Monday April the 29th, marked the day  the gourmet world was told that that they should have eyes for only one man. Chef Luke Dale-Roberts’s The Test Kitchen was given the “Cacao Barry One To Watch Award” at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards gala ceremony, which were announced in London earlier this evening.

This prestigious award is given to a restaurant which Restaurant magazine feels is right up there with the very best of the top restaurants in the world. Each year one restaurant is named One To Watch, signifying a belief that come next year this restaurant will most likely appear on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. For a restaurant that is only two and a half years old, as The Test Kitchen is, this is an enormous accolade.

The Test Kitchen also made an impressive 61st placement, up 13 places from their 74th position as a new entry last year when they first appeared as a New Listing, causing quite a stir of excitement, as it had only been operational since November 2010. Such achievements and honours are unusual in a restaurant so young, which makes the awards all the more significant to Luke Dale Roberts who is no stranger to The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, having appeared there twice during his time as Head Chef of La Colombe. When he left La Colombe to start his own restaurant on 2010 there were few people who did not express their disbelief but Luke was determined to forge ahead and create his own sort of restaurant. He craved complete creative freedom and his bravery and commitment has paid off. This recognition bestowed on an independent, young restaurant with no corporate backing is certainly something that makes gourmands sit up straight and take notice.



​Luke Dale-Roberts is a man not afraid of change. In fact he embraces it. Insists on it. When he first opened The Test Kitchen he declared that it was his wish that every three months he and his team would look at the menu, declare it boring and vow to do something new and exciting. That they would then reinvent certain dishes and conjure completely new ones. He has remained true to his word. The Test Kitchen is known for it’s innovative, creative cuisine and regulars know that they will always find something new and exciting on the menu and indeed in the restaurant which is a testimony to Luke’s love of good design.

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