John Williams of the Ritz London picks up Tatler Lifetime Achievement Award

John Williams, executive chef at the Ritz London, was last night honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tatler Restaurant Awards.

The annual awards, which took place at the Langham hotel, honoured Williams for his unwavering commitment to the industry as well as his culinary flair displayed at the Ritz.

Commenting on the award, Williams said: "To receive this Lifetime Achievement Award from Tatler is a fantastic honour especially considering how many of my fellow chefs are suitably eligible for it. Having this award bestowed upon me came is a complete surprise, after all it would be rather presumptuous for a working class lad from South Shields to think that he would one day grace the pages of society's bellwether publication."

Meanwhile the Rising Chef Of The Year award went to Daniel Doherty, head chef at Duck & Waffle atop the Heron Tower in City of London.

Chris Corbin and Jeremy King's Colbert won the Restaurant of the Year award. It opened last year on the former site of Oriel on Sloane Square.

Other winners included Keith McNally's Balthazar, which opened in London in February and won the Taste of London Place To Be Award; and Alan Yau's Naamyaa Café which picked up the Best Newcomer; and Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, which won the award for the Best Front of House.

The Test of Time award, for the most consistently excellent restaurant , went to Pascal Aussignac and Vincent Labeyrie's Michelin-starred Club Gascon, which first opened in Smithfield in east London in 1998.

The full list of the Tatler Restaurant Awards winners:

Rising Star Chef: Daniel Doherty, head chef, Duck & Waffle, London
Best Front of House: Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, London
Best Wine List: Bocca di Lupo, London
Best Kitchen: Quo Vadis, London
Taste of London's The Place To Be: Balthazar, London
Test of Time: Club Gascon, London
Best Newcomer: Naamyaa Café, London
Lifetime Achievement: John Williams, executive chef, the Ritz London
Restaurant of the Year: Colbert, London