co.uk joined the company as CEO.
2020 saw the official closure of all of SquareMeal’s print titles to become a fully digital platform.
SquareMeal supports homeless charity StreetSmart. [2] The campaign is supported by Stephen Fry and chefs including Angela Hartnett, Marcus Wareing, Jason Atherton and Fergus Henderson. [3]
SquareMeal has three annual awards - UK Top 100 restaurants, [4] London Top 100 restaurants [5] and Female Chef of the Year. [6]
UK Top 100 Awards
The top 100 lists are a compilation of the best dining experiences of the year.
Past winners of SquareMeal's UK Top 100 restaurants:
| 2023 | Grace & Savour [7] |
| 2022 | Osip [8] |
| 2021 | Awards on hold due to Covid |
| 2020 | Awards on hold due to Covid |
| 2019 | Moor Hall |
| 2018 | Casamia |
| 2017 | The Sportsman |
| 2016 | The Fat Duck |
| 2015 | The Hand & Flowers |
| 2014 | Northcote |
| 2013 | Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons |
| 2012 | Purnell’s |
| 2011 | The Kitchin |
| 2010 | L’Enclume |
| 2009 | Whatley Manor |
London top 100 awards
Running alongside the UK Top 100 is the London Top 100 - highlighting the best restaurants in England’s capital city.
Past winners of SquareMeal's London Top 100 restaurants:
| 2023 | Da Terra [9] |
| 2022 | BiBi [10] |
| 2021 | Awards on hold due to Covid |
| 2020 | Awards on hold due to Covid |
| 2019 | Brat |
| 2018 | Core by Clare Smyth |
| 2017 | Pollen Street Social |
| 2016 | Frenchie |
| 2015 | The Clove Club |
| 2014 | Gymkhana |
| 2013 | The Five Fields |
| 2012 | Dabbous |
| 2011 | Pollen Street Social |
| 2010 | The Ledbury |
| 2009 | Arbutus |
SquareMeal Female Chef of the Year Award
SquareMeal also holds their annual Female Chef of the Year award. In 2018, Angela Hartnett won the award, followed by Skye Gyngell in 2019, [11] with Sally Abe winning in 2021, [12] Lisa Goodwin-Allen winning in 2022 [13] , Roberta Hall-McCarron in 2023 and Adejoké Bakare in 2024. [14]
| 2024 | Adejoké Bakare |
| 2023 | Roberta Hall-McCarron |
| 2022 | Lisa Goodwin-Allen |
| 2021 | Sally Abè |
| 2020 | Awards on hold due to Covid |
| 2019 | Skye Gyngell |
| 2018 | Angela Harnett |
Gordon James Ramsay is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall and currently holds eight. His signature restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, has held three Michelin stars since 2001. After rising to fame on the British television miniseries Boiling Point in 1999, Ramsay became one of the best-known and most influential chefs in the world.
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Jason Atherton is an English chef and restaurateur. His flagship restaurant Pollen Street Social gained a Michelin Star in 2011, its opening year. He was the Executive Chef at Gordon Ramsay's Michelin starred Maze in London until 30 April 2010. In 2014 he co-hosted the Sky Living TV series My Kitchen Rules.
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Zafferano is a restaurant in London, originally run by Giorgio Locatelli on behalf of A–Z Restaurants until 2005. The restaurant was awarded one Michelin star in 1999, which it held until 2012.
Ravinder Bhogal is a food writer, restaurateur, British chef, journalist and stylist. She opened her first restaurant Jikoni in Marylebone, London in September 2016.
Ramsay's Best Restaurant is a television programme featuring British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay broadcast on Channel 4. During the series restaurants from all over Britain competed in order to win the "Ramsay's Best Restaurant" title. The initial 16 restaurants were selected by Ramsay from a pool of some 12,000 entries submitted by Channel 4 viewers.
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Harveys was a restaurant in Wandsworth, London, run by chef Marco Pierre White between 1987 and 1993. Its French cuisine was warmly received by food critics, and it was named Restaurant of the Year by The Times in 1987.
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Angela Hartnett at The Connaught, also known as MENU, was a restaurant owned by Gordon Ramsay Holdings and run by chef Angela Hartnett. It was located within The Connaught in Mayfair, London. The restaurant was opened following Ramsay's successful opening of Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, within the Claridge's hotel, which is owned by the same equity group. Ramsay had originally been asked to move Restaurant Gordon Ramsay into the space, but suggested that Hartnett should run a new operation there instead. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in the 2004 guide and held it until it closed in 2007.
Murano is a restaurant situated in London, England. It was opened in August 2008 by chefs Angela Hartnett and Gordon Ramsay. Murano was purchased outright from Ramsay by head chef Hartnett with the handover taking place in October 2010. It was awarded one Michelin star in 2009, which has been retained ever since.
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