AFTER much anticipation and a great deal of excitement, the winners in the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2017/18 are finally celebrating being named the best of the county’s best!
The competition, now in its ninth year, is aimed at celebrating all that is great about local produce and drink, recognising excellence within the county’s dining venues and rewarding those who work so hard within the culinary sector.
The winners of all the categories were presented with trophies which had been specially designed by the Awards team – a framed Roman number IX, depicted as a spoon and crossed knife and fork, to represent the ninth year of the competition – by Awards Patrons William Sitwell and Sophie Grigson.
For the team at The Hopping Hare in Northampton, the evening was double cause for celebration for not only was 23-year-old Arturs Dzerins named runner-up in the Booker Young Chef of the Year category, but the venue also took the Booker Food Pub of the Year title.
Having been a regular finalist in the category and indeed the runner-up last year, owner David George was clearly thrilled to have clinched the top spot this time: “At the start of the year we set out to secure 2 AA Rosettes and win this title and we couldn’t be more delighted to have now achieved both.
“The trophy will take pride of place behind the bar for not only our loyal customers to see but also those newcomers whom we know will now be wanting to visit to try our fabulous food, great service and outstanding value for money for themselves, thanks to this accolade.”
Sadly missing from the proceedings at the Royal and Derngate was Antonio Carluccio OBE who passed away just a week before being due to follow in the footsteps of chefs Marcus Wareing, Jason Atherton and Michel Roux OBE as the evening’s special guest.
It was, therefore, appropriate that the event began with a toast to the man known as the Godfather of Italian Cooking led by his good friend William Sitwell before the formal welcomes from Awards Director, Rachel Mallows MBE DL of The Mallows Company; Bruce Ray, VP Global Government Relations and UK Corporate Affairs at Carlsberg and Stephen Catchpole who is the Chief Executive of SEMLEP.
Guests then enjoyed a sumptuous three-course meal designed and created by Lee Scott of Tom Hewer Catering’s newest restaurant, Hibiscus, with help from a team of culinary students from Northampton College who switched their regular classes for the experience of being part of the prestigious occasion.
Befitting a celebration of the excellence of the county’s food and drink sector, the menu included a wealth of Northamptonshire ingredients, including the runner-up goat cheese from Stanwick’s Neneview Dairy, winning marmalade from Nature’s Fayre of Thrapston, mayonnaise from Farrington Oils at Hargrave and runner-up goat milk gelato from Ganders Goat in Cottingham.
The culinary offering concluded with petits fours generously provided by Belflair Chocolates of Brackley with the tea coming courtesy of Northampton winners, the Tea Lab Company; the coffee from Great Brington Coffee and the milk from Newlands Farm at Hannington.
In addition, Carlsberg UK’s Bruce Ray also returned to the stage later in the evening to share news of an exciting project which the brewery launched for the festive season – the company’s first Christmas Brew which, just days later went on sale at some 30 pubs, bars and venues across the county, with proceeds donated to Northamptonshire Community Foundation’s Surviving Winter Appeal.
For more details on the competition, including the chance to watch the videos from the cook-offs and bake-off, visit the awards’ website at www.northamptonshirefoodanddrink.co.uk or contact Rachel Mallows on 01933 664437 or email You can also follow the awards on twitter at @foodawardsHQ or on Facebook at facebook.com/foodawards