Probably the finest dining Northamptonshire can offer!
Booking a table at some of our finest local dining venues just got tougher as ten of the best have made it through to vie for Northamptonshire’s highest culinary honours.
Entrants from across the county were invited to take part in the two venue categories – ‘Restaurant of the Year’ and ‘Pub or Bar Restaurant of the Year’ - in the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards, a competition devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd (NEL) to celebrate all that is great about the county’s produce and drink, to recognise excellence within its dining venues and to reward those who work so hard within the culinary sector.
Those entries were then shortlisted by an expert panel of judges including Mike Coppock, Catering and Hospitality Manager at Northampton College and Brian Tompkins, former BBC Masterchef finalist.
The chosen finalists in the ‘Restaurant of the Year’ category, sponsored by Rational and supported by Business Times, are (in alphabetical order):
Chapel Bar & Dining Room, Oundle
Equilibrium at Fawsley Hall, Fawsley
Oundle Mill, Oundle
The Church Restaurant, Northampton
The Terrace Restaurant at Highgate House, Creaton
While the shortlist of finalists in the ‘Pub or Bar Restaurant of the Year’ category, sponsored by South Lincs Foodservice and supported by Taste magazine, are (in alphabetical order):
The Olde Red Lion, Kislingbury
The Red Lion, Sibbertoft
The Royal Oak, Eydon
The Saracen’s Head, Little Brington
The Tollemache Arms, Harrington
Paul Loughnane is the Deputy General Manager of The Terrace Restaurant and says he and his team are delighted to have made it through to the final. “Whilst we’ve been catering for hotel guests for years, the restaurant has only been open to the public since January of last year, so to get this kind of recognition for our efforts so soon is a fantastic achievement!”
Meanwhile the last year and a half has also been a turning point for the staff at the The Tollemache Arms - so says its landlord, Mark Owen: “In the last 18 months we’ve been concentrating on sourcing and serving top quality local food and it’s been a real team effort. So we’re really pleased to have been shortlisted as it’s a good sign that we’re getting it right!”
Northamptonshire diners now have the chance to help decide which venues take the prestigious titles by visiting www.letyourselfgrow.com and voting for their favourite in each category or by texting the word AWARDS, followed by a space, the name of the venue, their name and email address to 07786 202250. Texts will be charged at the standard message rate and voting closes at 5pm on 20 September.
The final decision also rests with the results of the mystery shopping, when all ten venues will receive an unannounced visit from four expert judges – the identities of which as yet remain secret!
Said the competition’s co-ordinator, Rachel Mallows from Rachel Mallows Services to Business: “We have such a fantastic standard of dining venues in the county and these two awards are a great way to celebrate their excellence. Last year’s winner of the restaurant category, The Vine House at Paulerspury, were turning away diners in the wake of their success so it’s not only the prestige of being the best, but also a massive boost to business. I wish all our finalists the very best of luck!”
The winners and runners-up in both categories then have a nervous wait as the results of those and indeed all seven categories in the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards are announced at a special Awards Dinner at Holdenby House on 6 October.
Posted by: Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership
