Hawke's Bay Regional Signature Dish Winners announced

Vidal Winery restaurant has triumphed in the Hawke’s Bay Regional Signature Dish Competition this year. The iconic Hastings winery restaurant won the judges’ taste buds with a venison dish described as being “delicious with the caponata on the side, very rich in flavour with the syrah jus complementing the venison beautifully”

The winner of the Casual Category was Taste Cornucopia Café in Hastings, they won the café category last year, their dish was described by them as a “Taste Hawkes Bay – BBQ at the Beach: smoke; kahawai; pear; skate; sea greens; sand; waves”

The winner of the café category this year was At E’s café in Havelock North with their “Lamb At Ease in Spring” entry with the judges commenting on the “Rillette offered an interesting take on lamb, great with the fennel, added a real burst of flavour”

The winners were announced at an Awards ceremony in front of more than 200 people from the hospitality industry at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House last night.

36 participating restaurants entered the Signature Dish competition in three categories, formal, casual and café and for the past six weeks they have been cooking up specially created regional signature dishes for the Hawke’s Bay public and visitors.

During the event there were over 7,000 regional signature dishes eaten with over 50,000 diners dining at participating restaurants. Noticeably there were a lot more diners from overseas, with the Rugby World Cup nations well represented especially Canada, England and France.

A mystery panel of local and out of town judges had the arduous task of tasting all of the dishes and deciding the winners.

“Once again the entries were of a very high standard with all of the finalists’ entries being very close and difficult to differentiate, it is a tough job but our judges are equal to the challenge, ” Food Hawke’s Bay General Manager Jane Libby said.

Judge and editor of Dish magazine Victoria Wells, said she was delighted to have the chance to help with Signature Dish judging again this year.

“It is great to see how the competition has grown since Dish started as a sponsor in 2007, and to see the caliber of entries at such a high level. “

Ms Wells said she tried a couple of stand-out dishes, where it was obvious the chefs had given a lot of thought to what they were presenting, and how those ingredients and components showcased Hawke’s Bay

Jane Libby said the 2011 event has built on the success of the last four years.

“It has been a delicious success, with all the participating restaurants really getting behind the event with innovative recipes using varied local produce and wine matches for their diners”

“The event is now one which is on Hawke’s Bay foodies’ calendars so we hope the event will grow from year to year” Ms Libby said. “We have such a wide variety of fantastic food produced right here in Hawke’s Bay and it is so important that when people dine in our restaurants and cafés in the region that they are actually eating fresh, seasonal Hawke’s Bay food.”

1. Judges Choice

The finalists as judged by the panel of mystery judges, are:

Café Category

Casual category

Formal Category

The judge’s choice awards winners and runners up are

Judges Choice - Winner – Cafe – At E’s Cafe

Judges Choice - Runner Up – Café – Bay Espresso Omahu Road

Judges Choice - Winner – Casual – Taste Cornucopia Organic Café

Judges Choice - Runner Up – Casual – Deliciosa Tapas and Wine

Judges Choice - Winner – Formal – Vidal Winery Restaurant

Judges Choice - Runner Up – Formal – Fox on the Quay

 

2. The people’s choice awards were voted for by the dining public

People’s Choice – Dish – Cafe – Bay Espresso Karamu Road

People’s Choice – Service – Café – Adam and Eva’s Café and Food Store

People’s Choice – Dish – Casual – Opera Kitchen

People’s Choice – Service – Casual – Jarks Café Waimarama

People’s Choice – Dish – Formal – Fox on the Quay

People’s Choice – Service – Formal – The Oak Room