Ross Williams, who left London
five years ago to buy the Wellington, in Wellington, Herefordshire,
with his wife, Philippa, scooped the top title in the PubChef Food
Excellence Awards.
The winners were announced at a glittering awards ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane, London. The awards are organised and sponsored by PubChef, the food magazine of the leading trade newspaper The Morning Advertiser.
Tony
Hughes, who stepped down after a decade as boss of Mitchells &
Butlers pub restaurant division at the end of 2007, has been awarded
the PubChef
Food Excellence Awards’s Special Achievement award for 2008.
Hughes has been described by industry peers as the "godfather of casual dining in the UK".
Pub Company of the Year(branded) was awarded to Orchid and Pub Company of the Year(unbranded) to Brunning and Price.
Food concept of the year went to Mitchells and Butlers for their steakhouse concept Miller & Carter.
Vince
Glouton from Fullers was awarded catering development professional of
the year and John Taylor from the Punch Tavern, Fleet street, London,
scooped the award for food pub manager.
As well
as picking up the top gong, Ross Williams also won the meat category
for his dish of roast rack and faggot of speckled faced lamb with roast
garlic mash.
James Rogers from the Grundisburgh
Dog, Grundisburgh, Suffolk, was awarded first place in the global
category for his dish of Tandoori baked rabbit.
He also won the pub classics category with his dish of venison and liver and bacon.
James and his former chef Sam Browes scooped first place in the team category.
Jack
Baker from the Cricket Inn, Totley, Sheffield, won the seafood category
for with his chowder of British Isles seafood with Old Bay spice and
shrimp toast.
Jack also picked up first place in
the game category for his dish of local honey-roasted Chatsworth
partridge, crispy game dumpling, creamed savoy cabbage and duck-fat
roast potatoes.
Jack Bloomfield won young pub
chef for his dish of pan-seared scallops on risotto finished with
fennel and Pernod; bar dishes went to Michael Ward from the Highwayman
in Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancashire for his English tapas of pea dipping
pots; Neil Clark from the Linnet in Great Hinton, Wiltshire won the
poultry category with his dish of roast breast of mallard with parsnip
and apple rosti; and Annette Brassey from the Crown in Roecliffe, North
Yorkshire won the desserts category with her trio of Wakefield rhubarb.
The full list of winners were;
Special achievement - Tony Hughes
Catering development professional – Vince Glouton, executive chef, Fuller Smith & Turner
Pub company of the year, unbranded - Brunning & Price
Pub company of the year, branded - Orchid
Food concept of the year - Miller & Carter
Young pub chef - Jack Bloomfield, Lickfold Inn, Lickfold, West Sussex
Seafood - Jack Baker, head chef, the Cricket Inn, Totley, Sheffield
Pub classics - James Rogers, Grundisburgh Dog, Grundisburgh, Suffolk
Meat category - Ross Williams, head chef/owner, the Wellington, Wellington, Herefordshire
Poultry - Neil Clark, head chef, the Linnet, Great Hinton, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire
Game - Jack Baker, head chef, the Cricket Inn, Totley, Sheffield
Desserts - Annette Brassey, Pastry chef, Crown, Roecliffe, North Yorkshire
Bar dishes winner – Michael Ward, head chef, the Highwayman, Burrow, Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancashire
Global cuisine winner – James Rogers, chef patron, the Grundisburgh Dog, Grundisburgh, Suffolk
Team category winners – James Rogers and Sam Browes, chef patron, the Grundisburgh Dog, Grundisburgh, Suffolk
