The Good Food Guide has announced its top eateries and award winners. Alongside the finest dining establishments in the country, the Guide, owned by Waitrose & Partners, celebrates quality eateries in local areas such as Wine & Brine in Moira and new discoveries including Six by Nico in Belfast. The top-scoring restaurant in Northern Ireland is Ox in Belfast.

Elizabeth Carter, Waitrose Good Food Guide Editor, says of the restaurant, “Stephen Toman’s place occupies snug but stylish premises overlooking the river Lagan, with Andy Scott’s Beacon of Hope sculpture just outside. A little creative redesign has exposed the kitchen to public view, but otherwise Ox is in a powerfully steady state, producing seasonally informed, imaginative tasting menus that concentrate on seducing the palate as well as the eye. Here, seasons aren’t defined as quarterly but weekly, emphasising the care that goes into sourcing.”

In total, Northern Ireland boasts 14 restaurants in the Guide, 8 of which are Food NI members. They are Ox, Belfast, Deanes Eipic, Belfast,  James St, Belfast, Wine & Brine, Moira, Il Pirata, Belfast, The Muddlers Club, Belfast,  Hadskis, Belfast and Harry’s Shack, Portstewart.

Other winners included Mourne Seafood Bar, Belfast Shu, Belfast, Yügo,Belfast, Six by Nico, Belfast , The Ginger Bistro, Belfast and The Bay Tree, Holywood, Co Down Northern Ireland has one new entry in this year’s Good Food Guide, which is Six by Nico.

Elizabeth Carter, Waitrose Good Food Guide Editor, says of the restaurant “From the Glasgow original of the same name, Nico Simeone’s enterprising formula of a six-course tasting menu that changes every six weeks has spawned two offshoots, in Edinburgh and here in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter. Small café tables on a parquet floor, with an open kitchen overseeing proceedings, form the setting for themes such as Childhood or The Chippie (the latter running from chips and cheese to – gulp – a deep-fried Mars bar).

The Good Food Guide is compiled by coupling reader feedback of eateries up and down the country with anonymous inspections by a team of experts.

The Good Food Guide is published by Waitrose & Partners on 12th September, available in Waitrose & Partners shops and online. RRP £17.99.

Genesis Crafty, a company which makes pancakes, scones, cakes and bread is investing £750,000 and creating 35 new jobs in Magherafelt. It comes after the business won new contracts for all year-round and Christmas products.

350 people already work at the plant which produces its own range of Genesis Crafty bakes and own-label cakes and breads for retailers including Marks and Spencer and Waitrose. A recruitment drive has now been launched. The positions include machine operators, supervisors, engineers and skilled bakers.

The company was sold as a private investment to Paul Allen, chief executive of Tayto Group, last August.

“This shows the significant progress that Genesis has made in the last number of months,” said Mr Allen.

“We have consolidated our operations, refined our distribution and sought to build upon the strong relationships that we have with premium retailers across the UK and Ireland.”

Foodies from across the borough and beyond will be delighted to learn that a new Taste of Greyabbey guided food tour will take place on Thursday 26 September!

Located around seven miles from Newtownards, this unique tour is based in the historic village which gained its name from Grey Abbey, a Cisterian abbey-monastery that dates from 1193.

The village boasts stunning views across Strangford Lough and has since become a food connoisseur’s paradise with a delectable selection of restaurants that offer first-class dining experiences.

‘Herbs, spices and botanicals’ provides the theme of the tour and it all starts on the Thursday evening at the physic garden in the grounds of Grey Abbey with an informative talk on the use of herbs for medicines and cooking.

There will be an opportunity to walk around the Abbey ruins before moving on to a four-course dinner that takes in four different restaurants – Lekker, Tuk Tuk Asian Bistro, Alchemy and ending at the historic Wildfowler Inn with their delicious autumn platter, local ales and evening entertainment.

It’s a truly mouth-watering prospect and as the dark nights start to close in, treating yourself to an exquisite guided food tour in the historic village of Greyabbey where you can enjoy stunning views, delicious food and a little bit of local history never seemed like a better idea!

Tickets cost £43 and booking is essential. Tickets are available from www.ticketsource.co.uk/ardsandnorthdown.

For more information, including a full menu, go to visitardsandnorthdown.com.

Entries now being accepted for the 2020 Lidl Northern Ireland Kick Start programme

Northern Ireland’s fastest growing retailer, Lidl, is serving up a taste of home this September as 11 new products from four local producers have been selected to go on sale across all 200 Lidl stores throughout the island of Ireland from September 2^nd for a limited period, while stocks last.

From fiery chocolate to succulent pulled meats, the locally made artisan products crafted in Northern Ireland have been selected as winners in this year’s Lidl Kick Start Supplier Development Programme.

The Kick Start Programme is designed to help small and medium size local food and drink producers grow their brand, build their supply network and reach new customer audiences.

Earlier this year, Lidl called on local producers to enter the programme and pitch their product to be stocked across all its stores. Producers across right the island of Ireland applied for the programme, with 11 new and exciting products from Northern Ireland passing the taste test and earning their place on the shelves this month.

This year’s winning range includes Erne Larder Marmalade with Whiskey from Fermanagh, Little Meat Co’s pulled meat range (chicken, turkey and pork), Oh So Lean ready meals (chicken curry, chilli chicken and spicy vegetable noodles), Oh So Lean smoked burgers (turkey and steak) and Wee ChoCo chocolate bars (honeycomb and chilli and lime) – all produced in County Down.

Speaking about the importance of Kick Start, chocolatier and Director of Wee ChoCo, Steph Fulton, said:

“The Lidl Kick Start programme is an unrivalled platform for a small company like ours to boost our business and achieve a higher level of exposure for our products and brand. We are delighted that one of Northern Ireland’s fastest-growing retailers has given its endorsement to our products for great taste and quality and we look forward to utilising its expertise to help make us export success story. We can’t wait to see where this programme takes us.”

Since taking part in the inaugural Lidl Kick Start Northern Ireland scheme last year, local producers have been enjoying the benefits that a boost from a major retailer can provide to smaller businesses.

As well as the limited edition in-store promotion, Kick Start also provides the ambitious companies with free business development seminars delivered by a panel of Lidl and wider industry experts, covering key disciplines such as quality control, packaging, communications and brand building.

Representing a major investment by Lidl into its local supplier network, the Kick Start programme is now open for applications for its 2020 scheme.

Northern Irish food and drink producers interested in applying can find out more information and submit their applications by visiting www.lidl-ni.co.uk/kickstart

Over 150 gastronomic experiences to tickle the taste buds

A 12-week celebration of Northern Ireland’s finest food and drink, tasty experiences and scrumptious adventures kicks off this week, encouraging people to ‘Taste the Island’ with an extensive range of events taking place throughout September, October and November.

‘Taste the Island’ is a three-year initiative developed in partnership between Tourism NI, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland that gives people a chance to savour and truly experience the world-class, mouth-watering food and drink offering in all corners of Northern Ireland.

The programme of events includes a number of regions with Armagh Food and Cider Festival from 19th September, Festival Lough Erne from 21 st September, the Taste Causeway Festival and Slow Food Festival Derry~Londonderry in October and Belfast’s Twilight Market in November.

Experiences across the autumn include a gourmet weekend of island delights on Rathlin, discovering the magic that goes into beer-making at the Whitewater Brewery Tour in Castlewellan, trying your hand at gin distilling at Hughes Craft Distillery in Moira or experiencing a live cookery demonstration with Niall McKenna at James Street Cookery School.

Tourism NI’s Food and Drink Development Officer Gary Quate is encouraging everyone to enjoy what’s on offer across Northern Ireland.

“We are running an extensive programme of events and experiences as part of Taste the Island, including everything from visits to food producers, food trails and food festivals, hands-on workshops and the chance to sit back and enjoy the best of modern local cuisine
in traditional pubs, restaurants and cafes,” said Gary.

“Tourism NI has been working with the food and drink industry on this initiative to showcase the best of our award-winning food and drink. We want to provide local and international visitors with experiences and events that will encourage them to discover our exciting local food scene and create lasting memories which will make them want to return,” he added.

Tourism NI is also offering those who try the local food and drink offering the chance to win some unique foodie experiences by sharing their experience on Instagram. To enter, simply post your #TastetheIsland experiences and tag @discoverNI, with an exciting weekly prize up for grabs, from cooking up a storm at Forestside Cookery School to gin tasting with the Shortcross Experience tour.

For the full programme and to book a Taste the Island experience this September, October
and November visit: www.discovernorthernireland.com/tastetheisland or follow #TastetheIsland

To learn more about the Tourism NI Instagram competition and for terms and conditions, visit: https://discovernorthernireland.com/about-northern-ireland/taste-the-island/taste-the-island-competition/terms-and-conditions/