FOOD championS

Related tags Pub company pub Public house Chef

In a transformational year for the pub-food market, our awards celebrate those leading the field Our annual competition to find the best chefs, food...

In a transformational year for the pub-food market, our awards celebrate those leading the field

Our annual competition to find the best chefs, food developers and concepts in the UK pub industry was this year hotter than Gordon Ramsay's temper.

Last year was transformational for the pub-food market: the introduction of the English and Welsh smoking bans saw heavy food investment by many managed

operators, while hundreds of traditional

wet-let pubs lost their pub-food virginity to

counter the impact and help attract new customers such as families and females through their doors.

The smoking ban has seen the increasing trend of pubs becoming a one-stop shop

for food, with everything from breakfast, coffee and afternoon tea to main meals

on offer at one site. And innovation

continued to thrive, with operators raising their game to compete in this increasingly competitive market.

This year's awards feature nine categories in our chefs' competition, five people awards and three pub company awards. The PubChef Food Excellence Awards combine our prestigious chefs' competition with pub company food awards, celebrating food excellence and innovation across the industry.

It has been an exciting journey since we launched our search for our awards finalists in June. The chefs' competition, now in its fourth year, saw 30 chefs battling it out in 10 categories to be crowned category winners and vie for the overall title of PubChef of the Year 2008 in our category cook-offs. These cook-offs cover all areas of pub menus, from bar dishes and pub classics to desserts. Developing the rising stars of tomorrow is essential to the future of our industry - the Young Pub Chef category, open to chefs aged 21 and under, celebrates the rising stars of pub kitchens.

Our finalists, who were selected following a paper judging, were invited to demonstate their culinary skills and knowledge in front of a panel of top judges.

The chefs had to create dishes that

would feature on their pub's menu. No pre-prepared ingredients were allowed.

Our people awards recognise the

importance of individuals working in pub food and include Food Pub Manager, Catering Development Professional and

the Special Achievement award, which

recognises individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the pub food industry.

Our Pub Company awards celebrate food development and innovation within multiple operators in the last year.

Winners at a glance....

Young Pub Chef

Jack Bloomfield, JSW

Global Cuisine

James Rogers, the Dog