Vegetarians dominate Brighton and Hove food awards

Vegetarian places to eat and buy food in Brighton and Hove dominated the prizes in the city’s annual food and drink awards last night (Monday 3 October).

About 5,000 votes were cast by the public over the past few months for the Brighton and Hove Foodie Awards.

The awards form the traditional finale to the annual Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival.

The festival lasted throughout September and formally finishes today.

Food writer Andrew Kay, from Latest magazine, and disc jockey Andrea Fox, from Juice FM, presented the prizes at the awards ceremony at the Pub du Vin in Ship Street, Brighton.

The winners

The vegetarian restaurant Terre a Terre, in East Street, Brighton, held on to top spot as the city’s favourite restaurant.

The runner-up in the Best Restaurant category was the Chilli Pickle, which recently expanded into MyHotel overlooking Jubilee Square, Brighton. Indian Summer, in East Street, came third.

Another vegetarian outlet, the Prince George, in Trafalgar Street, Brighton, won the prize for Best Food Pub by one vote.

The runner-up was last year’s winner, the Ginger Pig, in Hove Street, Hove, with The Foragers, in Stirling Place, Hove, coming third.

Iydea, the vegetarian café, in Kensington Gardens, Brighton, won Best Café. Cloud 9, in Brighton Place, in The Lanes, came second and Metro Deco, in Upper St James’s Street, Kemp Town, came third.

Infinity Foods, the vegetarian store, in Gardner Street, Brighton, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in the city, won the Best Food Shop trophy once again.

The Real Patisserie, in Trafalgar Street, Brighton, took second place and the Brighton Sausage Company, in Gloucester Road, Brighton, finished third.

Paul Seager, managing director of awards organiser Natural PR, said: “This year’s awards event was bigger and better than last year and there was a fantastic atmosphere, with a lot of camaraderie between the city’s favourite food places.

“I think we can safely say that the city’s vegetarian outlets have the most fervent and loyal customers, judging by the votes this year, showing just how important this market is in the city.

“The competition once again shows what a superb and unique range of independent restaurants, food pubs, cafés and food shops we have in the city and that there is huge support for them here, as the public came out in force to vote for their favourites again.”

“We want to thank everyone who took part, our sponsors We Talk Law and Gourmet Britain, all the food outlets who joined the competition and the public who voted so enthusiastically – and we hope that they will all support us again when we launch the Brighton and Hove Foodie Awards 2012 at the city’s Spring Harvest Food and Drink Festival next April.”