The Keen Nutrition Team has entered Richard Branson’s #VOOM Pitch to Rich competition.
The first round of this multi-round competition involves a public vote.
If enough votes are generated, Keen will be provided with the opportunity to pitch to Richard’s team in Belfast on April 28th.
Cast your vote now on this link to vote for Keen Nutrition
The Ulster Regional Final of the Irish Restaurant Awards, in association with The Irish Times, took place in The Titanic Belfast last night and named the top restaurants in the nine counties 2015.
Over 500 restaurant owners and staff celebrated their hard work and achievements at the Awards, which saw many well-known restaurateurs of Ulster, turn out to see if they had won one of the prestigious awards.
Speaking at the awards last night, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins said; “The Irish Restaurant Awards celebrate their seventh year this year and have become the Island’s biggest food awards. The credibility that these awards have is reflected in the amount of nominations they received this year- over 30,000 votes were cast across nine categories, showing that these are the awards that everyone wants to win.
“The Irish restaurant scene is internationally recognised for its high calibre of restaurateurs and chefs. These awards celebrate the people that make the restaurant sector the dynamic and exciting industry it is. They are the people who provide 72,000 jobs to our economy and generate revenue in excess of €2 billion. We’re recognising the talent, hard work and commitment that everyone here gives to the food industry. Tonight, everyone is a winner.”
All County winners now compete for the Regional and All Ireland Title which will be announced at the Irish Restaurant Awards in the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, Dublin on Monday 25th May, 2015.
Best Restaurant – Sponsored by Dalcassian & Wakefield Wines
Antrim- OX
Armagh- The Moody Bar
Cavan- MacNean House and Restaurant
Derry- Browns Restaurant & Champagne Lounge
Down- The Boat House Restaurant
Fermanagh- Watermill Lodge Restaurant
Tyrone- Black Cat Restaurant
Best Chef – Sponsored by La Rousse Foods
Antrim- Danni Barry of Deanes EIPIC
Armagh- Sean Farnan of The Moody Boar
Derry- Eddie Attwell of Ardtara Country House
Down- Mark Doran of Restaurant 23 at Balmoral Hotel
Fermanagh- Noel McMeel of The Catalina Restaurant at Lough Erne Resort
Tyrone- James Devine of Black Cat Restaurant
Best Gastro Pub – Sponsored by Bunzl McLaughlin
Antrim- The Morning Star
Armagh- Digby’s Bar & Restaurant
Derry- Mary’s Bar
Donegal- The Village Tavern
Down- The Poacher’s Pocket
Fermanagh- Café Merlot
Tyrone- The Brewer’s House
Best Casual Dining – Sponsored by Total Produce
Antrim- Graze
Armagh- Uluru
Cavan- Ashcourt at Crover House Hotel
Down- Art Bar Funkel
Fermanagh- Franco’s Restaurant
Tyrone- Deli On The Green
Best Hotel Restaurant
Antrim- The Bushmills Inn Restaurant
Armagh- Newforge House
Derry- Ardtara Country House
Down- Restaurant 23 at Balmoral Hotel
Fermanagh- The Catalina Restaurant at Lough Erne Resort
Tyrone- The Kitchen Restaurant at Tullylagan Country House Hotel
Best Customer Service- Sponsored by TheTaste.ie
Antrim- Upstairs at Joe’s
Armagh- The Portmor Bar & Restaurant
Derry- Church Street Restaurant
Down- Rayanne House Restaurant
Fermanagh- Dollakis
Tyrone- The Brewers House
Best Wine Experience – Sponsored by Classic Drinks & Massottina
Antrim- OX
Armagh- Uluru
Derry- Browns Restaurant & Champagne Lounge
Down- The Oak Restaurant at Slieve Donard
Fermanagh- Café Merlot
Tyrone- Black Cat Restaurant
Best Kids Size Me in Ulster – Sponsored by Heinz & Kids Size Me
The Governor Rocks, Ulster
Best Restaurant Manager in Ulster– Supported by Tindal Wine and Emiliana Vineyards
Saul McConnell of Deanes Deli & Bistro, Ulster
Best Newcomer – Sponsored by Elavon
Antrim – Deanes EIPIC
Armagh – 4 Vicars
Derry – Harry’s Shack
Down – The Poacher’s Pocket
Best Emerging Irish Cuisine in Ulster – Sponsored by Odaios Foods
Ardtara Country House, Ulster
Belfast Metropolitan College Curriculum Manager Harry Robinson and Caoimhe Mannion, Tesco’s Marketing Manager in Northern Ireland, tuck into a plate of local produce to launch the new Tesco-backed competition open to students on Belfast Metropolitan College’s professional chef programmes.
With them are top chefs Stephen Toman (OX Belfast) and Danni Barry (Deanes Eipic) who will judge the entries.
The overall winner of the culinary contest will be named Tesco Homegrown Student Chef of the Year, enjoy a meal for four at the OX or Eipic restaurants in Belfast, collect a winner’s trophy and, along with other finalists, be treated to a masterclass with Danni and Stephen.
To enter the competition cookery students have to create a meal, featuring a starter and main course, which highlights Northern Ireland produce to the maximum.
Bell Isle Castle and cookery school have exclusive on-line offers including:
July & August Mid-Week Family Package
Come and experience our lovely July & August mid-week family package at Belle Isle.
Take that well deserved break and enjoy what Belle Isle and beautiful county Fermanagh has to offer.
Stay in one of our newly refurbished 4* self catered Cottages for 3 mid-week nights and get all these goodies included too:
4 for 3 Mid Week Nights
Morning Coffee in the Kissin’ Crust (Lisnaskea) children U5 go FREE – delicious home baked goodies.
Dinner in Franco’s Restaurant before 7pm ‘Family Meal Deal’ – £18.50 for 2 courses and each child receives a Party Bag.
Kayaking at the Share Discovery Center – a family of 4, 2 tandem Kayaks for an hours for £24.00
From £300 – £420
To redeem this offer, please call Reception on +44 (0)28 6638 7231
Enjoy your Easter at Tullylagan Country House Hotel
Sunday 5th April
The Kitchen: 12pm-4pm
4 Course Signature Lunch
Adults £18.95 Kids £10
Harrys Bar and Bistro
Open all day
Serving from 12pm
For bookings call 028 867 65100
wwww.tullylaganhotel.com
Please find more details below
A Taste of Success at the 2015 NIFDA Awards for the LegenDerry Food Fest
Derry City Council was delighted to pick up a major award in the Ulster Bank 2015 Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards, which are recognised as one of the most important food awards in Northern Ireland’s business calendar. 100,000 private sector jobs in Northern Ireland depend on the agri-food supply chain with an industry turnover of £5bn.
The awards are developed by The Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association (NIFDA). 2015 marks the 13th Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards. Food and drink, is blazing a trail through the recession showing significant resilience and growth. Derry’s LegenDerry Food Fest was highly commended in the Best Event/Initiative for Promoting Quality Local Food and Drink category. This award was sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The LegenDerry Food Fest is a 3-day event to promote food provenance and ‘legendary and local’ produce in a fun and engaging way. The event is one of the largest food festivals in Ireland attracting 36,000 visitors. The Fest engages 40 chefs from across 19 restaurants and drives the destination as a must visit Food Tourism Destination. To give an authentic NI flavour, the focus was ingredients ‘caught here not brought here’ and ‘grown here not flown here”. The brand for the event was hugely imaginative with the icon of the plate with the city’s Peace Bridge as knife and fork.
Mary Blake, Tourism Development Officer and event organiser, was thrilled that the council received this award. “We gained an award against eight other major events, coming second only to the fantastic Food Pavilion at Balmoral Show. This NIFDA award is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our chefs, producers and suppliers who are so keen to develop our ‘LegenDerry Food’ brand. We are thrilled that the DETI minister recently announced 2016 as year of food as this provides an unprecedented opportunity for the region to showcase our LegenDerry food.
Mayor Cllr Brenda Stevenson extending her congratulations on the success of the festival, said it was a fantastic coup for the city and for the festival. “The Legenderry Maritime Festival is a fantastic event that showcases the local food industry and celebrates the city’s abundance of quality products. I am delighted that the festival has been awarded in this way and would like to extend my congratulations to everyone involved in making the festival such a success.”
The LegenDerry Food works with artisan producers and local suppliers from farmers to fishermen, dairies, patisserie etc. The programme unites the entire city behind a local provenance food brand, across the supply chain profiling locally sourced fresh ingredients and traditional recipes, as well as those with a contemporary twist. The event includes a massive Boulevard of Chefs where visitors can try and buy local produce. The event also included the LegenDerry Food Fair with over 40 NI artisan food producers including Taste Award winners and winners at the World Cheese Awards. Some of the local suppliers included Sperrins Blue Cheese, Flossies Fudge, Eva Macaroons, Abernethy Butter, O’Connaill’s Chocolates, Broighter Gold, Lough Foyle Mussel’s, Local Ice-cream and artisan brewers etc
Louise Millsopp, Head of Supply Chain Development Branch with the Department
of Agriculture and Rural Development was delighted to see LegenDerry win a major award. ‘Derry City Council should take great pride in achieving this recognition. The Legenderry Food Fest certainly punches well above it’s weight and is a superb showcase of what is good about the food that we produce in Northern Ireland. It has made a significant contribution to the northwest economy and I look forward to seeing it in the calendar for more years to come’.
Caption: Mayor Cllr Brenda Stevenson pictured with Derry City Council’s Tourism Development Officer Mary Blake along with Noel Lavery, permanent secretary with DARD, that funded the festival as part of its Regional Agricultural Food Programme pictured at the The Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association (NIFDA) Awards.