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Chester Food & Drink Festival 2008 GALA DINNER & AWARDS

Las Vegas comes to Chester: Gala awards for food and drink

As part of Chester’s 2008 Food & Drink Festival, the City celebrated its region’s food and drink on Tuesday March 25 by holding the seventh annual glittering Gala Awards dinner. The event held at Chester Racecourse, marked the climax of the main Festival, whose fringe Festival continues with special offers and meal deals at restaurants across the city.

The black tie “Rat Pack” themed evening began with a cocktail reception, and more than 250 guests were treated to a fabulous five course gourmet meal. The first course of pressed smoked Cheshire pork with quince pickle, beetroot and herb oils was provided by Michelin starred chef from Abode Hotels, Manchester, Michael Caines OBE, the main course of confit shin of Huxley beef with truffled mash, chanterey carrots, green beans, woodland mushrooms and a red wine jus was created by Paul Heathcote and the dessert of caramelised pear and chocolate delice with salted caramel and peanut brittle was created by Simon Radley, of The Arkle restaurant at The Chester Grosvenor and Spa. The cheese plate was provided by The Cheese Shop, Northgate Street, Chester, followed by coffee and tea with petit fours from H N Nuttall of Cheshire.

This spectacular evening, which featured a Rat Pack, Las Vegas cabaret and casino, was hosted by celebrity chef Simon Rimmer and Lisa Marrey from Chester and Wrexham’s Marcher Sound, and the awards were presented amongst many well known faces, including Granada TV’s Lucy Meacock, Brookside stars Steve Pinder, who played Max, and Dean Sullivan, who played Jimmy Corkhill.

Chairman of the Chester Food and Drink Festival Stephen Wundke said: “The food and drink revolution in Chester and Cheshire continues. There have been 16,000 visitors to the Festival over the last three days, the same number as last year. Although we had bad weather, the event was a big success. We look forward to making next year’s event even bigger and better.”

Speaking on the night, celebrity chef Simon Rimmer added: “The Chester Food & Drink Festival gets better and better every year. The weather and an early Easter didn’t help with the footfall. It is fantastic to see producers and retailers with a real passion for food and drink here.”

The Lord Mayor of Chester, Cllr Jim Latham said: “The Chester Food & Drink Festival is improving year on year. I want to congratulate Stephen and his colleagues for this. It is fitting that this year’s Festival dinner is at Chester Racecourse, another institution going from strength to strength.”

Both the public and the food and drink industry voted for the award categories, so it was their favourite restaurant, bar, pub, café, hotel, shop and food producers that received a prestigious Food & Drink Festival Award.

The winners of the Awards in the 17 Categories were:

Best Small Restaurant of The Year supported by Chester@ Large went to Joseph Benjamin, of Northgate Street, Got Wine, of Commonhall Street, Chester, Got Wine, of Commonhall Street, Chester won the Silver Award and Upstairs at the Grill, of Watergate Street, Chester, won the Bronze.

Best Large Restaurant of The Year (over 40 covers) was sponsored by Villeroy & Boch and won by The Blackhouse Grill, of Newgate Street, Chester, the Silver Award was won by Pastarazzi, of Grosvenor Street, Chester and Brasserie 10/16, of Brookdale Place, Chester won the Bronze Award.

Best Café/Sandwich Bar was won by Allseasons Deli in Macclesfield. Joseph Benjamin, of Northgate Street, Chester, won the Silver Award and the Blue Moon Café, of The Groves, Chester won the Bronze.

Bar/Pub of The Year sponsored by Marcher Sound and won by The Oak in Kelsall (Last year’s winner was Bar Lounge, St. Werburgh Street). Bar Lounge, of Watergate Street, Chester won the Silver Award and The Faulkner, of Faulkner Street, Hoole won the Bronze Award.

Best Cocktail Bartender of the Year was David Sale of The Living Room (Last year’s winner was Cino Garcia-Hernandez of Upstairs At The Grill, Watergate Street). The competition was sponsored by Benedictine and judged on March 10 at a cocktail evening at Bar Lounge attended by more than 60 people.

Family Friendly Award sponsored by Chester Festivals was won for the second year running by The Red Lion, Dodleston. The Silver Award was presented to The Goshawk, Mouldsworth and the Bronze was won by Café.com, of Faulkner Street, Hoole.

Best Newcomer was sponsored by toptable and won by The Geroge & Dragon, Tarvin. (Last year’s winner was Joseph Benjamin of Northgate Street). The Silver Award was won by Chez Gerrard, of Bridge Street, Chester and the Bronze by The Coach & Horses, of Northgate Street, Chester.

Local Produce Shop of The Year was sponsored by Made in Cheshire and won by Deli-Vert, of Faulkner Street, Hoole (Last year’s winner was Davenports Farms Shop, Northwich). The Silver Award was won by The Cheese Shop, Northgate Street and the Bronze Award was won by Delikate, of Handbridge, Chester.

Excellence in Customer Service was sponsored by Visit Chester & Cheshire and won by Bar Lounge, of Watergate Street. It was presented by Barrie Kelly of Visit Chester & Cheshire. (Last year’s winner was Bollicini, Abbey Green, Northgate Street, Chester). Joseph Benjamin, of Northgate Street, won the Silver Award and the Bronze Award was won by The Cock O’Barton, near Farndon, Chester.

Young Chef of the Year, sponsored by Halcyon Recruitment, was awarded to Robert McDermot, 23, of The Red House Brasserie at Cheshire Oaks, after a Final cook off held on the main stage of the Festival on Monday March 24 (Last year’s winner was Scott Purchase of Chez Jules on Northgate Street).

Best Use of Local Produce in a Menu was sponsored by the Restaurant Association of Chester & Cheshire and presented to The Oak in Kelsall (Last year’s winner was the Cock O’Barton, near Farndon) The Cock O’Barton, near Farndon, won the Silver Award and Pastarazzi, of Grosvenor Street, Chester won the Bronze Award.

Best of the Taste Pavilion was sponsored by Heathcotes and awarded to Richard and Tom Cropper of The Farmshed (Last year’s winner was Carole Faulkner of The Cheese Shop, Northgate Street).

Best Chester Sausage of the Festival was presented to David Joinson of Chester Market for the second year running. Chester Market picks up the best sausage at the Food and Drink Festival for the third year running, after David Joinson’s pork and blue Cheshire cheese sausage was judged the best by members of the public on the main stage of the Festival on Saturday March 22.

Cheese of the Year was judged earlier in the week by an expert judging panel to be Maggie Maxwell, of The Doddington Cheese Company in Northumberland. The award was presented by Carole Faulkner of The Cheese Shop, Northgate Street, Chester. (Last year’s joint winner was John Bourne’s Blue Cheshire Cheese from H S Bourne).

Best Website sponsored by The Best of Chester was Residence, of Nantwich (www.residenceuk.com). The Red House, Dee Banks, Boughton, Chester won Silver and Brasserie 10/16, of Brookdale Place, Chester won Bronze. (Last year’s winner was Brasserie 10/16)

Best Interior Design, sponsored by Concept for Living, was won by The Red House, Dee Banks, Boughton. Bollicini, of Abbey Green, Northgate Street, Chester won the Silver Award and Bar Lounge, of Watergate Street, Chester won the Bronze Award.

Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to Simon Radley, executive chef at The Chester Grosvenor and Spa. The Award was accepted on Simon’s behalf by Phil Dougherty.

Simon Rimmer read out a letter from The Duke of Westminster, who owns The Chester Grosvenor and Spa, which said: “I am delighted that Simon has won this prestigious Award. Simon has a unique understanding of food. I am proud of The Chester Grosvenor Hotel’s reputation worldwide; Simon is consistently producing food to a very high standard.”

Simon joined The Chester Grosvenor and Spa as a Chef de Partie, and went on to become Head Chef in the space of seven years.

In 1991 Simon’s skills were further enhanced when, acting as The Chester Grosvenor’s ambassador, he spent time at the legendary Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong and The Oriental in Bangkok, consistently rated by the international business community as one of the best hotels in the world.

Simon returned to The Chester Grosvenor and Spa in 1998 and in the following 10 years has established his mark on The Arkle with the retention of a Michelin star for the 18th consecutive year.

(Last year’s winner was Tom Fell, of Cheshire Farm Ice Cream. Previous winners have been “national treasure” Carole Faulkner of the Cheese Shop in Northgate Street, Jane Casson, of Made in Cheshire, “Cheese detective’ Peter Papprill and Mill Hotel owner, Gordon Vickers).

ENDS: 1,442 WORDS

PHOTOS (300dpi plus), PRESS OFFICE, RECIPES & REGULAR UPDATES in the press office for the Festival at http://www.marketingprojects.co.uk/

Editors Notes:

The Taste Pavilion contained more than 100 retailers and growers with samples of Cheshire, North Wales, national and international produce, reflecting the cosmopolitan nature of Cheshire. Highlights included ice-cream, wines, beers and liqueurs, pies, roasts and game, sausages, watercress, olives, juices, organic products and hundreds of taste experiences.

Chester’s Food and Drink Festival is organised on behalf of Chester City Council with support from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Cheshire County Council, Made in Cheshire and North West Fine Foods and Visit Chester & Cheshire, the tourism board for Cheshire and Warrington.

More general information at www.chesterfoodanddrink.com

Press Contacts: Jane Harrad-Roberts Mob: 07785 395705 Phil Brotherhood Mob: 07884 493370 Tel: 01244 330000 MARKETING PROJECTS Email: info@marketingprojects.co.uk

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