Dartmouth Food Festival....Just a taste of....
"Plenty to tickle the tastebuds of all ages" - THE TELEGRAPH
The Dartmouth Food Festival is now in its 14th year attracting over 20,000 people to see chefs in action in this beautiful town.
It takes place this year between 21 and 23 October (Friday to Sunday) where there’ll be a wide array of market stalls, celebrity Chef Demonstrations and other activities going on. With an abundance of locally-produced, high quality ingredients and a growing reputation for world-class food, Dartmouth is the perfect setting for what has been described as a ‘feast for the senses’.
2016 sees the return of Mitch Tonks, one of the Festival’s original ambassadors. Mitch describes the Festival as having “a party atmosphere from start to finish” which is clearly why he returns every year and we love having him and his team!
Mitch has become one of the most respected and knowledgeable seafood people in the country and an acclaimed restaurateur, chef and author in the process. His Seahorse restaurant has won the Observer’s ‘Best UK Restaurant’ gong and his Rockfish takeaway restaurant chain has twice claimed ‘Best Independent Restaurant’ at the National Fish & Chip Awards. Of his books, one of them – Fresh – scooped ‘Best Fish Book’ at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. And his achievements and influence have been further recognised with a nomination for Ernst & Young’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ and inclusion in The Caterer’s prized ‘Top 100 Most Influential Foodies’ list.
We’re also delighted to welcome Romy Gill MBE who is one of the few female Indian chef/owners in the UK, having opened Romy’s Kitchen Restaurant in September 2013 in Thornbury. She has since been nominated as a BBC Bristol Food Hero, shortlisted for an Asian Women of Achievement Award, was one of five women listed in the inaugural Bristol and Bath Business Awards in the ‘Woman of the Year’ category and was nominated as ‘Best Newcomer’ in The British Curry Awards 2014. Tom Parker Bowles listed Romy among his top ‘fabulous female chefs in the UK’ in the Daily Mail and this year she has become an ambassador for Bristol 2015 European Green Capital.
Matt Tebbutt is also set to return and we’re so excited! Matt’s culinary career began with a diploma from Leith’s School of Food and Wine. He completed a traineeship with Marco Pierre White, then moved to the kitchens of Chez Bruce, followed by a stint at Clarke’s where he learned the art of bread-making.
He returned to Wales in 2001 after an absence of eight years and with his wife Lisa, has transformed the former Foxhunter pub at Nantyderry into an acclaimed restaurant, winning AA Restaurant of the Year for Wales in 2004. Matt had previously also worked with pioneering chef Alastair Little at his Lancaster Road and Soho restaurants and the Alastair’s influence is evident in Matt’s menu at the Foxhunter.
Tom Parker-Bowles, Mark Hicks, Simon Hulstone, Matt Norton among many others, including local chefs will be whipping up a storm in our kitchen and having a fair few laughs along the way.
With over 100 producers of which 75% are from Devon - the festival attracts visitors from near and far to browse from a wide selection of sumptuous food and drink and buy direct from the growers, makers, bakers and brewers. Stands selling breads, cheeses, meats, drinks, wines, beers, chocolate, flapjack, cake, chutneys, oils and much more will be available from 10am each day.
The Festival takes over the town with marquees etc along the South Embankment, through the heart of the Royal Avenue Gardens and in the old Market. There are stalls a plenty with something to suit all tastes, from Bad Boy Chilli Mash, Black Cow Pure Milk Vodka, Café Alf Resco, Taco Shack, Miso Tree to name just a few.
The festival plays host to over 20 chef demonstrations from TV Chefs to other talented, inspirational figures and local food heroes; you will not be disappointed with what you see.
Susy Atkins, the famed author and broadcaster who is known for her no-nonsense, down-to-earth and often humorous approach, will also be returning.
She says: ““I love Dartmouth and I totally volunteered to be part of it. The South West is so great at promoting its best produce and I’ve made it my personal business to try and promote drinks more. I be hosting some drinks seminars at Browns Hotel which I love.”
Susy appears regularly on BBC1’s flagship cookery programme, Saturday Kitchen and speaks at food and wine festivals around the UK. She writes the weekly ‘Sauce’ drinks column for the Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine and is wine columnist for the new National Geographic magazine supplement Green. She has won awards for her writing, including the Glenfiddich Book of the Year for Drink!, Champagne Lanson Book of the Year for the Which? Wine Guide (twice!) and International Wine and Spirit Competition Communicator of the Year.
The Guardian newspaper describes the Festival as “One of the Top Ten food festivals in the UK”. With The Telegraph saying It is a ‘heady mix of celebrity chefs, parties, food markets, tasting shacks and demonstrations’, it is no surprise that the festival is now a landmark event on the culinary calendar.
It is free to attend and with over 120 hand-picked exhibitors of which 40 are new this year – 2016 looks set to be its biggest year yet and we can’t wait to see you there.
For more information visit the Official website for Festival at http://www.dartmouthfoodfestival.com/
