Food artistry and innovation was put in the spotlight last night, as Tate Britain played host to the third annual Young British Foodies awards.
Winners were announced in categories ranging from alcohol to meat via street food and coffee, with London-based creators scooping six out of the ten top spots.
The prize for Alcohol went to Carl Brown of Dishoom, for his part in creating the restaurant’s clever Indian-influenced cocktails. He beat contenders including Hawksmoor’s man of the bar Joshua Reynolds and the wacky Robin Collective from Bow, whose products include bitters designed to taste like historical characters as well as interactive tipple the ‘bizzaregarita’.
The Bow-based collective didn’t miss out on a gong, though. They won the coveted Experiential prize for both their creations and their imaginative events, such as this upcoming toast-building session at Drink, Shop & Do.
Creating some of the best cold-brew coffee around meant that Holloway-based Sandows London were a shoo-in for the Coffee category, while the Chef accolade — judged by names including Nuno Mendes of Chiltern Firehouse — went to Tomos Parry of Hackney’s unique restaurant-turned-roastery, Climpson’s Arch.
Blogger Misti Traya of chagrinnamontoast.wordpress.com won the Food Writing prize for her emotive tales of eating and cooking in London — we recommend you have a read. The Honorary award went to Dana Elemara, a born and bred Londoner with Iraqi heritage, who quit her job in the City to start producing and selling argan oil. She pipped Peckham-based cheesemaker Kristen Schnepp of the wonderful Gringa Dairy to the top spot.
Despite stiff competition from London outfits such as Breddos, the Street Food round was won by Dorset-based East Asian stall, Dorshi. The award was handed out by Kerb founder Petra Barran, who praised the capital’s immense street food scene but warned wannabe traders: “Don’t be boring, and don’t always do meat in a bun”. Sounds like a case of burger boredom to us.
See the full list of winners on the Young British Foodies website.
What other food and drinks innovators do you feel are worth an award? Let us know in the comments below.
