Accolades for Devon’s finest food producers
FOOD and drink producers and representatives of Devon’s hospitality sector gathered in Plymouth last night to celebrate the very best the county has to offer at their industry’s first large face-toface get-together in 24 months.
More than 250 invitees to the tenth Food Drink Devon Awards were celebrating in style at a dinner at the New Continental Hotel, hosted by wine writer, presenter and broadcaster, Oz Clarke OBE. The meal was created by Food Drink Devon board director and Master Chef of Great Britain Peter Gorton, with Kit Harris, head chef at the New Continental.
“Devon is showing itself to be a thrilling part of Britain, using its wonderful natural resources to produce fabulous food and drink,” said Mr Clarke. “I’ve been eating Devon cheese and seafood and drinking Devon beer, cider and wine for as long as I can remember, and they’ve never tasted better!”
After the Covid-caused gap in normal proceedings, competition was fiercer than ever, especially in the ‘Taste of Devon Product Awards’, which attracted 250 product entries.
The prestigious ‘Product of the Year’ accolade went to Blakewell Smokehouse for their Superior Cold Smoked Devon Salmon, with judges commending “the soft and subtle smoke flavour” of the “best smoked salmon” they had ever tasted.
All the product entries were blindtasted by independent judges, who awarded eight items the faultless score of 100% and a ‘Platinum’ award. They were: Andrew King Chocolates and its Signature Nine; Blakewell Smokehouse for the ‘Product of the Year’ Superior Cold Smoked Devon Salmon; Burrow Farm @ Courtneys for its Red Ruby Rump Steak; Figgy’s luxury handmade Christmas Pudding; Hunt’s Cider’s Elfs Tipple; Lovaton Farm’s Lleyn Hogget Rolled Loin; The Dartmoor Ice Cream Company’s Raspberry Sorbet; and The Devon Fudge Company for its Barista Coffee Fudge.
Taste of Devon products achieving a score of 90-99% were awarded ‘Gold’ awards, of which there were 88, with a further 50 obtaining ‘Silver’ awards for scoring 85-89%.
This year’s prestigious ‘Best Fine Dining Restaurant’ award was presented for the second time to The Angel at Dartmouth. Taste of Devon judges said: “The food was sophisticated and sublime. This is the ultimate dining experience.”
The ‘Best Restaurant’ award went to the Two Bridges Hotel, Dartmoor, with judges praising the “sumptuous dining experience” and “attentive and faultless service”.
The White Hart Hotel, Modbury, won the ‘Best Pub’ category for “serving quality local fresh food – the highlight being the beef fillet”.
Torquay’s The Offshore Bar & Restaurant claimed the ‘Best Bar’ award, with judges applauding the “fantastic location with a vibrant atmosphere, friendly service and delicious food”.
Lynmouth Bay Café, Lynmouth, took home the accolade for ‘Best Café’, with the judges commenting: “We loved their cream tea and thought the Devon fudge donut (with clotted cream) was amazing.”
Previous Food Drink Devon award-winners Tambapanni, Braunton, once again claimed ‘Best Takeaway’, with judges commending the “delicious food and friendly service”.
In the ‘Retail Awards’, ‘Best Online Retailer’ went to Bovey Tracey’s Hamiltons Fish, with judges commenting on the “great retail experience, and extremely generous portion sizes”.
Strawberry Fields, Lifton, triumphed in the ‘Best Retailer’ category, impressing judges with “local, fresh and delicious produce, with nothing too much trouble for the staff ”.
Food Drink Devon’s spokesman said the group was committed to showcasing a county “where the use of fantastic quality, seasonal and local produce is standard”.
‘Devon is showing itself to be a thrilling part of Britain, using its wonderful natural resources’ OZ CLARKE