The winners of all 11 categories of this years awards, voted by you, have been crowned culinary champions. Bartholomew Hall reports.
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00:00The awards are ready, the finalists are arriving and in just a few moments time this room will
00:05be filled with those culinary experts and unsung food heroes from across the county
00:11and just a select few will be lucky enough to come up on the stage and collect one of
00:14the Kent and Medway Food and Drink Awards for 2025.
00:40After hundreds of nominations from readers, viewers and listeners of the KM Group the
00:44winners across 11 categories were announced at the Chilston Park Hotel in Maidstone by
00:49KMTV's very own Abbey Hook.
00:51The judges were looking for excellent food, drink, service and ambience and they found
00:56it in droves.
00:57It's literally just myself in the kitchen, so we change our menu every six weeks, we
01:01do a lunch and dinner menu, everything is sourced locally from all our suppliers, so
01:05fish, meat, veg, yes everything has got to be local, it's all cooked to order, nothing
01:10is frozen, that's what we strive on, giving the customer the best produce in front of
01:16them on the plate.
01:17And of course it's the customers that have voted for you to be here in the first place,
01:20so what do you have to say to them?
01:22Just a massive thank you, I'm very shocked, there's so many places in Kent that do this,
01:28we love eating out so I'm just very shocked at it.
01:31A huge privilege, we can't thank the people enough for nominating us and thinking of us.
01:37Thanks very much, thanks for believing in some of the more challenging elements.
01:41I'm happy to be here for the first time and to take this back to the team.
01:46We love our customers, we like having a good chat with them and we're very lucky.
01:51It's brilliant, it's good that everybody realises how much effort and how much time we put into
01:55our product.
01:57But it really is about more than just an award on the night, from independent sellers to
02:01names of international recognition, it's also a chance for Kent's hospitality industry to
02:06lean back and celebrate their success, even during a tough economic climate.
02:12You want to support your local business and you want your local business to do well and
02:15if your local business is tuned in to the local customers, it's a win-win.
02:19In terms of the community backing them, supporting them and voting for them, shows them that
02:24everything they've done is rewarded and pays off.
02:27You see businesses, despite what's happening outside in the economy, just wanting and willing
02:32to succeed, thrive and healthy at each other, I think that makes Kent, Kent.
02:38So with less than 12 months until next year's awards, our culinary heroes will be busy cooking
02:43up a storm for 2026.
02:46Follow me for KMTV at the Kent and Medway Food and Drink Awards.