The Chesterfield Food & Drink Awards 2017 #CFDA17
Published On Thursday 26 Oct 2017 by Sticky Beak
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The Man Bird and I were fully glammed up as we attended the Black Tie dinner and awards ceremony at the 2017 Destination Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards held at Chesterfield College and hosted by Mich Turner MBE.
On arrival there was a drinks reception for guests (sponsored by Codes France & Addooco) and we clinked our glasses and toasted what we were sure was going to be a fantastic evening. Catering and Hospitality students from Chesterfield College were very smartly turned out and were offering superb Canapés from Silver platters, and refreshing glasses as necessary.
The lovely Andy Darlington from acclaimed magazine “Taste the Seasons” came over to chat. It was lovely to see him again; he is always so charming and witty :) Anna Melton from In The Works PR looked breath-takingly beautiful (as always), as did Tara Underhill and Lydia Gregson from Destination Chesterfield. Later in the evening Lydia and Dom Stevens (also from Destination Chesterfield) worked unerringly hard with Mich Turner to deliver awards to the evenings’ winners.
We took our seats at our allotted tables and I have to say that the room was dressed as if for a top-notch, state occasion. Our high backed seats were covered with cream linens and dressed with green organza ribbons and they looked just beautiful. The tables were laid with pristine white cloths, dazzling glasses and cutlery, but the floral centrepieces by Chesterfield business Hoods Florist were the talking point of us all.
Chris Radford from Brampton Brewery was checking feedback from us all as we sipped at the super wines on the table they had provided. Franklin and Sons were suppliers of the soft drinks, both their Sicilian Lemon Tonic and Sicilian Lemonade with English Elderflower and crushed Juniper went down well with guests.
The evening’s dinner was made by the students of Chesterfield College and comprised 2 courses; Supreme of Chicken with a fresh Mushroom sausage, Leek mash, Tarragon Jus and Fresh baby vegetables or (vegetarian) Roasted Squash filled with Butter beans and Wild Mushroom in a Garlic and Wine cream sauce, Leek mash and baby vegetables to start, followed by Boiled Orange Cake with glazed oranges and Pandan Coconut custard for pudding. Coffee and Teas were served afterwards by hand, rather than pots just being plonked on the tables, which was lovely.
Having had our physical appetites whetted, it was time to get down to the important business of the evening; presenting the various food and drink awards to the amazing establishments in and around Chesterfield.
For those of you who don’t know, Mich Turner is not only beautiful and witty, she also founded the hugely successful Little Venice Cake Company in 1999. Her multi-award winning designs earned her the moniker “Queen of Couture Cakes” and her clientele list includes Her Majesty the Queen, Cheryl Cole, Madonna, and David Beckham; to name a few.
This lady is no stranger to media whether it’s on our TV screens, as an author of best-selling books, or indeed on stage presenting awards. The evening was in very capable hands as she kept it running smoothly and with plenty of humour too; it may have started a little late, but there was no way Mich was letting it end behind schedule!
Julie Richards, Principle of Chesterfield College, gave a wonderfully humorous speech about her silver service experiences as a catering student. Her pride for the college was plain for all to see and hear, and as it transpired through the evening, it is totally justified.
The first award was for the Custom Solar sponsored Café/Tea Room of the Year, presented by their MD, Matt Brailsford; nominees were H&F Vintage Tea Rooms, The Lilypad Café & Restaurant, and Stephenson’s Tea and Coffee Friend.
The award was given to The Lilypad Cafe and Restaurant, with comments including “a great selection of cakes and bites to eat, and a relaxing atmosphere to eat them in” and “the food served was excellent”. This talented team won this award at last years’ event, so they were “incredibly happy” to win it again.
Second award of the evening was for the Best out of Town venue. There’s no denying that Chesterfield itself has a buzzing food and drink scene, but there’s also a great catchment and selection out-of-town too which is recognised in the Shorts Chartered Accountants sponsored category. Nominees were The Bateman’s Mill Hotel at Old Tupton, Hotel Van Dyk at Clowne, and Stones Restaurant in Matlock.
The Winner was Stones’ Restaurant in Matlock, and The Man Bird and I were very happy for them, having had a superb meal here ourselves. It’s the second year in a row that this team have won this award too, and comments from the judges include “everything showed a high level of excellence” and “this venue is in a different league”.
More and more these days families are wanting to dine out together, so it’s really important that venues give due consideration to this. The finalists in the Jumble Creative Design sponsored category have all clearly excelled in this sphere, but the crown went to Chesters despite fierce competition from The Little Castle and The Manor at Brampton.
Andrew Everitt presented the award, and as a father himself really appreciated this venues commitment to families. Judges commented that “everyone was friendly, they addressed the children directly, and we were asked if we wanted a high chair when we phoned to book the table”.
MSE Miller is the proud sponsor of the Best International Restaurant of the Year, and Hugh Thomas from the company presented the award; Delhi 41, Nonnas, and O-Tokuda were the finalists in this category.
The title went to Delhi 41 who have won this title for 4 consecutive years now! Clearly, they were somewhat stunned to receive the title again saying “I’m not sure what we’re doing that’s so great, we just do authentic Bangladeshi dishes that we cook at home and that our families have always done”.
Arvato sponsored the fifth award for Gastro Pub of the Year. Unfortunately one of the nominees, Chandlers, had to pull out, leaving The Market Pub and The Rectory to slug it out.
The Market Pub team were the victors and were thrilled to receive their award, saying “this is so unexpected, but we work so hard, so it’s nice to receive this award”
Every industry needs to nurture its future talent, and so the next award winner is one to watch; Young Chef of the Year. All the nominees are selected from Chesterfield College and this years’ winner was Hannah Turner, who unfortunately couldn’t make the ceremony.
Eben Mellor and Rhoda Malova were the other finalists in this hotly contested category, presented by Reverend Patrick Coleman from St. Marys and All Saints (The Spire), and it was by all accounts not an easy decision for judges Blu and Nonnas to make.
The title of best Pub/Bar is always highly coveted in any awards ceremony, and so it was the case in this Banner Jones Solicitors category. Einstein’s, Junction Bar, and The Rose and Crown in Brampton were all nominated with the title going to the Junction Bar.
Stephen Gordon, the executive Director of BJS, was surrounded by a sea of smiles as this young team (the business celebrates its first anniversary next month) quite rightly revelled in their glory.
Olive the Sausage Dog unfortunately couldn’t make the ceremony, in true superstar style! Apparently there is a fab beer garden at the Junction Bar, which was one of things that impressed the judges, so guess where you’ll find me next summer!!
Next up was the Best Newcomer Award and I always love to see this category because it shows that this industry and venues in my beloved County are thriving.BHP Accountants sponsor this award and their tax partner, Chris Humphreys was on hand to present the accolade.
Bottle & Thyme, Odyssey Greek Restaurant, and The Spire by Stephenson’s all held their breath to see if they’d won. Victory went to Bottle & Thyme, much to their delight! Judges felt that this venue “demonstrates innovation” and provides “a pleasant restaurant in a nice atmosphere”.
The winning team gracefully acknowledged the fact that “a lot of hard work is needed to be best newcomer”, saying that they “like to celebrate and enjoy life, and cook good local food”. Sounds a good philosophy to me :)
East Midlands Chamber is the sponsor of the Best Customer Service title and Bottle &Thyme, Junction Bar, and The Lilypad Café were all in the running for this accolade.
Geoff Poyzer, chairman of the chamber, presented the award to Bottle & Thyme, who had barely returned to their seats from picking up the Newcomer award! Judges were bowled over by “excellent service at all the finalists’ venues”.
They themselves were clearly over-the-moon with this award, commenting “we weren’t expecting a second award of the evening at all” before thanking all their team for their efforts.
Chesterfield College not only provided the venue for this year’s award ceremony, they sponsored the Food Producer of the Year category too, and Frank Smith OBE (Chair of the College Corporation) took to the stage to present the award.
Contenders in this category were Granny Mary’s Original Recipes, Northern Tea Merchants, and Teresa Lambarelli’s. This accolade went to Teresa Lambarelli’s, who was clearly thrilled to receive it as she thanked all her staff for their hard work.
Businesses like top quality venues at which to hold their meetings or conferences, and demand high standards of facilities. Casa Hotel, Peak Edge Hotel, and Proact Stadium are all at the top of their game, which is why they were the short-listed nominees in this Conference Venue of the Year category sponsored by Mitchells Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers.
To be in contention for this award the venues must be able to cater for events of 120+ guests and be within a 6 mile radius of Chesterfield. The accolade went to Casa Hotel thanks to their “incredible service and support” in the judges opinions. Casa’s team were “over the moon” to receive their prize saying that the staff all “work very hard” and that they were sure it would “ mean a lot” to owner Steve Perez to have this award.
As with the Marketing Derby awards that His Nibs and I attended earlier in the month, the Food Hero award nominees weren’t pre-announced so everyone in the room waited expectantly to see who this would be awarded to.
The very deserving winner was Paul Maude who has returned to his Alma Mater and now nurtures the future talent as leader of the Catering and Tourism departments at Chesterfield College. Paul was clearly very emotional as he picked up the award from one of his previous students, Adam Yeomans who is himself Conference and Banqueting supervisor at Casa Hotel.
In his speech Paul said that he “just loves the job of teaching future talent”, humbly acknowledging that “it’s not just me, it’s the team” that make the magic happen.
The evenings’ last award was Restaurant of the Year, sponsored by Chesterfield Borough Council and presented by Councillor Tricia Gilby. The three finalists were Blu Bistro and Coffee House, Cocina at Casa Hotel, and Lombardi’s. Judges’ comments included “there was an original, creative menu”, and “This hidden gem far exceeded expectations” and the deserving winners were Blu Bistro and Coffee House.
This business is only about 13 months old, so it was no surprise that the team were very emotional as they picked up their award. Chefs Adam and Josh were praised by owner Debbie and her husband Shaun for their skill and hard work as well as Ruby, another member of the team.
And so, with the formal awards done and dusted it was time for everyone to say their farewells and carry on celebrating their wins (because let’s face it, if you’ve been nominated you’re a winner due to being short-listed from many entries). Before we left we finally had chance to say hello and have a chat with James Pogson from Northern Tea Merchants and Tracey Wallis from Pekoe Cafe and Tea Rooms. Will Sutherland and Sylvia of Granny Marys fame came over to say Hi (gosh, that young man looked dapper in his Tux!) and we passed on our regards to Wills’ lovely father, Alistair, who sadly couldn’t make the event.
The Man Bird and I returned to our Ibis Hotel chattering away about what a fantastic evening we’d had. City Taxis were the events Transport partners and I just want to say what a cracking job they did of getting all the guests to the venue on time, and being there promptly for the carriage time of 11.30pm. The taxis were clean and the drivers very courteous, so I would definitely use these guys again in Chesterfield.
The staff team at Ibis Chesterfield also deserve their own mention. Everything from check-in to check-out was seamless and conducted in a friendly, but efficient way. We had paid for breakfast too and this was a help yourself buffet-style operation. The tureens of hot items were regularly checked and refreshed, and there was a large selection of breads and pastries to choose from as well as yoghurts, cereals and fresh fruit salad. I would happily use this venue again for stop-overs. Fancy it isn’t , but it’s clean, budget friendly and the staff know their stuff.
Many thanks to Destination Chesterfield and In The Works P.R for inviting us along, and huge congratulations to all the finalists :) We had a wonderful evening thanks to your generous hospitality and the sheer hard work that everyone put into this event. To Chesterfield College and all the students and lecturers that helped pull this event off, I can only say thank you for your gracious hosting and bow to your skill and dedication.
Executive Chefs Ian Matthews and Simon Ashton can rightly be proud of their students, and the hairdressing department students did a fantastic job of making sure all the team looked “on point”. Here’s to the future of you all, may it shine bright :)
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