Coventry and Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards Winners 2007

	Coventry & Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards 2007
	The winners of the Coventry & Warwickshire Food and Drink awards were revealed in early November 2007 at a prestigious awards ceremony held at The Belfry Hotel in Warwickshire.

Coventry & Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards 2007

The highly coveted awards, now in their 6th year, were designed to encourage and reward quality, excellence and the innovative use of local produce.

This year, the awards attracted more entries than ever before. Around 150 businesses from across the region attended the ceremony to find out who was fortunate enough to scoop an award.

Set in 550 acres of countryside, the 4 star Belfry Hotel provided the perfect backdrop for the prestigious ceremony.

The evening got underway with a drinks reception before guests enjoyed a 3-course gourmet dinner devised by Laura Bailey, Chef de Parti from the Banqueting Department who won an internal Junior Chef competition.

The menu consisted of Pumpkin Soup, Warwickshire Beef Wellington and Winter Berries steam pudding!

The Belfry Chefs served up an excellent menu at the awards - delicious food all made with local produce, such as this Pumpkin soup

After dinner a raffle was drawn with prizes including free meals at entrants to the awards enabling businesses to check out the competition!

Guests gathering at the Coventry & Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards 2007

During the main part of the evening the nominees were announced by the host of the evening, TV and Radio presenter Wincey Willis.

All winning entries were presented with their awards with winners receiving a plaque and certificate to acknowledge their award.

The first five awards were in the self-nomination category. Short-listed entrants were visited anonymously by independent judges from Quality in Tourism who work on behalf of VisitBritain.

All businesses had to provide evidence that they use local produce and then be assessed on over 60 areas, including - quality of the food, first impressions, taste, staff knowledge, cleanliness, promotion and show excellence in quality and customer service. These are not easy awards to win!

TV and Radio presenter Wincey Willis hosted the Coventry & Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards 2007

	Self nomination categories included -
	Best Restaurant Best Café/Tea room		Best Breakfast Best Ethnic Restaurant Best Junior Chef

All short listed entries were automatically entered into two further awards. The top nominated entries in each category were visited anonymously by independent judging panels Quality in Tourism who work on behalf of VisitBritain.

Excellence in Quality and Customer Service
Champion of Local Produce

Stand holders at the Coventry & Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards 2007 had examples of local produce, such as this stand for Purity Brewing nr Studley

All the eating establishments were given the opportunity to nominate a local producer that they use, for the award of -

Best Local Producer

Finally the last award of the evening was voted for by members of the public -

Best Festival Menu

In total 22 framed certificates were presented to winners on the night. All Category Winners and Highly Commended award winners also received a magnificent black glass trophy with the name of their business and award category in which they had won.

Winners on the night at the Coventry & Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards 2007

Best Breakfast Category See the Best Breakfast Category Award webpage for more details.		Best Café/Tearoom Category See the Best Cafe/Tearoom Category Award webpage for more details.
	Winner! The Restaurant at Organic Gardens Ryton		Winner! Compton Verney
Highly Commended Bubbenhall House Bed & Breakfast Commended Ashton Lodge Country House Hotel & Restaurant, Street Ashton		Highly Commended Thomas Oken Tea Rooms, Warwick Commended Wylies Café Tearoom & Food Emporium, Warwick

Best Ethnic Restaurant See the Best Ethnic Restaurant Category Award webpage for more details.		Best Restaurant Category See the Best Restaurant Category Award webpage for more details.
	Winner! Turmeric Gold, Coventry		Winner! The Granville @ Barford
Highly Commended Agra Palace, Nuneaton Commended Balti Cottage, Coleshill		Highly Commended The Restaurant at Organic Gardens Ryton Commended The Bell Inn at Alderminster

Best Local Producer See the Best Local Producer Category webpage for more details.		Best Junior Chef See the Best Junior Chef Category webpage for more details.
	Winner! Lighthorne Lamb		Winner! Daniel Osborne, Planters Restaurant, Freasley
Highly Commended 19 Gales Farm House Foods, Bentley Nr Atherstone. Commended Turkey Talk, Nr Balsall Common		Highly Commended Chris Poole, Ashton Lodge Country House Hotel Commended Anthony Brandl, Holiday Inn Leamington Spa/Warwick

Champion of Local Produce See the Champion of Local Produce Category webpage for more details.		Best C&W Food and Drink Festival Menu See the Best Festival Menu Category webpage for more details.
	Winner! The Granville @ Barford		Winner! Planters Restaurant, Freasley
There was only a Winner award in this category.		There was only a Winner award in this category.

Excellence in Quality and Customer Service
See the Excellence in Quality and Customer Service Category webpage for more details.
	Joint Winner! Compton Verney Cafe		Joint Winner! Turmeric Gold, Coventry
There was only a Winner award in this category which was shared between two outstanding entrants.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards 2007 are brought to you by the following organisations;

Advantage West Midlands, Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, CV One, Fresher by Miles, Heart of England Fine Foods, Henley College, North Warwickshire Borough Council, Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, Regional Centre for Tourism Business Support, Rugby Borough Council, Shakespeare Country, Stratford on Avon District Council, Warwickshire County Council and Warwick District Council.

The awards help in raising the profile of Food businesses within the county, and of those that support the local economy by buying locally.

Thank you to everyone who has suported this year's awards and congratulations to all shortlisted and winning businesses. Plans for 2008 are already under way. For those of you who are keen to register for next year's awards, please visit www.foodanddrink2008.co.uk. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact the Tourism Development Team at Warwickshire County Council.

For winners from previous years, please see the Coventry and Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards pages.