It was good to see Mike Belben, commonly acknowledged as the man who kick-started the gastropub, on stage for Restaurateur of the Year. I don't think he has actually won many awards himself, although his gaffs – among them the Eagle, Great Queen Street and Anchor & Hope – certainly have. And how nice a chef is Tom Norrington-Davies of Great Queen Street (British Restaurant of The Year), who admitted last night to being "happier when he is at work than when he isn't", because of the great team around him.
It was also good to see Jason Atherton stepping out of the shadow of the Gordon Ramsay empire to take Outstanding London Chef. And for The Greenhouse's Antonin Bonnet, the Award of Excellence might make up for the Michelin inspector’s bewildering decision not to award him a second Michelin star this year.

And how telling that Tayyabbs – in the owner's own words a "rough and ready" sort of place where you can cover the table with Pakistani/Punjabi curries, breads and rice and lassi for £25 for two - could win Indian Restaurant of the Year over the high-caste, high-price Quilon and Amaya.

Even the big names like Rowley Leigh (aAIM London Restaurant of the Year, and New Restaurant of the Year) and Mark Hix (Outstanding Contribution to London Restaurants), no strangers to gongs and accolades, are the very sort of independent, free-standing chefs and restaurateurs we would most like to see do well. So are the Galvin brothers, winner of the French Restaurant of the Year for Galvin Bistrot Deluxe.

Now that the hangover is receding, however, I think we need to rethink the whole awards presentation as we know it. It all feels so out-dated; the big round tables, the £180 per head catering, the comedian/host, the celebrity/presenters, the black tie. There must be a more modern, realistic and inclusive way to celebrate the state of the restaurant industry.

I'm a great believer in the award system as a builder and shaper of our dining culture, but it isn't easy to justify nights like this. Nor is it easy for a sponsor to dig deep in these crispy, credit-crunchy days – and indeed, last night’s awards were almost cancelled at the last minute due to lack of funds.  It would be a shame if they were to slip away again.

So where do you go for sponsorship of something like the London Restaurant Awards for 2009 and in the years leading up to the Olympics, when London's restaurant scene will be seen as such a significant part of the city's charms? A Champagne house seems a bit too Nero-fiddling-while-Rome-burns. A mineral water company? Not when most critics have been bagging the idea of bottled mineral water for a year or more. Abu Dhabi? They can just buy new restaurants, they don’t need to help the existing ones.

There is only one thing for it: Boris Johnson. As fellow judge Charles Campion, author of Charles Campion's London Restaurant Guide 2009, noted last night "London has an entire week devoted to fashion, the whole place goes silly about it. Where is London Food Week?" Perhaps Boris would see fit to help us build up a week of restaurant activities, including a modest award ceremony held on a prototype Routemaster, for 2009. Over to you, Mr Mayor.

London Restaurant Awards 2008 The results:
British Restaurant of the Year - Great Queen Street
French Restaurant of the Year - Galvin Bistrot de Luxe
Italian Restaurant of the Year - Theo Randall at the InterContinental
Iberian Restaurant of the Year - Barrafina
Oriental Restaurant of the Year - Aaya
Indian restaurant of the Year - Tayyabs
Local Restaurant of the Year - Market
Award of Excellence - The Greenhouse
New Restaurant of the Year - Le Cafe Anglais
Toptable.com Best Business Lunch - The Wolseley
Outstanding London Chef - Jason Atherton
Restaurateur of the Year - Michael Belben
Outstanding Restaurant Service - The Greenhouse
Outstanding Contribution to London Restaurants - Mark Hix
aAIM London Restaurant of the Year - Le Cafe Anglais
Best Restaurant Chain - Carluccios
Evening Standard 60 under £60 award - Sam's Bar and Brasserie

Top 10 Restaurants Outside London (in alphabetical order):
Anthony's
Le Champignon Sauvage
L'Enclume
The Fat Duck
The Kitchin
Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons
Northcote
Purnell's
Restaurant Sat Bains
The Waterside Inn

SHORTLISTED NOMINEES:
BRITISH RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Great Queen Street
Hix Oyster & Chop House
Magdalen
Rules
St John
Scott's
FRENCH RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon
Arbutus
Galvin Bistrot Deluxe
Le Gavroche
The Greenhouse
Hibiscus
ITALIAN RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Locanda Locatelli
Number 12
Ristorante Semplice
Theo Randall at the InterContinental
Vasco & Piero's Pavilion
Zafferano
IBERIAN RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Barrafina
Cambio de Tercio
El Faro
Moro
Saltyard
Tapas Brindisa
ORIENTAL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Aaya
Dinings
Dragon Castle
Pearl Liang
Royal China Club, Baker Street
Umu
INDIAN RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Amaya
Tayyabs
Painted Heron
Quilon
Rooburoo
Urban Turban
LOCAL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
L'Absinthe, Camden
The Carpenter's Arms, W6
Hereford Road, Notting Hill
Market, Camden
Ottolenghi, N1
Upstairs, Brixton
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Restaurants for special occasions
The Gallery @ Sketch
Le Gavroche
The Greenhouse
Maze
Scotts
The Wolseley
NEW RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Restaurants that have opened since 1 January 2007
Acorn House
Le Café Anglais
Cha Cha Moon
Great Queen Street
Hibiscus
Hix Oyster & Chop House
Scott's
BEST BUSINESS LUNCH
As recommended by Toptable.com users, the following six restaurants are nominated for best business lunch
Coq d'Argent
Gaucho Grill
The Landau
Lanes
Ooze
The Wolseley
OUTSTANDING LONDON CHEF
Jason Atherton
Anthony Demetre
Chris Galvin
Mark Hix
Rowley Leigh
Theo Randall
RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR
Marlon Abela
Michael Belben
Sam and Eddie Hart
Nick Jones
Camellia and Namita Panjabi and Ranjit Mathrani
Alan Yau
OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT SERVICE
Great Queen Street
The Greenhouse
Latium
Ledbury
Ristorante Semplice
Royal China Club, Baker Street