Chester Food and Drink Festival 2005 Awards Announced

As part of Chester's Food & Drink Festival, the Festival celebrated its regions food and drink on Thursday evening by holding the city's fourth annual glittering Gala Awards Dinner. The event held at the Taste Sensation Marquee in the Crown Courts car park, marked the climax of the Festival, which continues to 3rd April.

The black tie evening began with a champagne reception, and guests were treated to a fabulous five course gourmet meal prepared by the Head Chef of Lion Quays, Steve Roberts. The gala dinner menu featured regional produce sourced on behalf of the Festival by North West Fine Foods. This spectacular evening was hosted by Lisa Marrey and Gavin Matthews from Chester and Wrexham's MFM 103.4, and the awards were presented by several well known faces in the industry, amongst them, Paul Heathcote, Trevor Green from Granada News and Paul Burrell.

Both the public and the food and drink industry voted for the award categories, so it was their favourite restaurant, bar, pub, cafÃ©, hotel, shop and food producers, that received a prestigious Food & Drink Festival Award. The winners of the Awards in the Categories were:

Best Small Restaurant of The Year sponsored by Onionring.co.uk and Connect Catering went to the Village Bistro in Hoole; whose representative accepting the award thanked everyone who had made the award possible. (Last year's winner was Restaurant Locus.)

Best Large Restaurant of The Year (over 40 covers) was sponsored by C&C Catering and won by Pacinos, near the Fire Station. (Last year's winner was Brasserie 10/16.)
Trevor Clarke accepting the award said; "This is our 19th year of trading and it is a real team effort. Thankyou for voting for us and to the 6 staff working there this evening while the three of us enjoy tonight here."

Best CafÃ©/Coffee Shop was sponsored by Lavazza in association with Chester Coffee Services. (Last year's winner was CafÃ©.Com and this year's winner was the Blue Moon CafÃ© on the Groves.

Bar/Pub of The Year is Bar Lounge on Watergate Street. (Last year's winner was Stanley Arms, Brook Street.) Owner, Neil McDonnell said; "This award is for all the 16 hour days and the hard work of talented team. Have a great night."

Bartender of the Year was Cino Garcia-Hernandez from Upstairs at the Grill with his Talisker based cocktail with a touch of honey, 'After the Clock'. (Last year's winner Bar Lounge). The competition was sponsored by Tanqueray and judged on Tuesday at the cocktail evening attended by over 100 people.

Family Friendly Award was sponsored by Chronicle Newspapers and presented by Trevor Green of Granada news. (Last year's winner was CafÃ©.Com) This year's winner is Est Est Est in Newgate Street.

Best Newcomer was sponsored by IN/OUT magazine and is a new award. Giles Cooper of IN/OUT magazine presented this new award to La Taverna of Lower Bridge Street.

Local Produce Shop of The Year was presented by Sandra Allwood of North West Fine Foods. The winner is The Cheese Shop in Northgate Street.

Excellence in Customer Service was sponsored by Charisma. Last year's winner was Nichola Southall at Club Globe. This year's winner is the Living Room in St. Werburgh Street.

Outstanding Achievement Award was sponsored by Aquarius Wholesale and awarded at the judges' discretion. Last year's winner was Mr Peter Papprill and this year's winner, Carole Faulkner of "national treasure" the Cheese Shop in Northgate Street.

The Best of Made in Cheshire was sponsored by Made in Cheshire and presented to yogurt makers Tiresford Guernsey Gold in Tarporley. Andrew Hope from Tiresford Farm invited us to 'drop in' if we were passing to taste how good the yogurt is.

Best Schools Menu, in conjunction with Cheshire County Council and Cheshire & Warrington Tourism Board was presented by Paul Murphy of Cheshire County Council and accepted on the young winners' behalf by Martin Bouchier of the Farndon Arms who will present them later this month.

Young Chef of the Year, sponsored by England's Northwest Tourism Skills Network was awarded to Wesley Duggan of the Craxton Wood Hotel in Ledsham. Wesley thanked his head chef who came to support him at the event and who provides much help and support at work.

Best Use of Local Produce was presented by Paul Heathcote to the Farndon Arms in Farndon. Martin Bouchier of the Farndon Arms stated; "We are really proud of what we produce in the kitchens and it's all done with local food, in season."

Best of the Taste Marquee was presented by Festival chairman, Stephen Wundke in conjunction with North West Fine Foods and Made in Cheshire. It was awarded to Maranatha Kitchens and Bathrooms, one of the 64 exhibitors in the taste marquee, and the company providing the celebrity kitchen there. On accepting the award, Rob Hardie of Maranatha said; "It's all down to teamwork" and thanked his team back at the workshop and at the gala dinner.

Best Chester Sausage was for the second year running, national award winners Vaughan's Family butchers, this time with the chicken, garlic and herbs sausage rather than the Pork and Chive sausage of last year. Steve Vaughan; "To have the best sausage in Chester is the best!"

Cheese of the Year was judged in the Taste Marquee earlier in the week by an expert judging panel to be the Staffordshire Organic cheese.

Best Cheese Board (also judged in the Taste Marquee) was awarded to The Bluebell Restaurant. Bettie Gilliatt, proprietor & owner; "The Blue Bell Restaurant has been providing food for five hundred years, and award winning dishes. We are very proud to have been judged to have the best cheese."

Lord Mayor, Councillor Terry Ralph;
"All the establishments mentioned tonight have been instrumental in setting the standards of culinary excellence, hospitality and service in the City. These Awards are all about promoting Chester"s thriving food and drink scene to a local, national and international audience, as well as making Chester a more enjoyable place to live. This event also highlights the diversity and superb quality of the regional produce available to us in Cheshire."

Chester's Food and Drink Festival is organised on behalf of Chester City Council with support from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and Cheshire & Warrington Tourism Board.

Peter Mearns, NWDA Director of Operations, said:
"The NWDA is pleased to have been able to support the Chester Food and Drink Festival culminating in a prestigious awards ceremony. The event provided an unrivalled opportunity to showcase the thriving food and drink sector in Chester, celebrating the enormous talent base within the City, The festival has been an undoubted success and we look forward to building on that success year on year."

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The gala dinner menu featured regional produce sourced on behalf of the Festival by North West Fine Foods. The main course of medallions of beef, with braised fondant potatoes honey glazed parsnips and red wine & shallot sauce was preceded by poached haddock and Dublin Bay prawns. For desert there was a sensational baked Alaska with rhubarb compote and a fabulous cheese board.

PHOTOS (300dpi plus), PRESS OFFICE & REGULAR UPDATES at http://www.marketingprojects.co.uk/news.asp?clientid=2

Festival brochures are available across the City. Phone 01244 351609 for more details. For further information on the region go to www.visitchester.com.
More general information at www.chesterfoodanddrink.com

Press Contacts: Jane Harrad-Roberts Mob: 07785 395705
Meg Pugh/Nerys Atkins Tel: 01244 330000
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Email: foodies@marketingprojects.co.uk

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