Life is returning to normal. The Festival was a great success – this is not just the opinion of those involved in setting it up and managing the events – and we are busy thinking of ways to enlarge, improve, excite and delight in 2010.
London so clearly merits celebration of its restaurants. Hardly a day goes by without hearing news of a new venture in catering – straight- up or subversive. During the credit crunch, the emphasis happily has been on crunch in the sense of celery stick, wood-fired pizza base, falafel, veal Holstein, Peking Duck, an apple, a biscuit, a brandy snap….you get my drift. The London Restaurant Festival lives on to support and encourage the pleasures of eating out and the importance of sitting down with family, friends and colleagues to share a meal and have a conversation.
Some Festival events such as Eat Film will continue. A movie followed by the meal of the plot proved the ideal diverting evening. Gourmet Odysseys which this year took place in the West End will next year see Routemasters heading for Shoreditch, Notting Hill, Chiswick, Islington, Wandsworth and so forth proving that fascinating food has no geographical boundaries.
Chefs are coming to us with ideas for events and gatherings for 2010.
It was wonderful and gratifying to have the enthusiasm and practical contribution of so many chefs and restaurateurs this year and next year we hope to be able to reward them with more than a smile and a kiss.
Special good-value menus remain at the heart of the Festival and in 2010 we hope even more restaurants will sign up, create irresistible menus and benefit from the extra custom that can be directed their way.
Please stay in touch. All ideas are welcome and all criticism will be carefully considered.
As a finale to the first ever London Restaurant Festival we headed east for our awards – and what a wonderful evening it turned out to be. Some 250 of the most influential chefs, critics and restaurateurs in the industry turned out.
The idea for the Gourmet Odyssey was hatched a few years ago when Fay organised a Gourmet Gallop for winners of an Evening Standard competition. We took ten people to four different restaurants and they had a course in each. It was a triumph.
The successful bidder had paid £23,000 for the one-off opportunity with money going to 
