Tens of thousands of votes have been cast for the 2018 Taste Cheshire Awards.

This year’s winners will be joining an illustrious roll of honour when they are presented with their awards at the ceremony for the annual hospitality awards – which are now in their 19th year – on April 4 in the Pavilion at Chester Racecourse .

Taste Cheshire general manager Briony Wilson said: “It has been another amazing year with over 40,000 votes cast by regulars of their favourite establishments.

“This makes the Taste Cheshire Food and Drink Awards amongst the biggest voted for awards in the UK.

“Every year we are so pleased to see how much our industry has developed and the standard of hospitality within our county just gets better and better.

“We really are the county of food and drink, which our customers keep telling us by voting year after year.

“The voting process has now finished.

“Nominees will now be mystery dined and shopped by our judging panel with the difficult job of finding the winners.

“Our congratulations to every nominee, you have achieved the most important part already - the recognition by your customers that you are their favourite.”

The Chester Fields winning Best Local Produce in Menu 2017

The nominations in each category are:

Local Produce Shop of the Year

The Hollies Farm Shop

Claremont Farm

Cheerbrook Farm Shop

Kenyon Hall Farm Shop

Applegate’s Farm Shop

Family Friendly Venue of the Year

Hickory’s Smokehouse, Chester

The White Horse, Chester Racecourse

The Fishpool Inn

Cholmondeley Arms, Malpas

The Lambing Shed

Best Use of Local Produce in a Menu

The Chefs Table

Little Tap, Tarporley

Cheshire Dining Experience

The Chester Fields

The Castle, Congleton

George and Dragon, Holmes Chapel

Best Sandwich Shop

Meltdown, Chester

Bloom, Nantwich

Monks Deli, Runcorn

The Cheshire Sandwich Company

Best Newcomer

Meltdown, Chester

Craft & Co

The Stanneylands

9 Elephants, Chester

Deadwood Smokehouse

Best Deli

Deli Vert, Hoole

Monks Deli, Runcorn

Whitmore and White, West Kirby

RF Burrows & Sons, Bunbury

Deli Fine, Holt

Best Café

Benty Farm Tearooms

Brew & Tucker, Frodsham

Little Yellow Pig

Jaunty Goat Coffee

Farm Made Tearooms, Audlem

Best Bar

Kash22, Frodsham

The Little Tap, Tarporley

Barlounge

Liquo r& Co

The Suburbs, Hoole

Best Pub

The Faulkner

The Coach House Inn

Ring O’Bells, Christleton

The ChesterFields

The Pheasant Inn

Excellence in customer care

Little Tap, Tarporley

Brew & Tucker, Frodsham

Urbano32

George and Dragon, Holmes Chapel

Best Small Restaurant

The Chefs Table

Upstairs at the Grill

Sticky Walnut, Hoole

Chime, Hartford

The Machine House

Best Large Restaurant

Opera Grill

Hickory’s Smokehouse, Chester

The Chester Fields

Miller and Carter, Chester

Olive Tree Brasserie, Chester

The awards dinner is a glittering affair with over 350 from the industry assembling after the Chester Food and Drink Festival to find out who has won.

It truly is the highlight of the food and drink season.

For more information about the Food and Drink Festival or the awards dinner go to chesterfoodanddrink.co.uk.