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Press Release INTERNATIONAL RESTAURANT AND HOTEL AWARDS
International Restaurant & Hotel Awards Announces the 2008 Irha Award Honorees & Recipients, Restaurant & Hotel Recipients and Exciting New Sponsors (Beverly Hills, CA, June 12th, 2008) - The 2008 International Restaurant and Hotel Awards will honor Grand Award Recipients and Irha Award Honorees on November 16th, 2008 at the home of the Golden Globes, The Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, California. The star-studded gala ceremony will be hosted by Mark DeCarlo from Taste of America on the Travel Channel and will include a Special Spotlight on New Orleans along with the presentation of the 2008 Irha Award Honorees, Recipients & Grand Award restaurants and hotels.
Honorees were nominated by the distinguished IRHA Advisory Board. Less than seven industry leaders were nominated for each Irha Award Honoree title and Irha Award Supporting category. The Advisory Board and Jury completed the voting process on May 2nd, 2008. For more information on the Irha Award Honoree titles click here. IRHA is accepting votes from foodies and travel enthusiasts all over the globe for the Traveler's Vote Awards: Best of Travel & Dining in TV, Radio, Web and Film, Travel Editor of the Year and Food & Dining Editor of the Year. Vote online at www.IRHAwards.com. 2008 Irha Award Honorees
Achievement in Wine Achievement in Design Visionary Award Achievement in Travel
Achievement in Food & Dining
Humanitarian Award IRHA will honor all Humanitarian Award nominees
Travel & Dining Publication of the Year Marketing Campaign of the Year
Travel Editor of the Year Food & Dining Editor of the Year (Click the honoree name for a biography & image or scroll to the bottom for brief bios. Click here for more information on the Irha Award Honoree & Recipient titles. Press can register at the IRHA press site to access the IRHA electronic press kit and image gallery. ) Individual Tickets, Premier or VIP Packages can be reserved online now
International Restaurant & Hotel Awards The International Restaurant & Hotel Awards is proud to present our new media partner EAT DRINK or DIE. EatDrinkorDie.com is a collaboration between the ‘Or Die’ networks, celebrity chef Tom Colicchio and site founders Britt Lovett and Talia Lesak. The new culinary website features video content from A-list celebrity chefs, top restaurants from around the world, industry experts, along with user generated content. EatDrinkorDie.com caters to everyone looking to share and discover entertaining instructional videos about food, beverage, cooking, products and health. The site features daily, weekly and monthly shows along with online recipes that are easy to follow, collect, and share. Engaging blogs written by both professional chefs and amateur foodies can also be found on the site. Eat Drink or Die will be covering the awards and conducting interviews in the green room, which will be featured on www.eatdrinkordie.com. The International Restaurant & Hotel Awards announced sponsors on January 17th, 2008 including Michelin Maps and Guides, Villeroy & Boch, Fodor’s Travel Guides, The Chocolate Traveler, L’Occitane, Essence of Vali, Illume, Don Francisco’s Specialty Coffee, Wordlock, Crystal Files & Gifts and Epicuren. Media Partners, Media Sponsors, Advertising Partners & Association Sponsors include Hsyndicate, Hospitalitynet, ARTRAVEL Magazine, Hotel Management International, New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau, Winestate, Pastry Art & Design, Boutique Design, Hospitality Magazine, The Tasting Panel, Green Lodging News, Restaurant Report, Chocolatier, Quarterly Review of Wines, Culinary Trends, Cibo, Italian Cooking & Living, ehotelier.com, Food Consultants Society International, WIWIH, Hotel Designs, Restaurant Wine, Nat Decants, International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, Hotels, Franchise Times, Lodging, The Restaurant Standard, Restaurant Business and Nation’s Restaurant News. New sponsors announced on April 21st, 2008 include Keurig, who will be providing Keurig Brewers and K-Cups for VIP attendees. Keurig's innovative single-cup brewing system lets coffee lovers brew perfect coffee one cup at a time, in less than a minute per cup. Coffee, tea and hot cocoa lovers lovers can choose from over 200 varieties. Kee's Chocolates will join on as an evening sponsor of the exclusive Taste of IRHA event for the Irha Award Honorees & Jury. Wine sponsors of the exclusive tasting include Franciscan - Signature Wines of Napa Valley, Simi Winery - Healdsburg's landmark winery - sharing the diversity of Sonoma since 1876 and Inniskillin Icewines from Ontario, Canada - one of the world's great wines. Barrie Lynn – The Cheese Impresario will be serving award-winning cheeses made by the artisan cheesemakers of Wisconsin. TASTE3, presented by Robert Mondavi Winery, has signed on as an IRHA Association Sponsor. The International Restaurant & Hotel Awards will be attending this exciting event and interviewing industry leaders for the Robert Mondavi Tribute to be presented in honor of his memory at the 2008 gala ceremony on November 16th, 2008.
TASTE3, presented by Robert Mondavi Winery Don’t miss this year’s most innovative and unique food and wine industry event, Taste3, presented by Robert Mondavi Winery, taking place in Napa, California from July 17th – 19th, 2008. Taste3 brings together some of the industry’s most compelling chefs, sommeliers, authors, food scientists, educators, winemakers, designers, historians and artisans as speakers and hosts, joining 400 attendees who are every bit as tapped-in. Hard-hitting, engaging short-format presentations are complemented with chef demonstrations, innovative exhibits and tastings, gala parties, winery dinners, insider tours and invaluable networking. It is our objective at Taste3 to grow this exceptional community of thought leaders in wine, food and the arts. To that end, we are reaching out to members of the hospitality industry to help us broaden this diverse network of compelling individuals, as you are someone who is thoroughly connected to this group. In support of Taste3’s partnership with the International Restaurant & Hotel Awards, we are pleased to offer you a special Two For One price of $975 each (regular registration price: $1950). Register today at www.taste3.com and enter Promo Code IRHA55 to take advantage of this special offer. (OK, if you’re flying solo we’ll still honor the discount, but it’s always fun to bring a friend!)
International Restaurant & Hotel Awards Click here to view the 2008 subcategory recipients In the tradition of the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, the International Restaurant and Hotel Awards™ is the world’s most prestigious awards ceremony recognizing the best value, moderate and luxury travel establishments that go above and beyond industry standards. IRHA received over 1,000 submissions from 50+ countries around the world. The Jury reviewed submissions from bed & breakfasts, top restaurants, chains, six-star luxury hotels, boutique hotels and independent restaurants and hotels in April 2008. Top chains and hotel groups that participated include The Ritz-Carlton, Marriott International, Accor Hotels, The Peninsula Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Kor Hotel Group, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels and a host of others. Subcategory recipients were announced on June 5th, 2008. The Grand Award Nominees for the coveted titles of International Restaurant of the Year & International Hotel of the Year (value, moderate and luxury titles) will be announced in July 2008. The Grand Award recipients and the 2008 Irha Award Honorees will receive the coveted Irha statue presented at the 2008 gala ceremony. For more information on these titles click Here. The Traveler's Directory and the Best of City & Country recipients will be announced online on June 18th, 2008.
Awards Program CATEGORIES HOTEL CATEGORIES: Best Design, Endless Amenities, Breathtaking Views, Green Award (Eco Building), Best Suite, Family Friendly, Best Bed & Breakfast, Best Water Feature (Pool, Beach or Jacuzzi), Best Spa, Best Lobby, Best New Hotel of the Year, International Hotel of the Year The IRHA JURY The International Restaurant and Hotel Awards™ is juried by a board of esteemed hospitality industry professionals with extensive experience in each category field. The Jury includes hosts and personalities seen on the Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, UKTV, BBC Food, Travel Channel International and representatives from Cool Restaurants, Cool Hotels, Citysearch, Fodor's Travel Guides, Hungry? City Guides and a host of others. A full list of jurors is available at http://www.IRHAwards.com/Main/jury.php. Judging Process The IRHA Advisory Board collaborates with International Hospitality Awards, Inc. in the creation of category review guides for each subcategory. IRHA conducts research annually in each category field by searching the web, magazines, travel guides and ratings directories, speaking with experts, attending industry expos and events and coordinating travel and dining excursions. All submissions are then prescreened using the guides without regard to any commercial affiliation between any members of the IRHA community including sponsors, media partners, founders or Board members. Decisions are based on each subcategory review guide, value, quality of experience and interest to travel and dining enthusiasts. Judges rate each submission from one to twenty (one being the lowest, twenty being the highest) using their professional background and the category review guides created by the IRHA Advisory Board. The scores are tallied and recipients are announced in each subcategory. The first, second and third place restaurants and hotels are the highest scoring submissions in each subcategory. All participating hotels and restaurants are considered for citywide, countrywide and worldwide recognition. The top citywide recipients move onto countrywide recognition. Countrywide recipients will be considered with all first place subcategory recipients for the coveted titles of: PRESS CREDENTIALS If you are interested in covering the International Restaurant & Hotel Awards, please visit our press page to apply for press credentials. For additional information on the International Restaurant & Hotel Awards please visit www.IRHAwards.com or contact Denise Jones at 310-285-3808 x2 or Press@IRHAwards.com. Register at the IRHA press site to access the IRHA electronic media kit and image gallery. -###-
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