Poke, Ghanaian cuisine and root-to-shoot cooking: we’ve seen a lot of new trends blow up in the food and drink world in the UK in 2018. But on Thursday night, all eyes were on the future, as the scene’s new superstars from across the country were crowned at The Young British Foodies awards.
Now in its seventh year, it shines a light on passionate new chefs, front of house staff, producers and even farmers. It’s become somewhat of a crystal ball for predicting creative forces who will go on to become the best in their field - and that’s not just the farmers.
Previous winners have included Tomos Parry, Adam Rawson, Freddie Jansen and judges on the panel this year included big names in the world of food and drink like Yotam Ottolenghi, Nuno Mendes, Thomasina Miers and Fay Maschler.
The ceremony at London’s The Store kicked off with cocktails and smoked eel onigiri as the presenter for the night, Rosie Lovell, stepped up on stage.
It was straight in with the most coveted prize for best chef, which was given to a – very surprised looking – Roberta Hall from her restaurant The Little Chart Room in Edinburgh, which she runs with her husband, Shaun McCarron.
At the after-show party, Roberta described her cooking as “quite traditional but with a modern twist”.