Gold, silver and bronze awards given to Northamptonshire’s top restaurants and chefs
The winners of the 2022 Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drinks (WNFAD) awards have been revealed at a long-awaited black tie ceremony at the Royal & Derngate Theatre.
The competition, now in its fourteenth year, has received hundreds of nominations and entries in 15 categories from a wide range of ambitious and motivated individuals and businesses in Northamptonshire’s food and drink sector.
The awards aim to celebrate all that is great about local produce and beverages, recognizing excellence in restaurants across the county and rewarding those who work so hard in the culinary sector.
The results were announced at a dazzling awards dinner held at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton on Wednesday 12 October and here they are:
Local Craft Drink of the Year
– GOLD: Blue Aurora, English Blueberry Ice Wine
– GOLD: Stonyfield English Quality Sparkling Wine, Rosé
– GOLD: Gin Lactodorum Towcester, Wharf Distillery
– SILVER: Heidrun Session NEIPA, Three Hills Brewing
– SILVER: Fresh, Wild and Furrow Oat Drink
– BRONZE: Solstice Malt Whisky, Wharf Distillery
Local Artisanal Product of the Year (sponsored by Heygates Flour and Animal Feed)
– GOLD: Naked Dairy Gelato, Rocky’s Gelato
– SILVER: Northamptonshire Blue, Hamm Tun Fine Foods
– SILVER: Blueberry Lavender Jam, Mee Farmers
– SILVER: Sourdough White, Whittlebury Bakery
– BRONZE: Garlic and Fennel Salami, Northampton Charcuterie Company
– BRONZE: tomato and pepper chutney, canned green cooking
– BRONZE: Elderflower sorbet, Your Cool
Local Artisan Vegetarian/Vegan Product of the Year (Sponsored by Daily Bread)
GOLD: Oinkin’ Pattie from The Curious Vegan Co.
SILVER: Spicy Rhubarb Chutney from The Food Library
SILVER: Northampton Cheese Company Tongue Taster
BRONZE: Mille Pickles Cucumber and Dill Sauerkraut
BRONZE: Salma Shah’s Almond Coconut Granola
BRONZE: Sweet Lounge Raspberry Blue Vegan Bottles
Booker Dining Place of the Year (Sponsored by Booker)
GOLD: Electric Pavilion, Northampton
GOLD: Hibiscus Fine Dining, Northampton
GOLD: Ember Restaurant, Wellingborough
GOLD: The Arrogant Fox, Lowick
SILVER: The Butchers Arms, Greens Norton
SILVER: The Folly Inn, Towcester
SILVER: Tollemache Arms, Harrington
BRONZE: faucet and kitchen, Oundle
BRONZE: The Plow Inn, Shutlanger
BRONZE: The Rose and the Crown, Yardley Hastings
Booker Young Chef of the Year (sponsored by Booker)
GOLD: Hannah Dunne, Ember Restaurant
GOLD: Shawn Monk, The Falcon Inn, Fotheringhay
SILVER: Nicole Wicks, Rushton Hall
BRONZE: David Smith – The Palmichael
BRONZE: Matthew Heritage, The Falcon Inn, Fotheringhay
Community Cafe of the Year (supported by The Good Loaf)
GOLD: Saints Coffee, Northampton
SILVER: Cafe 1850, Northampton
BRONZE: Aspen Café, Bosworth Garden Center
BRONZE: Cafe Track, Northampton
BRONZE: Johnny’s Happy Place, Kettering
BRONZE: The Place to Bee, Kingsthorpe
Outstanding Contribution to Food and Drink in Northamptonshire Award (Sponsored by All Things Business)
Winner – Colin Richardson
Farm Environment Award (Sponsored by Weetabix Growers Group)
GOLD – Phillip Johnson & Daughters, Rectory Farm
SILVER – JA Knight & Son
F&B Director of the Year (Sponsored by Howes Percival LLP)
GOLD: Andy Collins – Whittlebury Bakery
SILVER: Aldo Gallone – E. Gallone Ltd
SILVER: Joe Buckley – Tollemache Arms
BRONZE: Suzy Keeping & Chris D’alessio – KDR Events
Food and Beverage College Student of the Year
GOLD: Bilal Ismail – Northampton College
GOLD: Tia ‘Echo’ Morris – Northampton College
SILVER: Elisabeth Knott – Moulton College
BRONZE: Luke Wolstencroft – Tresham College
BRONZE: Will McGowan – Tresham College
Healthy Food and Wellness Award (sponsored by Abbaye Delapré)
Healthy food and well-being – Producers
GOLD: Cucumber and Dill Sauerkraut, Millie Pickles
SILVER: Super Shake Chocolate Flavor – Nasty Vegan
SILVER: Organic Wheatgrass Juice – Britt’s Superfoods
BRONZE: Kebab-ish, Bite me Spices
BRONZE: Tomato and Red Pepper Relish, Friars Farm
Healthy Eating and Wellness Awards, Workplace
BRONZE: Northampton General Hospital
Local Food Hero of the Year (Sponsored by Moulton College)
GOLD: Towcester Community Pantry
BRONZE: Community Health Works UK CIC
BRONZE: Elliott Rectory Farm
BRONZE: Jamie’s Quality Butchers
One To Watch (sponsored by Whitworth Bros. Ltd Flour Millers)
GOLD: the flavors trailer
SILVER: Northampton Cheese Company
Weetabix Sustainability Award (sponsored by Weetabix)
SILVER: Jute Coffee Limited
SILVER: West Lodge Farm Park
Whitco Chef of the Year (sponsored by Whitco)
GOLD: Bart Polinski – Hibiscus Fine Dining
SILVER: Arturs Dzerins – Electric Pavilion
BRONZE: Ben Drury, The Red Lion, Cranford
BRONZE: Michael O’Gorman, University of Northampton, Waterside Campus
World Cuisine Restaurant of the Year (sponsored by British Pepper & Spice)
GOLD: Alacati Grill, Daventry
GOLD: Mewar Haveli, Northampton
SILVER: June Plum, Wellingborough
BRONZE: Pjayz Kitchen, Northampton
The evening began with official welcomes from Awards Manager, Rachel Mallows MBE DL of The Mallows Company, Jo Gordon of Royal & Derngate and Stuart Branch of main sponsors, Weetabix, before guests were treated to a meal of three courses made with ingredients from Northamptonshire.
Winners in all categories were presented with trophies by special guest presenter of the evening and journalist Helen Fospero, best known for her role as presenter on shows such as GMTV, Daybreak and Lorraine, who for the second year was the master of ceremony.
You can also follow the awards on Twitter and Instagram at @foodawardsHQ or on Facebook.
