Bristol Bites named Best Food Blog at food Reader Awards 2013

Exciting news this week, as Bristol Bites has been named Best Food Blog at the food Reader Awards 2013!

The award recognised Bristol Bites for its commitment to keeping Bristol residents and visitors up-to-date with the food and drink goings on in the city.

Voted for by readers, the food Reader Awards names some of the best-loved food and drink businesses and personalities in the South West.

In its second year, the food Reader Awards received thousands of votes as South West consumers flew the flag for the places where they love to eat, drink and shop across the region. From best-kept secrets to foodie household names, consumers named the best foodie pubs, cafes, retailers, restaurants, hotels, local drinks, local chefs and local food products as well as their local food hero.

The Best Food Blog category was a brand new category for this year’s awards, and I can’t believe that I won! It’s great to be recognised for something that really is a passion of mine, and I’m so grateful to all the Bites readers who voted for me when I was shortlisted!

Jo Rees, editor of food magazine, said:
‘Last year we launched the food Reader Awards and they were a great success. This year it’s gone up a notch with readers voting in their thousands, an increase in the number of categories to 10 in light of it being food’s 10th birthday this year and we’ve also created a sophisticated online voting mechanism.

‘The awards are well supported by sponsors Darts Farm, Hartnoll Hotel, Total Produce, Regency Wines, Frobishers Juices and Michelmores solicitors and we were pleased to have the sponsors at the awards last night to hand out the gongs. The awards are beautiful heavy pieces of glass, handmade at Dartington Crystal in North Devon.’

The winners of the food Reader Awards 2013 were announced at a glittering ceremony at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter on January 7, 2013.

The awards ceremony also celebrated food magazine’s 10th birthday, with a special cake designed by Kate Shirazi of Cake-A-Doodle-Do. The magazine started life in a spare bedroom in Devon and has grown to cover the whole of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Bath, Bristol and Gloucestershire.

From across the West Country, the winners are:

Local Food Hero (sponsored by Hartnoll Hotel)
Winner: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Runners-up: Michael Caines MBE, Nathan Outlaw, Ben Prior, Emily Scott

Best Restaurant (sponsored by Total Produce)
Winner: Ben’s Cornish Kitchen. Marazion, Cornwall
Runners-up: Oliver’s, Falmouth; The Muset, Bristol; Wild Garlic, Nailsworth; Seagrass Restaurant, St Ives

Best Foodie Pub (sponsored by Salt Media)
Winner: The Sea Trout Inn, near Totnes, Devon
Runners-up: The Jack in the Green, Exeter; The Ferryboat Inn, Falmouth; Fisherman’s Arms, Plymouth; Victoria Inn, Penzance; The Gurnard’s Head, Penzance; St Kew Inn, Churchtown

Best Cafe (sponsored by Frobishers)
Winner: Porthminster Beach Cafe
Runners-up: The Coffee Den, Pylle; Bel Green, Exeter; Duchy of Cornwall Nursery Cafe, Lostwithiel; Relish, Wadebridge; Cafe Ode, Shaldon; Rock Salt Cafe, Plymouth; Twentysix Cafe, Teignmouth/Dartmouth; Toast, Honiton; Woods Cafe, Cardinham

Best Chef (sponsored by the Regency Wines)
Winner: Emily Scott, The Harbour Restaurant
Runners-up: Ken Symons, Oliver’s; Ben Prior, Ben’s Cornish Kitchen; Jethro Lawrence, The Muset; Lee Groves, Seagrass Restaurant

Best Drink
Winner: Tribute, St Austell Brewery
Runners-up: Luscombe Drinks, Orchard Pig, Bridge Farm Cider, Camel Valley Vineyard, Sharp’s Brewery

Best Foodie Product (sponsored by Michelmores)
Winner: Cornish Sea Salt
Runners-up: Marshfield Ice Cream, Pieminister Pies, Yeo Valley Yoghurt, Riverford Veg Boxes, Sharpham Cheese, Cornish Yarg, Kernow Sausage

Best Foodie Hotel (sponsored by Darts Farm)
Winner: Watergate Bay Hotel
Runners-up: Gidleigh Park, Chagford; The Magdalen Chapter, Exeter; Combe House, Honiton; Driftwood Hotel, Portscatho

Best Retailer
Winner: Waitrose
Runners-up: Darts Farm, Topsham; The Cheese Press, Torquay; Pipers Farm Shop, Exeter; Jon Thorner’s, Somerset; Riverford Organics, Buckfastleigh

Best Food Blog
Winner: Bristol Bites
Runners-up: Country Wood Smoke, Wuthering Bites, Can Be Bribed With Food, Canapes, Cupcakes and Cocktails