Brighton & Hove Food Awards 2018 – the winners. For the last time!

In what will be for the very last time, the winners of the Brighton & Hove Food & Drink Festival were announced in typical celebratory style last night, with two new categories introduced this year – Best Social Eating Experience, and Best Sunday Roast.

The awards have a long-standing reputation for recognising the breadth and quality of the hospitality and food offering in Brighton & Hove. This year’s awards were hosted at Merkaba at MyBrighton hotel on Jubilee Street, with drinks sponsored by Bedlam Brewery, Fentimans, Foxhole Spirits, Madame Jennifer Gin, North South Wines, Vranken Pommery, Ridgeview Wine Estate and Wobblegate Juices.

The Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Awards are the longest running awards in the city, celebrating the very best of hospitality, food and drink. Nominations are made by the public, and the three top three in each category are then secretly judged by an expert panel who score each finalist through a rigorous system.

The awards – and indeed the larger scale events such as the only free food festivals they run twice a year – have always only been made possible through the support of generous sponsors and patrons and the organisation is largely credited with putting Brighton & Hove – and in fact Sussex and the South East – on the map when it comes to quality food and drink production, on a global scale.

The Festival committee now feels like their work is done and that the destination is firmly established as a winner in its own right. Festival director Andrew Kay said after the awards that it was “…a fun but emotional evening at the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Awards at which, after 15 years we announced that this is our last. In many ways sad but, as we explained, our early mission to help promote the city as a gastronomic destination has been to a great extent achieved and now, the vibrant food industry here is not only well respected but also motivated enough to continue without us.

“It’s been a pleasure and an honour working with so many fellow food lovers and to make so many good and lasting friendships.”

We wish all the team a gorgeous gastro onwards journey – and can only be awestruck by the ongoing commitment and success of the Festival committee and participants and sponsors – we know it’s been tough going a lot of the time and the input – and camaraderie – from so many people has made the Festival a completely unique, and successful, endeavour.

But meanwhile, let’s celebrate this year’s winners!!

Best Cocktail Bar
Category sponsored by Fentimans
Gold: The Plotting Parlour
Silver: Gung Ho!
Bronze: Twisted Lemon

Best Café
Category sponsored by Dental Health Spa
Gold: Starfish & Coffee
Joint Silver: Egg & Spoon
Joint Silver: Irma’s Kitchen

Best Sunday Roast
Category sponsored by Joogleberry

Gold: The Geese
Silver: Busby & Wilds
Bronze: The Caxton Arms

Best Burger
Category sponsored by 204060 Radio Cabs
Joint Gold: Burger Brothers
Joint Gold: 7Bone Burger Co
Silver: Brighton Burger

Best Social Eating Experience
Category sponsored by WeFiFo
Gold: The Real Junk Food Project
Silver: 64 Degrees
Bronze: Market Restaurant & Bar

Best Takeaway
Category sponsored by Brighton & Hove Tourism Alliance
Gold: The Chilli Pickle Canteen
Silver: Pizzaface
Bronze: BeFries

Best Pub
Gold: The Hand in Hand
Silver: Brighton Bierhaus
Bronze: The Pond

Best Newcomer
Gold: Murmur
Silver: Irma’s Kitchen
Bronze: Etch

Best Place to Sleep
Category sponsored by Hensby Law
Gold: Drakes of Brighton
Silver: Artist Residence
Bronze: My Brighton

Best Afternoon Tea
Category sponsored by Style Accountants
Gold: The Grand
Silver: The Salt Room
Bronze: Metrodeco

Best Food/ Drink Retailer
Category sponsored by Poised to Move
Gold: Fourth & Church
Silver: Butler’s Wine Cellar
Bronze: Infinity Foods

Best International Dining
Category sponsored by Cardens Accountants
Gold: Curry Leaf Café
Silver: Tropical Sushi
Bronze: The Chilli Pickle

Best Place to do Business
Category sponsored by Cobb Digital
Gold: The Salt Room
Silver: Harbour Hotel
Bronze: Hixon Green

Best Family Dining
Category sponsored by Wobblegate fruit juices
Gold: Murmur
Silver: BeFries
Bronze: Fatto a Mano

Best Restaurant
Category sponsored by Claire Walsh
Gold: Etch by Steven Edwards
Silver: Terre à Terre
Bronze: 64 Degrees

Best Cheap Eats
Gold: The Real Junk Food Project
Silver: Pompoko
Bronze: BeFries

Food Hero 2018
Gold: Shelley Eldrdery
Silver: The Real Junk Food Project
Bronze: Michael Bremner

Young Chef of the Year
Category sponsored by Ridgeview Wine Estate
Winner: Ben Lippett, 64 Degrees
Runner Up: Marcus Ingam, The Salt Room
Runner Up: George Thomas, Isaac At

Chef of the Year
Category sponsored by NFU Mutual Pulborough
Winner: Duncan Ray, The Little Fish Market
Runner Up: Michael Bremner, 64 Degrees
Runner Up: Steven Edwards, Etch

www.brightonfoodfestival.com