Asian Restaurant Owners Network Awards Ceremony

A highly anticipated awards ceremony celebrated the achievements of pioneering professionals steering the Asian food industry forward last Monday in Oxfordshire.

The inaugral Asian Restaurant Owners Network (ARON) honoured special guests from across the country, including celebrity chef Dipna Anand, and influential woman of the year 2017 Sarah Ali Choudhury, among others.

Held at the Indian and Thai restaurant The Snooty Mehmaan, one of the highlights of the event, which also supported the charity Unite4Humanity, was recognising Anwar Miah from the Bangla Dining Club as ‘Gastronomic Genius’.

Described by ARON as the “best Bengali Chef in the country for decades”, this is Anwar Miah’s first ever award and one which ARON said was “long overdue”.

Of the 13 award categories, here are the winners:

• Entrepreneur of the Year – Millennium Balti – Mohammed Abdul Ahad
• Young Entrepreneur – Fetcham Tandoori – Anis Haq
• Best Concept – The Brilliant/Tottenham Hotspur Fc – Dipna Anand
• M.O.I.C. – Michelangelo of Indian Cooking – Soyful Alom
• Gastronomic Genius – Bangla Dining Club – Anwar Miah
• Most Inspirational – Pappadoms – Sayd Ahmed
• Best Innovator – Bay Leaf – Tofozul Miah
• Advertising & Promotion – The Chilli Pickle
• Industry Tactician – Goldstar Chefs – Hans Raj Ram
• Aron Member of the Year – Zakaria Chowdhury
• Big Boss Award – Ajmal Mushtaq – Mushtaqs
• Heritage Award – Mohammed Ali Aerosol, MBE
• #AsianTechStyle Award – Munayam Khan – Lasan Group

ARON is a network that aims “to bring Asian restaurant owners together as one national unit to share ideas and methodologies, improve the running of businesses, and to remove the tainted stereotype associated with Asian cuisine”.

While it also pushes for the investment of training for the youth, ARON has to date attracted over 400 legitimate members in a short space of time.