2012 Essex Life Fine Food & Drink Awards
The hunt is on again for the best Essex has to offer in the 2012 Essex Fine Food & Drink Awards. The categories include:
Chef of the Year, Essex Food Producer of the Year, Essex Drink Producer of the Year, Restaurant of the Year, Farm Shop of the Year, Independent Food Retailer of the Year, Tea Shop of the Year, Pub of the Year, Customer Service Award, Alfresco Dining Experience, Best Essex Roast Dinner and Essex Life Food and Drink Hero Award.
The results will be announced at the awards ceremony taking place on the 18 October 2012 at Down Hall Country House Hotel.
2011 Essex Life Fine Food & Drink Awards
In a fantastic evening ceremony at Down Hall Country House Hotel the winners of all categories were finally revealed. The county has a long tradition in producing fine food but also its cooks were grabbing national attention long before the latest batch of TV celebrity chefs. Those who served the great households in the region handed down their recipe books through the generations. The oldest, dating from 1779, is still in use at Spains Hall, Finchingfield. With growing interest in food, the old kitchen gardens are being replanted at large country houses such as Audley End.It was a hard task for the judges to select the winners, but after many hours of deliberation, we can now reveal them all.
2011 Essex Life Fine Food & Drink Awards - winners
Chef of the Year
Jonathan Brown, head chef at The Ducane, Great Braxted. "Means an awful lot, an amazing award for me and the team. A big thank you to everyone."
Restaurant of the year
The Compasses at Pattiswick, near Braintree: 'Thank you for recognising the hard work by the kitchen and front of house teams to make every guest's experience as enjoyable as possible.'
Gastro pub of the year
The Compasses at Pattiswick, near Braintree: 'We are all totally bowled over by the awards. To come home with one award would have alone been fantastic. But to have been given two was simply awesome!'
Real Ale pub of the year
The White Hart Inn, Margaretting: "We all are so proud to have won the award. The team works tirelessly to be consistent in serving a great real ale. We would like to say a big thank you to all of you who took the time to vote."
Best tea shop of the year
Poppy's Tea Room, Thaxted: "Huge achievement for everyone involved, staff and customers. We celebrate the timeless tradition of taking tea. Thank you to everyone who voted."
Food producer of the year
Caprilatte Ice Cream, Abberton: "Fantastic Achievement. Real Boost for the staff. We are a young couple who are dedicated to producing the best of locally produced food in Essex. Over the moon!"
Drinks producer of the year
Mersea Island Vineyard: "We are all extremely pleased. The award means so much more to us, as it was our customers that voted for us and given their seal of approval to our wines and beers."
Organic food producer
Ashlyn's Organics
Independent retailer
The Food Company, Marks Tey: "We love what we do and put ourselves under great pressure to seek out the finest products for our customers. To win is the most fantastic pat on the back for the whole team."
Farm Shop of the year
Blackwells, Coggeshall: "We've put in so much effort and worked so hard. I'm so pleased for all of our staff. This has been the biggest challenge of our lives to make the farm shop work."
Customer Service Award
The Hoop, Stock: "We are all truly touched that we've managed to make our customers' experiences as special as we'd hoped. Thank you so much for the thumbs up....we're chuffed!"
Food and Drink Hero
Mike Porter: "It's recognition for a lot of voluntary work and a realisation of how rural Essex is and how important it is to educate the people of Essex and food and farming."
