The inaugural London Restaurant Festival, which will run from Thursday 8 October to Tuesday 13 October, will be a citywide celebration of eating out which will raise the profile of establishments involved. In these hard times for restaurants, one of the aims will be to entice and drive more customers into restaurants. Boris Johnson commented on the festival: "London's restaurant scene is world-class, boasting a massive 6,000 eateries. The sheer scale and diversity of the capital's gastronomic delights is testament to the vibrancy of our city and the many communities living and eating here. "Their importance to the capital's economy cannot be underestimated as they provide a tasty enticement for people who visit, work and live in our city. So it is timely that this exciting new festival has been launched to celebrate all that is best about London's restaurants." Fay Maschler continued: "Like all good ideas, you think, why hasn't this been done before? London is an exceptional city and restaurants play a huge part in its warp and weft. That needs to be celebrated." Sally Chatterjee, interim CEO of Visit London, added: "The London restaurant industry currently boasts some of the most celebrated and diverse talent in the world. By backing the London Restaurant Festival, we hope to create an unrivalled annual event that showcases the importance of restaurants, food and wine throughout the capital." The Festival will open with a launch party at Quaglino's on Wednesday 7 October, co-hosted by Vanity Fair. The culmination will be the London Restaurant Festival Awards at a gala evening on Tuesday 13 October prepared by a team of London chefs. Partners of the London Restaurant Festival include Visit London, A Private View, Single Market Events, Vanity Fair, Toptable.com and Evening Standard.