Peter Avis, of Babylon restaurant at the Roof Gardens, London, receives his award from Academy of Food & Wine Patron Lord Thurso (left) and David McHattie, chief executive of the National Skills Academy for Hospitality.
Peter won the closely fought final at a ceremony at the Langham Hotel in London and the runner-up was Mark Bevan of the Chester Grosvenor, Cheshire.
Accepting his award, Avis, 33, vowed to raise the profile of restaurant managers and do his utmost to encourage young people into front-of-house careers.
"The key attributes of a restaurant manager are the ability to communicate and the ability to value your team," said Avis. "It's essential to take everyone as an individual and give them time."
The Academy of Food & Wine launched the Restaurant Manager of the Year competition as a result of requests from Academy members for an award that recognised the broad range of skills demanded of today's restaurant managers.
The competition set out to find the person with the strongest financial acumen, good management skills as well as market knowledge and product knowledge and a thorough understanding of the hospitality industry and current trends.
Prior to the final all six finalists were asked to submit and present a business plan for a restaurant concept including a profit and loss account, method of marketing and promoting the restaurant and plans for staff recruitment and training. Each candidate was grilled by a panel of judges and also completed a wine tasting and food matching exercise.
National Skills Academy for Hospitality, chief executive David McHattie said: "The Skills Academy is all about excellence in hospitality in terms of management, leadership and customer service, which is what the Restaurant Manager of the Year promotes. Front-of-house and restaurant management are not some sort of punishment, they are a hugely valuable part of the sector and offer people a wide range of opportunities."
With the high standard of finalists, chair of judges Conor O'Leary said the judges faced a difficult decision when it came to choosing a winner. "We had six impressive restaurant managers in the final. The skills of a restaurant manager are very broad and we had a mix of styles with contenders from very different restaurants. But a good restaurant manager has to be dedicated to his team, dedicated to his customers and be a good front-of-house face. The ability to recruit staff, motivate them, manage them and train them is also crucial – Peter Avis is a fantastic winner."
Peter wins a week-long trip to New York to complete a stage at a top restaurant and a one-night weekend stay for two in a deluxe suite at the Marylebone Hotel, London. The Babylon restaurant receives a 12-month subscription to the OpenTable reservation system.
