After much anticipation and a great deal of excitement, the 21 winners in the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2015/16 are finally celebrating being named the best of the county’s best! The competition, devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership (NEP), is now in its seventh year and is again 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 results were announced at a glittering Awards
After much anticipation and a great deal of excitement, the 21 winners in the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2015/16 are finally celebrating being named the best of the county’s best! The competition, devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership (NEP), is now in its seventh year and is again 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 results were announced at a glittering Awards Dinner (Thurs 15th October) staged at Royal & Derngate in Northampton and watched by the evening’s special guest, former Celebrity Masterchef finalist, journalist and comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli. Those were (in presentation order): Artisan Local Savoury Product of the Year (Sponsored by Heygates Flour and Animal Feed) Winner: Pork, Apple and Black Pudding Scotch Egg – Elliotts Kitchen Fine Foods, Towcester Runner-up: Pastrami – Ashley Farm, Shop, Ashley Artisan Local Sweet Product of the Year (sponsored by Moulton College) Winner: Rich Fruit Cake – Elliotts Kitchen Fine Foods, Towcester Runners-up: Cornish Sea Salted Caramels – Belflair Chocolates, Brackley Fruitilicious Granola with Nuts and Seeds – Most Marvellous Baking, Northampton New Local Product of the Year (sponsored by Whitworth Bros. Ltd) Winner: Skyver Goat Cheese – NeneView Dairy, Stanwick Runner-up: Fruitilicious Granola with Nuts and Seeds – Most Marvellous Baking, Northampton Artisan Local Drink of the Year Winner: Becket’s Ale – Phipps NBC, Northampton Runner-up: Booze Hound – Gun Dog Ales, Woodford Halse New Local Drink of the Year Winner: Plum Cider – Saxby’s Cider, Irchester Runner-up: Bell Ringer – Towcester Mill Brewery, Towcester Healthy Eating Workplace of the Year – Sport, Health & Education (sponsored by Northamptonshire County Council) Winner: Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, Brixworth Runner-up: St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton Healthy Eating Workplace of the Year – Private Sector (sponsored by Northamptonshire County Council) Winner: Travis Perkins, Northampton Runner-up: Weatherbys, Wellingborough Chef of the Year (sponsored by TMI Foods and Cordant People) Winner: Richard Walker of Fawsley Hall Hotel & Spa, Fawsley Runner-up: David Simms of The Talbot Hotel, Oundle Local Food Hero of the Year (sponsored by Weetabix) Winner: The Good Loaf, Northampton Runners-up: Crispin Slee, Towcester Food Festival Elsie’s Pay As You Feel Café, Northampton F&B Achiever of the Year Winner: Duncan Farrington of Farrington Oils, Hargrave Runner-up: Tom Warner and Sion Edwards of Warner Edwards, Harrington Young Chef of the Year (sponsored by Booker) Winner: Tamsin Hamilton-Testrote from Kettering Park Hotel, Kettering Runner-up: Perry Langley from Nuovo, Northampton Best Bar None – Rural Pub of the Year (sponsored by the Office of Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner) Winner: The Old Kings Head, Long Buckby Best Bar None – Rural Pub of the Year Public Vote (sponsored by the Office of Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner) Winner: The Sun Inn, Kislingbury Best Bar None – Town Pub of the Year (sponsored by the Office of Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner) Winner: The Artizan, Northampton Best Bar None – Town Pub of the Year Public Vote (sponsored by the Office of Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner) Winner: The Swan and Helmet, Northampton Best Bar None – Late Night Venue of the Year (sponsored by the Office of Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner) Winner: Bootleggers, Northampton Best Bar None – Late Night Venue of the Year Public Vote (sponsored by the Office of Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner) Winner: Aspers Casino, Northampton Restaurant of the Year (sponsored by Whitco) Winner: Tap and Kitchen, Oundle Runner-up: Sophia’s Restaurant, Northampton Independent Café / Tea Room of the Year (sponsored by Pidy UK) Winner: Evergreen Art Café, Daventry Runner-up: The Apothocoffee Shop, Earls Barton Booker Food Pub of the Year (sponsored by Booker) Winner: The Rose and Crown, Yardley Hastings Runner-up: The Plough @ Shutlanger, Shutlanger Spice Restaurant of the Year (sponsored by British Pepper & Spice) Winner: Dhan Shiri, Brackley Runner-up: Mem-Saab, Northampton The winners were each presented with a trophy – a framed miniature chef’s apron created by Northampton apron makers Griff’s – by Hardeep and the categories’ respective sponsors. Welcoming guests to the event were the Awards’ Director, Rachel Mallows of The Mallows Company, and Bruce Ray, Corporate Affairs Director at Carlsberg UK, who spoke about the company’s increasing pride at being part of the growth and recognition of the sector in its ‘home’ county. He also pledged the company’s continuing financial support for next year, which was echoed by each of the other 13 sponsors. Guests made up of finalists, judges, sponsors, media partners and supporters then enjoyed a sumptuous three course meal designed and created by chef patron of Towcester’s La Strada Nuova, Lee Scott, 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 event. The menu included a starter of local trout with beetroot textures using beetroot chutney from Limes Farm at Farthinghoe or a local goat cheese crostini, the goat cheese coming from triple finalists NeneView Dairy at Stanwick, a main course of pork provided by Booker and using apples from New Creation Farm at Nether Heyford and honey from Beeline Apiculture at Bozeat, while the pudding was a panna cotta made with local white chocolate from Belflair Chocolates in Brackley and honeyed damson preserve from Nature’s Fayre in Thrapston. Among those celebrating at the end of the evening were Amanda and Phil Saxby from Saxby’s Cider in Irchester whose Plum Cider took the ‘New Drink of the Year’ title. As Phil explained, he believes the accolade will be a real boost to business; “Of course we think it is a great drink but it’s super that the judges thought so too and I’m sure this success can only help us when we approach potential stockists. “Aside from winning it was a really fabulous event and wonderful to see the county’s thriving food and drink businesses coming together to celebrate on such a special night for the sector!” he added. For more details, including watching the videos of the Chef and Young Chef of the Year cook-offs and the bake-off in the Independent Café / Tea Room of the Year category, please visit the Awards’ website – www.northamptonshirefoodanddrink.co.uk You can also follow the Awards on twitter at @foodawardsHQ or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/foodawards If you are an organisation, business or individual interested in taking part in, or sponsoring, next year’s Awards, please contact Rachel at The Mallows Company on 01933 664437. at Northamptonshire Police (Chronicle & Echo and Northamptonshire Telegraph) ‘Best Bar None – Late Night Venue of the Year’ – sponsored by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner at Northamptonshire Police (Chronicle & Echo and Northamptonshire Telegraph) ‘Local Food Hero of the Year’ – sponsored by Weetabix with Northamptonshire CPRE (Aspire Magazine) ‘Healthy Eating Workplace of the Year – Health and Education’ – sponsored by Northamptonshire County Council ‘Healthy Eating Workplace of the Year – Private Sector’ – sponsored by Northamptonshire County Council ‘F&B Achiever of the Year’ About Carlsberg UK Carlsberg UK is one of the leading brewers in the UK and its main brewery is based on Bridge Street in Northampton. It has one of the best beer portfolios in the UK, with key brands including its flagship Carlsberg lager and top ale brand Tetley’s, as well as its World Beers San Miguel, Tuborg and Staropramen. Carlsberg is the official beer of the England Football Team. About Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership’s (NEP’s) clear objective is to increase the prosperity of Northamptonshire’s businesses by supporting the creation of better quality private sector jobs. NEP’s intention is that an extra 32,500 new jobs, 37,000 new homes and an overall growth in the local economy of £4bn be achieved by 2021. NEP leads on the development and strengthening of Northamptonshire’s proposition for new investment, future growth and prosperity; it also raises the profile of the county’s excellent food and drink offering whilst enabling networking opportunities and incentivising even better quality. NEP has an excellent track record of working in collaboration with Northamptonshire businesses and partners including Northamptonshire County Council and the University of Northampton and sees this joint working as an essential part of its strategy moving forward, helping the county’s businesses go further, faster. For further details, please visit www.northamptonshireep.co.uk About The Mallows Company Ltd The Company, formerly Rachel Mallows Services to Business, has been providing a complementary range of services to businesses, charities, organisations and individuals since 1988. Supporting growth through people, its key business areas are coaching, mentoring and training, charity administration, project management and careers guidance. www.rachelmallows.com
