Entries are now open for the Best Food Pub 2015 category in the Great British Pub Awards. The closing date for entries is Friday, 22 May, so don't delay get your entries in today. The Best Food Pub category recognises pubs for who food sales are at the heart of their business success.
Josh Eggleton, chef/licensee of the Michelin-starred Pony & Trap in Chew Magna, Somerset, winner of Best Food Pub 2014, explains what the award meant to him:
Best thing about winning a Great British Pub Award: “Winning a Great British Pub Award was a great experience for the team at the Pony & Trap. It’s always nice to be recognised by the industry for the hard work everyone puts in, especially from a sustainability and progression perspective.”
Business development: “It’s been a busy 12 months since the awards with the opening of Salt & Malt, a fish restaurant and tearoom just down the road from the pub at Chew Valley Lake.
We’ve also been busy developing new dishes for the Pony & Trap kitchens and planting a new orchard in the field next door, which will fruit for the first time next year and give us seasonal produce for the kitchen. We’ve been focusing more than ever on learning about our produce and being aware of the provenance of absolutely everything we use in our dishes.”
Eggleton also appeared on BBC Two’s Great British Menu 2014, and is once again at the helm of food festival Eat Drink Bristol Fashion which starts on 29 April in Bristol.
Both Salt & Malt and the Pony & Trap will be offering fine dining in tepees in the city’s Queen Square. Eggleton’s fellow south-west competitors in last year’s Great British Menu will also be putting on a South West Banquet as part of the festival, which also features a Top 50 Gastropubs dinner, featuring an eight-course tasting menu from four chefs — including Eggleton — in the Publican’s Morning Advertiser’s Top 50 Gastropub Awards 2015.
PR and marketing gains: “We had loads of social media about it and featured it on the pub’s website.”
Why enter: “Participating in these industry awards is a great way to focus the mind on constantly driving the business forward and recognising the achievement of the past year for the team.”
For more information and entry forms visit www.greatbritishpubawards.co.uk