Kerridge, who is the new presenter of BBC Two’s Food & Drink, is presenting this year’s awards which are taking place on Monday, 26 January at Anglian Country Inns’ site Hermitage Road in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
His first pub the Hand & Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, which is the only UK pub to hold two Michelin stars, has topped the list for the past three years. The site has now been retired to the Budweiser Budvar Top 50 Gastropub Awards’ Hall of Fame. He and wife Beth opened a second pub in Marlow called the Coach in December.
The pubs ranked in the Top 50 Gastropub Awards list are based on the results of a prestigious industry poll of top chefs, food writers, gastropub operators themselves, industry body chiefs and pubco bosses. Four special awards will also be presented at the event to pubs in the Top 50 list. These are Highest New Entrant; Highest Climber; Gastropub Chef of the Year Chef of the Year and Wine List of the Year. The chef and wine award winners are selected from the Top 50 by a panel of industry experts.
Three awards, which are entered by pubs themselves, will also be announced. These are Newcomer of the Year, Front of House Manager of the Year and Business Innovation of the Year.
The finalists in these awards are: Business Innovation: Angel of Corbridge, Corbridge, Northumberland – fish and chip shop; Richmond Arms, West Ashling, Chichester – WoodFired and the Oast House, Spinningfields, Manchester – winter tepee. Finalists in Front of House Manager of Year are: Stelian Cristea theStar Inn, Harome, North Yorkshire; Luke Murphy - theAnchor, Walberswick, Suffolk; Mo Gherras - the Royal Oak, Paley Street, Berkshire and Angieszka Tyczka - theFreemasons, Wiswell, Lancashire. The five finalists in Newcomer of the Year are: the Truscott Arms, Maida Vale, London; the Packhorse Inn, Moulton, Suffolk; the Talbot, Mells, Somerset; the Jacobs Inn, Oxford and the Staith House, North Shields.
The awards are organised by the Publican’s Morning Advertiser. Title partner is premium Czech beer Budweiser Budvar. Associate partners are Appletiser and Highland Park whisky.