The delighted winners of the Best of the Best Awards 2008.

The Captain’s Club Hotel played host to the Christchurch Food & Wine Festival’s glittering Best of the Best Awards ceremony last night (12 May).

More than 120 guests from across the town dressed in their finest and gathered to celebrate the prestigious event, and to discover who was lucky enough to scoop one of the coveted accolades.

On arrival, attendees were treated to a lavish champagne reception, followed by a three-course meal and hour-long Oscars-style awards ceremony.

Voted for by readers of the Daily Echo with the final decision made by a panel of judges, awards were presented to cover a variety of categories.

A night to remember

The Lord Bute Hotel and Scullery Tearooms had the most to celebrate, each scooping two awards. The Lord Bute took the ‘Best Restaurant’ and ‘Best Sunday Lunch’ awards and received a selection of commendable comments from the judges. These included: “It’s run with passion which is obvious from the food, atmosphere and environment” and: “There is real attention to detail, food is beautifully presented and there are plentiful varieties of food.”

Scullery Tearooms won the ‘Best Café or Tearoom’ and ‘Best Service’ titles whilst popular high street restaurant Splinters was named for providing the ‘Best Business Lunch’. Also honoured – amongst others – were ‘Best Takeaway’ Spice House and ‘Best Pub or Wine bar’ the Nelson Tavern.

In addition, special awards were presented to individuals in recognition of their unwavering contribution to the event. Honoured were Ian Hewitt from the Cliffhanger Café and the Daily Echo’s Shelley Gorham.

Festival founder and President, Mary Reader, said at the event: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the committee members who do so much behind the scenes. Without you, we wouldn’t be here tonight.”

As principal sponsor of the food festival, ICM Chairman Dr Alistair Somerville Ford was in attendance and presented awards to the delighted winners. He said: “Tonight really has been tremendous. The setting, the people and the food have all been wonderful – we really couldn’t ask for more. The food festival is getting bigger and better every year and tonight really is testament to the show’s importance to the business people of Christchurch.”

To discover more about the food festival and the Best of the Best Awards, click here

You can also read an in-depth feature on the festival by visiting ICM’s Social & Economic pages, or by clicking here

By Natasha Piscitelli