Observer Food Monthly Awards 2019

Last evening at the Freemasons Hall in London, the winners of the 2019 Observer Food Monthly Awards were announced. The awards celebrate the best in food across the UK, highlighting the work of celebrity chefs as well as local producers and eateries. There are ten categories of reader awards, plus several other categories judged by a professional panel. The evening’s menu celebrating St John Restaurant was created by chefs Ravneet Gill, James Lowe and Lee Tiernan.

We’ll focus on the awards for cookbook authors and celebrity chefs, and if you want to see the entire block of recipients, head over to the OFM Awards website. The evening’s winners included Jamie Oliver, who received the Best Food Personality Award. It’s been a difficult year for Oliver, so it’s nice to see him get a bit of a break.

Claudia Roden received the well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award, which Yotam Ottolenghi had the honor of presenting to her. On the other end of the career lifespan, Saliha Mahmood Ahmed took home the prize of Best New Cookbook with Khazana: A Treasure Trove of Modern Mughal Dishes.