The Ambrette Restaurant in Margate has been crowned Kent Restaurant of the Year at Produced in Kent’s ‘Taste of Kent Awards 2013.’ Dozens of the county’s food and drink heroes gathered at the Mercure Great Danes Hotel in Hollingbourne on Friday 8th March 2013, as Kent continues to confirm its place as one of the culinary hot spots in the British Isles.
This latest award for TV chef Dev Biswal’s fine Indian dining restaurant, the accolde follow on the heels of being declared Best Restaurant in the South East by the Cobra Good Curry Guide 2012 – despite not serving curry. www.patchapman.co.uk
The Ambrette is also a front runner in the Good Food Guide’s Readers’ Awards. www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/news/frontrunners
With ten companies being awarded Taste of Kent Awards for the first time, the 2013 awards the Produce in Kent hailed a “fresh generation of rising talent.”
The Ambrette won over the judges with its “well balanced menu, use of local seasonal ingredients, its lovely ambience and a contemporary marriage of Indian and English food.” The win saw The Ambrette eclipse Kent’s six Michelin-starred restaurants, including TV chef Richard Phillips’s Thackeray;s in Tunbridge Wells which was also a finalist.
The other category which annually creates the greatest public interest, was won by another newcomers, The George Inn, in Molash which win Kent Dining Pub of the Year.
Other winners were Cheesemakers of Canterbury, based in Faversham, which remarkably swept the board with three Taste of Kent Awards including Kent Artisan Producer, Best Kent Food Product and the Dairy Class in Kent Food Product Category – with its Bowyers Brie.
Kent Local Food Retailer of the Year, was picked up by former finalist Quex Barn of Birchington for the first time.
Little Stour Orchard in Margate picked up the Best Kent Juice Producer; despite 2012 being only its second harvest. Meanwhile, another young drinks’ producer, Duddas Tun, which has only been producing cider for three years from its own Pine Trees farm on the top of the North Downs near Doddington, secured Best Kent Cider or Perry. In the Kent Farmers’ Market went to newcomer Elm Court Farmers’ Market. Based near Hempstead, Gillingham, this new farmers’ market has been trading for less than a year. The Food Farming & Landscape Award was given to Winterdale Cheesemakers from Wrotham near Sevenoak. The Food Product Category Awards winners were Sloe, Dine Thyme and Roundwood Orchard Pig.
Gadd’s No 3 from Ramsgate Brewery won Best Kent Beer for the fourth consecutive, whilst Biddenden Vineyards again picked up Best Kentish Wine for its Biddenden Ortega 2011. Sankey’s of Tunbridge Wells, was again declared Kent Fishmonger of the Year; whilst Godmersham Game won Kent Butcher or Meat Retailer of the Year for the third consecutive year.
Edwyn Martin, manager at Produced in Kent, said: “These awards celebrate the very best of what our county has to offer and supports the fact that the ‘Garden of England’ is producing a rich, ripe, ethical and honest harvest with so many outstanding food and drink producers, retailers and hospitality providers in Kent. ”
The shortlist for the awards came from almost 15,000 public nominations, with each the finalists then being judged by an independent tasting panel, mystery diner or mystery shopper.
For a gallery of pictures from the evening visit: www.tasteofkentawards.co.uk
The Ambrette, 44 King Street, Margate Old Town, Kent CT9 1QE
T: 01843 231504
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