Finalists line up for top honours

We reveal the best of Scotland’s thriving food and drink scene

Finalists across 13 categories in this year’s Scotsman Food and Drink Awards have been announced after an intense judging process.

It took the judges four hours to compile a list of finalists who are in contention for the top titles, all of which are revealed over the following pages.

They will attend the awards ceremony at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) on 4 September when the winners will be announced.

Readers of The Scotsman were involved in the nomination process, having suggested their favourites for consideration by the judges.

The Scotsman’s events manager, Rebecca Thompson, said: “The hardest categories to decide were the Best Use of Scottish Produce and Best Chef because the judges were looking into exactly where everything that they used came from and that the chef was the best of the best.

“The Hidden Gem category was an interesting one because the judges had to do a lot of research as some of them had not heard of some of the nominations.

“They all agreed there were great entries here that really defined the category.

“The other category that stood out was Most Dedicated Food Blogger as the judges couldn’t believe the amount of energy these bloggers have to do this in their spare time and all agreed they couldn’t do it.”

The Hidden Gem title will be decided by Scotsman readers in an online poll which is open now. It will be announced at the awards night, which will be a glittering affair at the EICC.

Scotsman readers are invited to the event, which will include a reception, three-course meal and entertainment – tickets are still available.

The Scotsman’s judges are Taste founder and journalist Stephen Jardine, BBC Masterchef winner Gary Maclean, the Bay Fish & Chips Stonehaven chef Calum Richardson, manager at Dumfries and Galloway Food and Drink Lorna Young, director of Heriot-watt University’s International Centre for Brewing and Distilling Dawn Maskell, Sean Murphy of Scotsman Food and Drink, and the chef behind Six by Nico, Nico Simeone. n Foodie Explorers www.foodieexplorers.co.uk

The duo behind Foodie Explorers have amassed an impressive following of more than 19,000 on Twitter thanks to their honest reviews of all things foodie in Glasgow and beyond. The pair organise events including the Mcintosh Pastaval macaroni cheese competition and carry out food tours of the city. Glasgow Food Geek www.glasgowfoodgeek.co.uk This website grew out of blogger Pam Gilmour’s dedication to find Glasgow’s most interesting restaurants and bars when she moved there. The well-designed