I’m not much of a banqueting man but I make an exception for the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards.
At first glance the opulence conjured up at Royal & Derngate, where the main auditorium is transformed into a vast and glittering dining venue filled with the great and good of local catering, might seem like precisely the kind of event I should be avoiding.
But as it proved once again with its 2024/25 event last week, our food and drink awards is no ordinary banquet.
You could interpret it as a kind of end of season do for the people who work so hard creating the distinctive flavours and produce we enjoy every week in our own treats and celebrations, budgets permitting.
But as the event’s MC Anna Murby once reminded me (returning to marshal the evening immaculately with a steel fist in sequinned glove): “This is not the end of their season, they are about to go into the most important part of it.”
Maybe the frisson in the awards night air is the crackle of competitiveness and an understandable desire to be recognised in a process that includes public votes, expert judges, nominations and secret shoppers to decide who gets the gold, silvers and bronzes.
But underneath all that, and fair enough there is some of that, there is also the knowledge that the approaching festive season might hold the key to these businesses’ whole year and perhaps ultimately their survival.
The food and drink sector contains a huge number of small businesses, family businesses and start ups. The jeopardy for them is very real if they take the wrong risk or their ideas fail.
The pictures from the event reveal a congregation who have come dressed as the very best versions of themselves and yes, there are the King’s representatives, ennobled patrons and big hitters from big local companies you may have heard of like Mercedes and Weetabix. Alongside them, however, are the pubs who have brought their bar staff and the kitchen table entrepreneurs whose world is a million miles away from the corridors of the powerful.
Recognition in the awards can lead to a surge in demand for a product and restaurants have reported as much as a 20 per cent increase in footfall if they win something. This is far from a meaningless end of season ego tickle. It is much more like warriors collecting their magic swords before they head into the most important battle of the year.
At our table were Vicki and John from Towcester Mill Brewery (finalist in Food and Beverage Achiever of the Year), the chef and manager from Saffron Fine Indian Dining in Brackley (finalists in World Cuisine Restaurant of the Year) and the crew from The Hopping Hare who have had prize winning chefs and runners up awards in the past but this year along with Hibiscus at Delapre they were awarded Gold in Restaurant of the Year. It was quite something to see it dawning on their faces that this was going to be a bigger night than they had initially anticipated. It was no surprise to see The Hopping Hare get honoured. It is one of the places beloved by showbiz types who are doing a night or two at Derngate and are looking for a quality bite to eat.
Pop star and local hero Billy Lockett was on stage to hand over the awards and once everything was handed out the room loosened up considerably as some headed for the dancefloor while others headed for the door. It’s a moment of opportunity to check in with people who are in that limbo between staying and going. After my customary hello to the Guv’nor of all governers Morcea Walker, I was fortunate enough to meet Georgina Jeyes who received an award for her Outstanding Contribution to Food and Drink. Jeyes of Earls Barton (the revivers of Northamptonshire Sauce) has a heritage and rollcall of achievements that far exceeds the space I have to give it here and the award is well deserved indeed.
If there are eateries, drinks or products that you think are deserving of recognition then you can help them become part of what awards organiser Rachel Mallows described as the “Food and Drink Awards family” by nominating them when next year’s awards are launched.
For a full list of categories and winners check out the food and drinks awards Facebook page here
