Voting has opened for the inaugural Nottingham Restaurant and Bar Awards – giving the Nottinghamshire public a say on which are the best places to eat and drink in the city and county.
Food and drink lovers can give their opinions online – and after voting closes on October 6 the nominees will be visited by anonymous judging panels.
The event is the creation of Big Table PR, which set up the competition as a follow-on for the Nottingham Restaurant Awards, which ran from 2003 until 2009.
The winners will be announced in a ceremony at Colwick Hall Hotel on January 31, hosted by television presenter Mark Durden-Smith.
Sat Bains, Nottingham’s only Two Michelin-starred chef, said: “It’s good to have the Nottingham Restaurant & Bar Awards back as any event that positively promotes the region and the hospitality industry is good news.
“I’ve always supported the nurturing and mentoring of young talent in particular so am keen to see their inclusion in these awards once again but we all, collectively, need to work hard to ensure that the right skill sets are being taught as a fundamental part of any youngsters’ armoury when coming into the industry.
“The talent’s definitely out there.”
There are 11 awards voted for by the public and a further 5 that are ‘industry only’.
Categories include Restaurant of the Year, Best Bar or Pub, and Nottinghamshire’s Best Kept Secret.
Best Young Talent, Front of House and Back of House require self-entry or recommendation by their own restaurants, or tutors.
Application forms for both these awards will be available to download from the website.
Deadline for entries for these two awards is the September 29. A cook-off for Best Young Talent, Back of House, will take place at The Adams Restaurant, supported by Nottingham College.
Sponsors of the event include Notts TV, who are backing the best independent out-of-town restaurant category.
