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Tim Zagat is co-chair of the Zagat Survey of international restaurant and travel guides, which he oversees together with his wife, Nina (both pictured). The 2012 Zagat London Restaurants guide is published today, priced £10.99

What are the main restaurant trends you have observed in London over the past 12 months?
We measure trends according to what the 5,000 restaurant goers who take part in our survey are saying and this year 33% of them said that things are better. Only 5% said that things are worse so that's pretty strong evidence that there is improvement. People are also eating out more - 2.4 times a week compared with 2.2 times last year. This may seem like a small change but across 5,000 people a 10% increase is quite phenomenal.

The price of dining out has gone up for the first time in three years according to your survey. What do you think this means for the industry?
The fact that the industry can charge higher prices but at the same time continue to attract increasing numbers of diners is a very good sign. Things really have improved so much in London - 30 years ago the food here was a joke but today London is one of the top five cities for dining out in the world.

What are diners' pet hates when dining out in London? 
Service, service, service. 73% of our contributors cited service as their biggest area of complaints, which is terrible because it's an area that could be fixed more readily than others. Culinary creativity and diversity of restaurants in London are rated 22 and 25 out of 30 respectively but service is rated at just 13.

How can restaurants improve their level of service?
The same way that back of house has improved: by investing in schools and training. 30 years ago there were hardly any culinary schools but now they are everywhere. Front of house must get the same attention and there needs to be more training for waiters in schools and colleges.

Last week, you announced that you have sold your business to Google. What will this mean for Zagat in the future?
We've not made any major decisions yet but we're really excited about all the technical expertise Google will bring to the table. We have the know how of how to properly conduct surveys so we feel that it's a wonderful marriage with a company that really understands what we're all about.

The Zagat Restaurants survey, which includes ratings and reviews of nearly 1,200 restaurants in London and the surrounding area, also recognised a number of establishments, with Heston Blumenthal's Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental hotel named top newcomer.

Brett Graham's two-Michelin-starred Ledbury won the award for best food for the second year in a row, with Sketch picking up the prize for best decor and the Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire, coming top for service.

The Wolseley was named the most popular restaurant overall at the awards presentation, which took place this morning at Wolfgang Puck's newly opened Cut at 45 Park Lane.

Zagat, the international publisher of city restaurant guides, has been sold to Google for an undisclosed sum in a deal that is thought to be worth millions (but less than $66m).

Zagat, which was founded 32 years ago by former lawyers Nina and Tim Zagat, publishes guides to 100 cities, including London where the new guide is released next week. Its burgundy-coloured guides were among the first examples of user-generated content.

Google has acquired the group in a bid to increase advertising from local businesses and to provide more attractive content for its mapping services and search engines to collaborate with. The Zagats will remain with the business as co-chairs.

The sale marks a shift in Zagat's strategy after the publisher said earlier this year that it had decided against selling the business after an unsuccessful attempt three years ago when it put it on the market with a $200m price tag.

In a statement the Zagats described the deal as the "most exciting news in our 32 years in business".

"After spending time with Google senior management discussing our mutual goals, we know they share our belief in user-generated content and our commitment o accuracy and fairness in providing users with the information needed to make smart decisions about where to eat, shop and travel," they said.

Chris and Jeff Galvin's latest restaurant venture Galvin La Chapelle has been named the top newcomer by London restaurant guide Zagat.

The French restaurant in Spitalfields, east London, was praised for its "striking setting" and "absolutely superb" food offering and beat Italian restaurant Babbo and Philip Howard and Rebecca Mascarenhas's Kitchen W8 to win the award.

The 2011 Zagat London Restaurants survey, which includes ratings and reviews of nearly 1,200 restaurants in London and the surrounding area by more than 4,850 regular diners, gave Brett Graham's two-Michelin-starred Ledbury the award for best food, with The Ritz picking up the award for best décor and Caprice Holdings' Mark's Club coming top for service.

Gordon Ramsay's three-Michelin-starred flagship restaurant on Royal Hospital Road was named the most popular restaurant overall at the awards presentation, which took place at Koffmann's this morning.

Gordon Ramsay said he was honoured to have won the award. "It's all down to the team so big thanks to them," he said.

The celebrity chef also extended thanks to Pierre Koffmann, adding that he would not have been able to open the restaurant on the former site of La Tante Claire 12 years ago without his help. "He let me pay him half of the money upfront and the other half a year later, which coming from a French man was pretty amazing," he said.