Velvet Food & Drink Awards: The shortlist revealed!

Here’s the news you’ve all been waiting for: public nominations for the 2024 Velvet Food & Drink Awards have now closed and we can finally reveal your shortlist. . .

Tearoom / Coffee Shop of the Year
Sponsored by: Manna Seoul

Cafe @Highgate, Willingham
Nominators said: “Superb service, delicious food made from fresh, local produce and an owner that has a real enthusiasm for all things food and life! A true hidden gem.”

Little Piggy, Fenstanton
Nominators said: “With great food, great ambience and friendly, welcoming staff, Little Piggy has become a social hub for the village of Fenstanton in the year that it has been open.”

Pages Coffee House, Cambridge
Nominators said: “The friendliest staff, the most delicious coffee and a HUGE selection of cakes. Also definitely the cosiest shop in Cambridge: feels like you’re in someone’s sitting room and you’re treated like family!”

Farm Shop / Deli of the Year
Sponsored by: Martin & Co

Morgan’s Butchery, Baythorne End
Nominators said: “A lovely independent family-run butchery. Miles, the owner and butcher, will go out of his way to help and get exactly what you need. He also has great knowledge of where the meat is sourced and great ideas of how to prepare and cook it, too! The meat is all from local farms and is excellent quality.”

Flourish Farm Shop, Hildersham
Nominators said: “Flourish supplies the freshest local produce as well as supporting other small businesses. Everyone at the farm is welcoming and incredibly knowledgeable about all they sell. A beautiful shop, consistently amazing quality produce and an excellent ethos.”

Meadows Cambridge
Nominators said: “Outstanding produce, beautifully presented, selected with such professional care, knowledge and a strong ethos. Amazing female founder who runs Meadows with a lovely team. It’s also so much more than a shop: it’s a community hub and a place that brings a smile to your face.”

Producer of the Year
Sponsored by: Howes Percival

Fiona Patissiere, Ely
Nominators said: “Fiona’s cakes have to be seen - and tasted! - to be believed. Her handmade chocolate bars are also incredible and all her ingredients are both top quality and responsibly sourced.”

Peichin’s Table, Cambridge
Nominators said: “Peichin’s products capture delicious flavours from across south Asian cooking but she is great at advising on how to use them in fusion cooking too, recommending ways to spice up everything from hummus to tortilla. Her kimchi is the best I have tasted. . .”

Sourdough Hub, Newmarket
Nominators said: “I love her passion for what she does. Consistent quality and taste that comes from the heart!”

Pub / Bar of the Year
Sponsored by: Thomas Ridley

Northstowe Tap & Social
Nominators said: “Honestly the best place I’ve been to for a while. It’s got the whole community together and is exactly what Northstowe needed. A bubbly, vibrant place with the loveliest staff and beers.”

The Bell Inn, Rickinghall
Nominators said: “Amazing staff and service; the place always has a friendly atmosphere. Great beers! The food, which uses local produce, is also always on point.”

Champion of the Thames, Cambridge
Nominators said: “I find the ‘Champ’ to be the most warm, friendly and hospitable pub that delivers exactly what I want and expect when I step in. Community seems very strong to the landlord, and you always feel as though you fit in amongst what seem to be quite familiar patrons. Of course the drinks are excellent!”

Street Food / Pop up of the Year
Sponsored by: Rutherford’s

Meated BBQ, Cambridge
Nominators said: “The food quality is outstanding, the taste is outrageous and I believe it’s the only place serving authentic Texan BBQ in the area. The guy who runs it has a massive passion for it; you can tell when you meet him how hard he works and the love that goes into his food. Definitely deserves some recognition for his small exceptionally run business!”

Oscar’s Lockdown Pizza, Cambridge
Nominators said: “Aside from making the best pizzas in Cambridge, always with fresh ingredients and amazing flavour combinations, Oscar’s has become an integral part of the community. From asking a local arts school for adults with learning disabilities to design their takeaway box to overhauling part of their kitchen to meet customer demand for gluten-free pizzas, Oscar and his team have gone far beyond offering up delicious food.”

Papas Locas, Cambridge
Nominators said: “This is my absolute favourite food van in the local area. The food is delicious: I love the chicky one and the cheesy, but am always so tempted by the specials - recently it was a Greek sausage with yoghurt sauce, so good - which keep the menu fresh and catch interest. All this served up by the two most friendly and hard-working people; it’s always great to have a chat with them.”

Restaurant of the Year
Sponsored by: Kale & Damson

Restaurant 22, Cambridge
Nominators said: “Sam Carter and the team go above and beyond for each visitor in the restaurant with ever-evolving dishes and using unique tricks of the trade to create amazing taste with every mouthful.”

Vanderlyle, Cambridge
Nominators said: “A vegetarian culinary delight. Set tasting menu only; the table is yours for the night. A relaxing atmosphere. Chef Alex creates amazing food - beautifully presented and with subtle flavours - and has a staff who take time to explain each course.”

Kibou, Cambridge
Nominators said: “A stunning restaurant with high quality ingredients and every dish beautifully served. The staff are friendly and welcoming from the moment you enter making it a truly special place to be. I love every minute of dining here.”

Chef of the Year
Sponsored by: Kale & Damson

James Carn, Lark, Bury St Edmunds
Nominators said: “Lark have smashed it from day one and James definitely deserves this award for persevering with his dream. Amazing food, reasonably priced, fun and relaxed atmosphere, great staff, national acclaim - what more could you want?”

Alex Harris, Puddini, Willingham
Nominators said: “Alex’s food is always exceptional, whether catering for an event or a la carte at Puddini’s ‘Hidden’ restaurant. Delivering modern takes on classic Italian cuisine, I’ve eaten possibly the finest piece of lamb I’ve ever had at Alex’s table. An experience I’ll never forget.”

Dan Fancett, Fancett's, Cambridge
Nominators said: “Dan’s French-inspired food is consistently impressive: the best of ingredients, artfully combined and skillfully cooked. His restaurant is as inviting as his menus; I’ll never tire of dining there.”

Hospitality Hero
Sponsored by: Cameron Hotel Collection

Midgar Coffee, Bury St Edmunds
Nominators said: “You’re guaranteed to get a warm welcome here! Special mention for Bella: she remembers everyone’s order and always finds time to have a chat and check in with customers. She is just a ray of sunshine.”

Ben's Yard, Ely
Nominators said: “This is a unique space combining many different types of hospitality, not just in their tea room or restaurant but with their events, community dog walk and lovely shop owners.”

Down Hall Hotel & Spa, Bishop’s Stortford
Nominators said: “This place brings people together to create memorable experiences - there’s so much happening socially.” “A beautiful venue in stunning grounds with the most attentive staff. Affordable luxury at its finest!”

Sustainability Hero
Sponsored by: TR. Events & Catering

Alkemy Distillery, Bury St Edmunds
Nominators said: “Made like rum but using locally grown sugar beet molasses instead of imported sugar cane, Alkemy sources its raw material from the sugar refinery a mere seven miles away, vastly reducing its carbon footprint. All of the locally produced sugar beet in Alkemy is grown by Red Tractor certified farmers.”

Sunshine and Green, Sudbury
Nominators said: “Amazing, organic produce. Greg is super hard-working, knowledgeable and passionate about the environment, treating the land well and farming in the best way possible. He grows some of the best, sustainable veg around and no one is more deserving of this award.”

Cambridge Organic
Nominators said: “They collect produce from a group of local organic farms to make up their veg boxes. That’s unique in their area. They also reduce food waste by tailoring the boxes and use greener packaging.”

Equality Hero
Sponsored by: Newmarket Racecourses

Cambridge Community Kitchen
Nominators said: “Functioning as an anarchist collective with no owners or managers – nor even a single full-time volunteer! – they nonetheless prepare 300 portions of hot, vegan food twice a week, and deliver it to over 100 addresses across the city. It is unique and special and hugely valued by the community of Cambridge.”

Abbey People, Cambridge
Nominators said: “The Abbey People Food Hub provides a community fridge, offering surplus food from supermarkets alongside locally grown donated fruit and veg. For those in extreme need, the Food Hub also provides store-cupboard essentials, sanitary products, toiletries and fuel vouchers.”

The EDGE Cafe, Cambridge
Nominators said: “The EDGE is a social enterprise run to provide a welcoming and supportive community space - and its vibrant cafe, serving wholesome and sustainable homemade food in a happy setting, is at the heart of the operation.”

Community Hero
Sponsored by: TREATT

Still Good Food, Bury St Edmunds
Nominators said: “These volunteer-run community food shops in Suffolk save food from waste and give all different kinds of people access to cheaper, more sustainable food. Perfect vision of a Community Food Hero!”

Diamond Hampers, St Neots
Nominators said: “Diamond Hampers provide support via basic necessities for individuals leaving care as well as emergency food hampers for those in need. The team also provides support with getting people referrals to the correct channels to keep them out of total poverty and improve their situation long term.”

Neil Bharadwa, The Cambridge Fruit Company
Nominators said: “A connector. A champion. A true community hero!”

Food & Drink Hero
Sponsored by: The Jockey Club Rooms

Ben Hutton, Bury St Edmunds
Nominators said: “Having opened his first restaurant aged 22, about 10 years ago, Ben is not only passionate about his own businesses - Queens and Crumbs - he tirelessly supports other people’s businesses too, making and sharing videos about the places he visits and, most recently, setting up ForkYeah solely to support other hospitality businesses.”

Charlotte Giddings, Bury St Edmunds
Nominators said: “Co-founder of Brownie and the Bean, Charlotte is one of the most inspirational women in the Suffolk food and drink scene. As a speaker, she is both hugely inspiring and infectious. Charlotte works in overdrive to get everything done and to be there for her young family; part of her motivation for starting a business in the first place.”

Tim Hayward, Cambridge
Nominators said: “Tim not only champions his own food business - Fitzbillies - and his books, but also invests in the talents of his current and former employees, such as Scott’s All Day.”

All the shortlisted businesses will now be judged by our panel of independent industry experts, with winners revealed on June 10 in a ceremony at Newmarket’s Jockey Club Rooms, headline sponsored by TR. Events & Catering. For more information see: velvetfooddrinkawards.co.uk