Top nosh in Chester and Cheshire was toasted at the Taste Cheshire Food and Drink awards at Chester Racecourse on Wednesday night (April 8).

Hosted at the Roodee Pavilion more than 300 guests from the county’s hospitality shared in the celebrations, which followed a record attendance at the three-day Chester Food, Drink & Lifestyle Festival.

Held annually the awards are voted for by the public, with more than 20,000 votes cast this year. Each of the top four/five venues in each category then receives a visit from a mystery diner or shopper before the final awards are decided.

Taste Cheshire general manager Hannah Lucy described the number of votes cast as ‘simply phenomenal’.

She said: “In 2014 we had over 5,000 votes and this year that number exceeded 20,000 a 400% increase.

“The public have definitely voted and they have told us exactly who they want winning our awards. To my knowledge there is no awards for our sector anywhere in the country with anything like this number of votes cast. My sincere congratulations to every venue or business nominated and the list shows us that right now the Cheshire hospitality scene has never been better.”

Winner of the Family Friendly award, sponsored by Claire House Hospice, was The White Horse at Chester Racecourse.

Manager Jack Tomlins said: “We are over the moon to retain the title, our success is down to a real team effort. We had a great night at the awards and we’d like to thank all our customers who took the time to vote for us.”

Shaun Lodge, co-owner of The Suburbs in Hoole, which walked away with Dee 106.3’s Best Bar award, said: “We really weren’t expecting to win and are made up with it. It was a great night for Hoole.”

Liam McKay, co-owner of the award winning small restaurant Chef’s Table, said: “We are overwhelmed with the support we have received over the past year and winning best small restaurant tops off an already fantastic year.

“We’d like to thank all our customers who’ve been so supportive and a big thanks to the team here at The Chef’s Table for all their hard work.”

The awards

Best Sandwich Shop. sponsored by Roomzzz

Gold - Deli-Vert

Silver - Philpotts

Bronze - Bloom

Gold award winner in the best sandwich shop in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards Deli-Vert

Best Newcomer, sponsored by The Cheshire Magazine

Gold - The Millstone

Silver - Chime

Bronze - Gin Rickey’s and Luke’s Eating House

Gold award winner for Best Newcomer in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards Millstone

Best Deli, sponsored by Academy of Culinary Arts

Gold - Deli-Vert

Silver - Hawarden Estate Farm Shop

Bronze - Spoilt for Choice

Best Café, sponsored by Power Solutions

Gold - Enzo

Silver - Café.com

Bronze - Little Yellow Pig Hoole

Gold award winner for Best Cafe in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards Enzo with Damien Sansom of sponsors Power Solutions

Best Bar, sponsored by Dee 106.3

Gold - Suburbs

Silver - Barlounge

Bronze - Kuckoo

Gold award winner for Best Bar in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards Suburbs

Best Pub, sponsored by Cheshire West and Chester Council

Gold - Egerton Arms, Little Budworth

Silver - George & Dragon

Bronze - Coach House

Gold award winner for Best Pub in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards Egerton arms with Damien Sansom of sponsors Power Solutions

Small Restaurant, sponsored by Refood

Gold - Chef’s Table

Silver - Piste

Bronze - Upstairs at the Grill

Gold award winner for Best small restaurant in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards Chef's Table

Large Restaurant, sponsored by Allington Hughes

Gold - Hickory’s Smokehouse

Silver - Restaurant 1539

Bronze - Chester Fields

Gold award winner for Best Large restaurant in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards Hickory's Smokehouse

Local Produce Shop, sponsored by Made in Cheshire

Gold - Cheerbrook farm shop

Silver - Hawarden Estate Farm Shop

Bronze - The Hollies

Gold award winner for Local Produce shop of the year in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards Cheerbrooks with sponsor Jane Mooney from Made in Cheshire

Family friendly, sponsored by Claire House Hospice

Gold - The White Horse

Silver - Ring O’ Bells

Bronze - George & Dragon

Gold award winner for family friendly venue of the year in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards The White Horse. Jack Cox, Sponsor Angella Rawsthorne from Claire House, Jack Tomlins and Mason Brandrick

Local produce in a menu, sponsored by Taste Cheshire

Gold - George & Dragon, Holmes Chapel

Silver - Chef’s Table

Bronze - Chesterfields

Gold winner in the best use of local produce in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards George and Dragon

Excellence in customer care, sponsored by Marketing Cheshire

Gold - Hawarden Farm Shop

Silver - Egerton Arms

Bronze - Chime

Gold award winner for excellence in customer care in 2015 Cheshire Food and Drink Awards Hawarden Farm shop, sponsor Ashley Shacklady of Marketing Cheshire with Alan Downes and Christine

2015 Sausage of the Festival, sponsored by Nowfood

Winner (plain) – EW Edge and Son, of Handbridge

Winner (flavoured) - Dutton’s of Kelsall

Overall winner - Dutton’s of Kelsall

Sous Chef Challenge, sponsored by We Love Cheshire

Winner - Matt Egan