Fraiche restaurant claims top spot in ‘Harden’s 100’

Marc Wilkinson’s 14-seater Fraiche restaurant, near Birkenhead, has claimed the top spot in the ‘Harden’s 100’ list of the UK’s top dining destinations.

Fraiche was amongst the north west’s tally of 10 entries in the Harden’s 100, the highest of any region outside the south east and London.

Harden’s said non-native, as well as British cuisine, was also “well-represented” in the top 100, with 10 of the entries featuring Indian cuisine, six Japanese and with Chinese and Scandinavian restaurants accounting for three apiece.

London restaurants accounted for 41 of the Harden’s 100 with 59 entries outside the capital. Amongst counties, the group said Kent put in an “unusually strong performance” with five of the Harden’s 100 restaurants from the area.

Co-founder Peter Harden said: “This is an exciting time for the quality UK restaurant scene, with a feeling that expectations amongst diners continues to rise ever higher and a sense that the trade is rising to the challenge of meeting those expectations.

“For many years now it has felt hard to keep up with the pace of change and innovation amidst the capital’s ever-changing restaurant scene, and this dynamism seems now to be ever-more widespread beyond the borders of the capital.”

The Harden’s 100 is based on 50,000 reports from a survey of 7,500 diners.