Pichet Team Member Shortlisted for Prestigious Irish Restaurant Awards 2026

A Proud Moment for Pichet team member Ante Lukic.

There’s exciting news at Pichet as one of our team members has been shortlisted for the Employee Excellence Award at the Irish Restaurant Awards 2026 , a huge achievement that reflects the dedication and passion behind our service every day. Ante Lukic, has been with us for four and exudes the qualities of a true professional, with over twenty years of knowledge.

Now in its 17th year, the Irish Restaurant Awards celebrate the very best of Ireland’s food and hospitality industry, with over 150,000 public nominations submitted nationwide through The Irish Times. The Dublin shortlist showcases an incredibly high standard of talent, highlighting the people and places that continue to shape the city’s thriving dining scene.

This recognition is not only a proud moment for Ante, but for the entire Pichet team. Great hospitality is built on attention to detail, genuine care, and teamwork, values that are at the heart of everything we do.

Ante will join fellow finalists from across the country at the All-Ireland Awards Gala Dinner on May 18th at the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, where regional and national winners will be announced.

Being shortlisted at this level is a true testament to the strength of Dublin’s hospitality industry, and we couldn’t be prouder to see Pichet represented among the very best.

Anté has been working in Pichet for four years after originally training all his skills in his uncles’ restaurant in his home country of Croatia. Here, he learnt diverse skills and has been a waiter, bartender and he recently completed a hospitality management course here in Dublin.

Speaking about the awards, Ante said “after so many years I get so many ’employee of the month’ awards and I got employee of the year in Soul, and to get this now is like “The Oscars” of the awards. It is amazing, I feel like its the top achievement to be nominated. I’m so proud and super happy to be recognised. I never expected to be personally nominated. After so many years, I love my job, I love my customers. I am really passionate about customer service. When you do something you love I think it just shows, and obviously when you have such a good team, it makes anything possible. “

Speaking about Pichet, Ante was passionate that “It’a not only my nomination, it’s a nomination for the whole team behind me. The whole team, from the kitchen to the floor staff, have to work together and we do that really well here in Pichet.”

“We are lucky we have such amazing customers. I love the Irish people, they have such a good sense of humour. I love what I’m doing, that’s why I’ve been doing this since I was 17 full time.”, Ante joked.

We asked Ante about his approach to customer service, to which he said the key to keeping his guests happy is a “greeting with a smile and good attitude” as well as always going the extra mile. “I have this feeling, I used to know where people were from 90% of the time and chat to them about their homes. Beyond that, it’s about picking up on your customers needs, if a lady gets a white shirt dirty, I always get her a wet towel to help clean it. I make sure I see and feel everything about a guest, not many people can sense the small little details and customer needs.”

We asked Ante if he thinks awards are important in the hospitality industry, and he truly is passionate about how hard they push people to be their best. “It’s such a motivation for people, every place like a restaurant, cafe, pub, they should have a motivation. Things like employee of the month, learning many things like how to award employees who give their work their all, so many little things are important. When you are a hard worker and passionate, it helps when you are recognised, it keeps motivating.”