> Go to an overview of Chester Food & Drink Festival 2007

Latest News Star Chef inducted into Hall of Fame

The autograph hunters were out en force when a two-star Michelin TV chef who plans to open a boutique restaurant in the city took to the stage for the final day of the Chester Food and Drink Festival. Michael Caines MBE was presented with a portrait of himself which was painted by local artist Tony Wells. The painting will hang on the wall of his new Nicholas Street, Chester based restaurant when building work is completed next year.

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Fertile Cheshire Plain

A chef who creates gourmet meals at a pub near to Chester showed a packed Taste Marquee how to cook using local produce.

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Popular Young Chef Winner

The packed audience at the Taste Marquee for the Young Chef Competition erupted in applause when the popular winner was announced.

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Cheshire Blue is Big Cheese

A Blue Cheshire won the title of top cheese at this year’s Chester Food and Drink Festival cheese competition. John Bourne’s cheese beat off competition from seven other finalist cheeses in blind tests, following judging several weeks ago at Reaseheath College, which whittled entries down to the finalist cheeses.

A packed Taste Marquee following record crowds on the first day of the Festival this year, saw a star turn from celebrity chef, Guy Wolley on Easter Day. Guy cooked a couscous salad with tomatoes, basil and olive oil, chicken breast wrapped in Speck with fennel and presented a cheeseboard in his first cookery demonstration.

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Double Junior Chef Winners

The winners of the Junior Chef Competition were announced from more than 250 entrants across Cheshire at today’s Chester Food & Drink Festival. Pupils in schools across the county submitted recipes for the Chester Food and Drink Festival Competition using local produce.

More than 75 connoisseurs of fine wine and the written word attended the launch of the Literature Festival as part of the Chester Food and Drink Festival.

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Best Banger for Second Year Running

Chester Market picks up the best sausage at the Food and Drink Festival for the second year running.

The city’s finest bartenders pitted their mixology skills against each other this week, in the run up to the Chester Food and Drink Festival Marquee event which kicks off on Saturday. Chester Food and Drink Festival’s organisers, with sponsors Eventfrog.com and MFM 103.4, raised glasses to an intoxicating evening of fermentation and experimentation. Entering its 6th year, competitors in the Cocktail Competition showed no signs of sore arms while they continued to shake drinks and stir up the crowd throughout the night. More than 60 people attended The Groves Restaurant by the River Dee to watch the eager contestants fight for a place in a national bartender competition.

Thousands of food lovers basked in the Spring sunshine for the first day of this year’s Chester Food and Drink Festival. This year’s main course of Marquee events at Chester’s Castle Square kicked off with a packed main stage for two celebrity cookery demonstrations from TV chef Simon Rimmer. The Lord Mayor of Chester Cllr Sandra Rudd opened this, the sixth Chester Food and Drink Festival. More than 100 stalls of local produce made in and around Chester and the North West took record sales.

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Chester 'can' smash record

Chester Food & Drink Festival’s world record attempt for 2007 has been achieved with a total of nearly 10,000 drinks cans. The giant artwork included a huge multi-coloured waterfall flowing over Chester’s Town Hall steps, which cascaded into a swirling can pond on the square below. Two other "waterfalls’ of cans ran down the lamp-posts to either side creating smaller pools in blues and reds.

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Ten for a Tenner

Ten restaurants in and around Chester are working together to provide some very special offers as part of this year’s Chester Food and Drink Festival. Two courses are now available for £10 at selected top restaurants, over the Chester Food and Drink Festival period.

Following on from the famous largest Toast Mosaic in the World in 2005 and the massive Bottle Top Mosaic last year, organisers are planning to top the records again with another huge undertaking next Monday to mark the beginning of the Chester Food & Drink Festival 2007.

The programme of events for the Chester Music and Literature Festivals will be unveiled at this year’s Chester Food and Drink Festival. Chairman of the Chester Literature Festival, Bill Hughes will announce the 2007 programme at the Taste Marquee on April 7, where UKTV presenter, chef and food expert, Guy Woolley will discuss writing about the world of food and drink. The following night, Chairman of the Chester Music Festival, Robin Wendt will launch this year’s musical programme, with music provided by The Doric Quartet.

Competition Crumbles for Record Fourth Year

on Wednesday 7th March, city centre down Bridge Street, by the Cross, 11am.

Following on from the famous largest Toast Mosaic in the World in 2005 and the massive Bottle Top Mosaic last year, organisers are planning to top the records again with another huge undertaking to mark the beginning of the Chester Food & Drink Festival 2007.

H. N. Nuttall Limited will be the food sponsor again for this year’s Chester Food & Drink Festival. The five figure deal involves the Cheshire based UK food distributor being involved at every level. The H. N. Nuttall name will be added to the famous Festival logo, their services will be available before and during the Festival and their foods will be served at the Gala Awards dinner.

More reasons to stay in Chester over Easter:

The dates for the 2007 Chester Food and Drink Festival have been announced and Festival chairman Stephen Wundke wants to know which celebrity chef the public most want to meet next Easter.

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About Chester Food & Drink Festival 2007

In 2006, 16,000 people visited the Taste Marquee and ?90,000 was spent there over the three days.
51 per cent of visitors came from outside the county, from a distance of more than 25 miles, making a total of 8,000 people brought into the City.
78 per cent of people surveyed said the event was good or excellent.
87 per cent of people surveyed said they were likely to return.
Nearly 100 producers and exhibitors were on show in the Taste Marquee, bringing their own skills and produce from Cheshire and around the world to be part of the Festival.
There were seminars and competitions in micro brewing, wines, sausages and cheeses and the opportunity to taste local paté, black pudding, bread, cereals, oils, pies, meat, fish, cheeses, chocolates, liqueurs and even a juice bar.

Evening events were varied and entertaining and will be expanded next year with the Champagne tasting evening which will launch the Literature Festival and the cocktail event. The Gala Dinner and awards ceremony will ensure 250 people sample a gourmet menu sourced from leading producers in the North West. This will be held on Tuesday April 10 2007.

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

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