Rosa’s Thai named Restaurant Group of the Year

The Thai restaurant group, which is overseen by CEO Gavin Adair,​​ was named Restaurant Group of the Year (over 20 sites) while Flat Iron took home the same title in the under 20 sites category.

The award caps of a good year for TriSpan-backed restaurant group Rosa’s Thai, which secured a new £10m bank facility​​ in May to build its footprint outside the capital and which made its debut in Scotland earlier this year. The group also recently said that its first ever site, in Spitalfields, posted all-time record sales in its 15 year.

Flat Iron, meanwhile, stepped up its expansion across the UK this year with its first non-London site in Cambridge followed by another in Leeds​​ and a further one in Manchester on the cards.

The annual R200 Awards are organised by Restaurant​ and are voted for by hospitality leaders. The winners were announced last night (21 November) at Dishoom in Canary Wharf.

Other winners on the night included Italian restaurant group San Carlo, whose ambitious new Alderley Edge restaurant was named Best New Opening; and Ireland-based Mexican chain Boojum, which is set to expand across the UK having been bought by Azzurri Group​​, and which was named One to Watch.

Brightside, the retro roadside dining brand from the Loungers group, took home the Scalable Concept Award.

MW Eats’ Camellia Panjabi, Namita Panjabi, Ranjit Mathrni were named People of the Year for their innovation in the Indian restaurant sector.

For more than three decades the trio have helped shaped the Indian dining scene​​ in the capital and beyond and have paved the way for the creation of what is arguably the UK’s most successful Indian restaurant business and inspired countless other forward-thinking Indian restaurants in the process.

More recently, the group opened an ambitious restaurant​​ within the Criterion site on London's Piccadilly Circus.