Andrew Kay: Cook it!

Excitement begins as the Brighton and Hove Food & Drink Awards 2014 enters its final stages

And the nominees are…

Autumn, season of mellow fruitfulness, also brings with it the Brighton and Hove Food & Drink Festival Awards, an annual celebration of the very best that the city has to offer. The awards, which are run by the food festival, are set up to reflect the public’s choices as openly as possible, and the open public online nomination system operates throughout the summer.

At the close of the nomination period, the public’s top three choices are calculated and pairs of judges are sent out to ‘secret shop’ and veryify the validity of the public vote.

The final winners will be revealed at a ceremony on 5 October in the ballroom at Hotel du Vin, where the winners and runners up will recieve their trophies.

And as for the categories …

Burger
• Burger Brothers
• Grubbs
• The Troll’s Pantry
Sponsored by Midnight Communications and judged by Nick Williams of Viva Brighton and Caraline Brown of Midnight Communications.

Café
• Cafe Coho
• Iydea
• LangLee’s
Sponsored by Rosemary E Hensby Solicitors and judged by Rachel Horner and Hannah Neter from Juice FM.

Cocktail bar
• Merkaba
• Twisted Lemon
• Bar Valentino
Sponsored by Blackdown Sussex Spirits and judged by Sam Harrington-Lowe and Sarah Thompson.

Family dining
• Breeze Brasserie
• Sabai Thai
• Terre à Terre jointly with Food for Friends
Sponsored by Whizz Bang Pop and judged by Shoshana Plail of Child Friendly Brighton and Whizz Bang Pop.

Food/drink shop
• Butler’s Wine Cellar
• Infinity Foods
• Taj
Sponsored by Brighton & Hove Radio Cabs and judged by Angi Mariani from The Latest and Latest TV and Kate Goudy from Brighton & Hove Radio Cabs.

“The awards are set up to reflect the public’s choices as openly as possible”

Food pub
• The Lion & Lobster
• The Prince George
• The Ginger Pig
Sponsored by Griffith Smith Farrington Webb Solicitors and judged by Nadia Cowdrey of Griffith Smith Farrington Webb Solicitors and Mark Ansell from Brighton and Hove Independent.

Pub
• The Craft Beer Co.
• The Lion & Lobster
• The Basketmakers Arms
Sponsored by Harveys Brewery and judged by Bob Trimm of Harveys and Susanna Forbes from Drink Britain.

Restaurant
• Food for Friends
• 64 Degrees
• Terre à Terre
Sponsored by Ridgeview Wine Estate and judged by Mardi Roberts from Ridgeview and Andrew Kay from The Latest and Latest TV.

Sunday Lunch
• Food for Friends
• The Lion & Lobster
• Sussex Yeoman
Sponsored by Searches UK and judged by Andrew Stenning of Searches UK and Nick Harvey of Nick Harvey Marketing.

Takeaway
• The Chilli Pickle Canteen
• Iydea
• Pizzaface
Sponsored by Southern Water and judged by Stuart Slark of Southern Water and Euan MacDonald of 60secondreviews.co.uk

Food hero
Nominees will be disclosed on the evening of the awards.
Sponsored by Brighton And Hove Jobs and Judged by Gary Peters of Brighton And Hove Jobs and Sam Bilton.

Newcomer
• Burger Brothers
• Curry Leaf Café
• 64 Degrees
Sponsored by Cardens and judged by Barry Carden of Cardens and Duncan Hall of The Argus.

Sustainable Food Business
• hiSbe
• Infinity Foods
• Terre à Terre
Sponsored by Style Accountants and judged by Adam Style of Style Accountants and Justin Williams of Williams Media.

Follow me: @latestandrew