Voting opens for Sussex Food & Drink Awards

The sixth annual Sussex Food and Drink Awards is open for votes, with a formal launch at the South of England Show, at the President’s VIP Sussex breakfast, inviting the public to choose their local food heroes online at www.sussexfoodawards.biz.

Awards include:

Sussex Food Producer of the Year – sponsored by The Southern Co-operative.

The winner will be a producer of a single food ingredient or a prepared food product, which is delicious and local to Sussex.

Best Sussex Food/Farm Shop – sponsored by the South Downs National Park and Collabor8. The winner will creatively sell mainly Sussex produce and could be a farm shop, gate sale, a farm delivering local produce, a delicatessen or independent local/high street shop.

Best Sussex Eating Experience – sponsored by Mayo Wynne Baxter.

The winner could be a restaurant, hotel, pub or café which uses and promotes mainly Sussex produce and offers consistently high quality food in an enjoyable atmosphere.

Sussex Farmer of the Year – sponsored by Knill James. The winner will be a Sussex Farmer who has made the greatest contribution to promoting local produce in the county – first round votes should be in by July 29^th for shortlisting and voting re-opens in September.

Sussex Drink Producer of the Year – sponsored by Sussex Food & Drink Network.

The winner will be a drink producer whose products are high quality and delicious. New for this year, the three finalists will include one brewery, one vineyard and one producer of non-alcoholic drinks.

Sussex Butcher of the Year – sponsored by Natural Farms. The winner will be a top quality butcher’s which sells and promotes local farmers’ meat and offers that little bit extra in terms of quality and service.

Sussex Young Chef of the Year – sponsored by Natural PR. Aged 25 or under, the winner will be working or studying in Sussex and be passionate about local produce. First round votes by July 15^th to decide who goes through to a master-chef style cook off.

Best Sussex Farmers Market – sponsored by Harveys. The winner will sell an exciting and varied range of local produce and offer an experience which shoppers, producers and stall holders really enjoy.

Voting will stay open until October 2nd, when a shortlist will be vetted by a panel of experts, chaired by food industry expert, Clive Beddall OBE. Winners will receive their trophies at the awards ceremony, renowned as the Sussex foodie event of the year, on 26^th January 2012.

It will for the first time be held at the stunning new American Express Community Stadium, with a scrumptious seven-course banquet made from the best Sussex ingredients, created by head chef Fred Tobin, supporting Chestnut Tree House, the only children’s hospice in Sussex.

Said Clive Beddall OBE: “Your vote counts, so please do get voting for the wonderful food and drink producers and outlets in our county – and everyone who votes online will be entered into a prize draw to win two tickets to the awards banquet.”

www.sussexfoodawards.biz

Sussex Foodie News June 2011

Click here for Sussex Foodie News June 2011

Top Sussex food event at the Amex

The Sussex Food and Drink Awards 2011/12 awards banquet will be hosted by the American Express Community Stadium, organisers Natural PR announced today.

The event is renowned as the Sussex foodie event of the year and includes a Sussex bubbly and ale reception, scrumptious seven-course banquet made entirely from local produce and a lively awards presentation, attended by leaders in the industry, as well as many die hard foodies.

“This is the first awards event booked at the stadium and we are thrilled to support the Sussex Food & Drink Awards, seeing this as an opportunity to showcase our superb food offer and the quality of our head chef, Fred Tobin, and his team,” said Elliott Moore, General Manager, Catering at the Amex.

The banquet will be held on 26th January 2012, hosted by Danny Pike from BBC Sussex, and tickets will be on sale throughout the year at the awards website – www.sussexfoodawards.biz

Now in its sixth year, the prestigious Sussex Food & Drink Awards is seeking the best food and drink producers, farmer, food/farm shop, farmers market, butcher, eating experience and young chef. Big name sponsors include The Southern Co-operative, South Downs National Park Authority and Collabor8, as well as long-term supporters Mayo Wynne Baxter, Knill James and Harveys Brewery.

Said Clive Beddall OBE, chairman of the judges: “We are excited about holding the event at such a stunning new venue with a chef who has such an impressive track record, which I believe includes preparing banquets at number 10 Downing Street and Chequers, when working as personal chef to John Major.

“We look forward to working with Fred to create a banquet of the exquisite quality which we have grown to expect at this wonderful celebration of Sussex food.”

The Sussex Food & Drink Awards will be launched at the South of England Show on June 9, at the President’s VIP Sussex breakfast, and the public can vote until October 2nd.

Everyone who votes online will be entered into a prize draw to win two tickets to the awards banquet and tickets are on sale at www.sussexfoodawards.biz

Brighton Foodie Awards May leaders announced

Over 1000 people have already voted in the Brighton & Hove Foodie Awards since it was launched as part of the city’s spring food festival last month, according to organisers Natural PR.

Every second Friday of the month, the Foodie leaders – those who have received the most votes from the public – will be announced by foodwriter Andrew Kay and Juice FM's Andrea Fox on her show, until voting closes in September and the final winners are presented with their awards at the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival.

On May 13, in the lead for Best Restaurant is Terre a Terre, with Indian Summer in second place and continuing the Indian theme, the Chilli Pickle in third position.

Best Food Pub: The Prince George is leading the vote in the food pub category, closely followed by the Ginger Pig in second place, with the Basketmakers in third place.

Best Café: Iydea is storming ahead, Cloud 9 is in second place and Temptation is currently third.

Best Food Shop: Infinity Foods is in the lead with Taj in second place, followed by the Real Patisserie.

“We have had a fantastic start with huge enthusiasm from the public and local food outlets,” said Paula Seager, MD of Natural PR. “We hope that by announcing the leaders every month, a spirit of competition and excitement will develop and many other food outlets will join in and encourage their customers to vote for them. It also gives us a great opportunity to highlight our very best food outlets throughout the six months of the competition.”

“In this first month, it’s wonderful to hear vegetarians making their voices heard, with leaders including Infinity Foods and Terre a Terre and we are also hearing support for some lovely traditional pubs, which have combined great ale and local wines with excellent Sussex food.

“The Café category is particularly competitive this year and the food shop category is attracting votes for all kinds of shops, from grocery stores to bakers; from fishmongers to butchers, which is a great way for us to find out about the quality independent food shops we have in the city.

“The full list of outlets which have been voted for can be seen on the website and the competition is still wide open – we have five months of voting to go, so there’s plenty of time for others to get involved and we expect the leaders board to change frequently over the coming months.”

Find out more and place your vote at www.brightonfoodawards.com – everyone has one vote per category.

City boy turns Sussex produce shopkeeper

A former investment banker has turned shopkeeper and is refurbishing the derelict antiques auction house in Upper Gardner Street to create a superb local food store and restaurant, Thorne’s Foods, bringing quality local produce into the heart of the city seven days a week.

31 year-old Jason, who lives in Brighton with his wife and baby, has had a passion for local food since he was young and aims to take on supermarkets by making fresh, seasonal local food available to people in Brighton & Hove, with opening hours to suit busy lifestyles

“I have been working on this project for two years now, raising capital from private investors, banks and getting to know our wonderful, award-winning Sussex food and drink producers, so that we can offer the best ingredients in the city,” said Jason.

“I want to offer good value quality food which can’t normally be easily accessed in the city centre and which people can pick up on their way home from work, so that they can eat well and support the local economy. I want to cut out the difficulties, and make it as easy as turning left to Thorne’s or right to the supermarket.”

Thorne’s intends to open from 9:30am to 8:30pm, selling a full range of groceries, including a high quality butcher’s, a deli counter, green groceries, wine and a huge spread of fresh, local ingredients and fine foods made in Sussex and surrounding areas. Suppliers will be chosen locally wherever possible says Jason, in recognition that not everything the modern food shopper desires is made in the county. The food will also be served in a market kitchen upstairs allowing customers to taste what is on offer and in season, whilst helping to manage wastage through the shop.

“I was so delighted to find the old antique auction house because it lends itself beautifully to my aspirations for the design of Thorne’s. It has a huge cobbled entrance way and high, vaulted ceilings, with a great space for the market kitchen, with lots of daylight coming through huge windows with wonderful views over the city’s rooftops,” he continued.

“We are restoring and celebrating the unique old features of the building, whilst installing all mod cons and upgrading facilities. We want to create a vintage, rustic farmer’s market atmosphere and style, but with the convenience of a supermarket for busy people in the city to enjoy.”

Thorne’s will create 20 new jobs in Brighton and this is just the start of Jason Hurwitz’s ambitions, as he hopes to create more local food stores in other cities in the future, bringing local produce to people who don’t normally have the time or means to access them.

Jason is seeking further investors to help meet the increased refurbishment cost in restoring the historic building; anyone interested should contact him at Jason.Hurwitz@ThornesFoods.co.uk.

Thorne’s Foods will open in July and Jason intends to hold a range of community events to involve and encourage local people to buy local.

Sussex Foodie News April 2011

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Sussex spring harvest celebrated by Brighton Food Fest

Tens of thousands enjoyed the sun and tasty fare at the Big Sussex Market, part of the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival’s ‘spring harvest’, this weekend in the North Laine.

The festival kicked off on Friday with a hilarious 100-metre city chefs pancake race on Brighton Pier, won by Michael Bowell of Hotel du Vin, followed by a VIP party and Sussex beer festival at Pub du Vin.

Public voting also opened for the Brighton & Hove at www.brightonfoodawards.com, sponsored by new legal firm in the city wetalklaw.com and gourmetbritain.com, the national website for foodies. The first ever Sussex Gourmet Tour, a vintage bus tour of Sussex food producers yesterday, was sold out and the city’s first Restaurant Week is also now on [April 1st to 8th], with restaurants offering £10 lunch and £15 dinner menus; and cafés serving up a £5 deal.

“This spring we will be celebrating everything that is great about Sussex produce and our wonderful international Brighton food offer and we welcome everyone who wants to get involved, by holding events or sponsoring our main attractions which attract thousands of food and drink lovers,” said Nick Mosley, festival director.

The first ticketed Live Food Show will be held next Saturday April 9th, including chef demonstrations from invited restaurants alongside wine tastings and a superb three-course lunch at the Radisson Blu, tickets are on sale at www.brightonfoodfestival.com. Foodwriter Andrew Kay, hosting the Live Food Show, will also announce the winner of the children’s Great Brighton Ice Cream Competition at Boho Gelato. Over 1,500 entries have been received and a shortlist of five finalists’ ice creams have been made up for judging. The winner will get to see their ice cream made, as well as winning a giant tube of ice cream and cones to enjoy with their school mates.

“There is so much to enjoy in our city and the surrounding countryside and we have created a festival programme which represents all aspects of our foodie hub on the south coast, so please do support us and come along and enjoy our events,” continued Nick Mosley.

Paula Seager, MD of Natural PR, who runs the Brighton & Hove Foodie Awards and has supported the festival for many years, is also calling for votes: “Last year 5,000 people voted in the Foodie Awards and this year we want to do even better to support our wonderful local eateries – so please get online from 1st April at www.brightonfoodawards.com and vote for your favourites!”

Details of festival events, including associated foody fun, such as the fabulous Chocolate Festival on New Road on April 16th and 17th, can be found at www.brightonfoodfestival.com.