On-line voters in the city's first ever restaurant awards this week gave the honour to the trendy venue in the West One complex in Fitzwilliam Street.

It is a remarkable success story for owners Chris Hawkins and his cousin Jonathon who took over the kitchen – and stayed – after the chef walked out.

The duo pipped Moran's, on Abbeydale Road South, and the Milestone gastro-pub at Kelham Island for the award.

Over 3,000 people voted in the Sheffield Area Restaurant Awards presented at Sheffield United's Millennium Suite.

Chris said: "We didn't think we would be up for it.

"We told our customers that if we won we would have a bit of a party!"

But restaurateurs also had the chance to vote themselves for the place they thought was the best restaurant and they had different ideas.

They gave the prize to Tessa Bramley's Michelin-rated Old Vicarage at Ridgeway – collected by her head chef Nathan Smith.

Also in the running was Richard Mills' Walnut Club at Hathersage and, pipped at the post for a second time, Moran's.

Best small local restaurant went to Thyme Cafe at Broomhill (Moran's and the Wig & Pen were runners up), while best newcomer award was taken by home-grown tapas restaurant Platillos in Leopold Square (runners up MishMash and Piccolino).

Other awards were:

Best Indian: Ashoka, Ecclesall Road (runners up Cafe Guru, Saffron Club)

Best Oriental: Wasabisabi (Baan Thai, Hui Wei)

Best Modern European: Nonna's (Cubana, Moran's)

Best Family Orientated: Cricket Inn, Totley (Nonna's, Thyme)

Best Pub: Cricket Inn ( Fat Cat, Milestone)

Best cafe/Deli: Blue Moon veggie cafe (Forum, Taste)

Outstanding service: Moran's (23 Bar, Cubana)

Best local produce menu: Nonna's (Rafters, Walnut Club).

The organisers deliberated on this last award as it was felt voters had not fully understood but decided to let it stand.

Restaurant manager Daniel Jackson said later that Nonna's bought half its produce from local suppliers.

Sean O'Toole, boss of Eat Sheffield, who organised the competition, said it would prove great publicity for the city's restaurants.

He said he hoped the phrase "Made in Sheffield" could be supplanted by "Cooked in Sheffield" and added: "That would be really something."

Martin Dawes writes: The fact that the awards got off the ground was an achievement in itself and Eat Sheffield is to be congratulated.

The on-line voting did mean that the competition was open to orchestrated voting campaigns (the software was said to prevent multiple voting from the same computer) but that is no different to any election.

With 3,000 voters (or 17,500 vote clicks as the organisers prefer to say) the competition is obviously in its infancy, but can only grow from here.

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