Five top West Midlands chefs have been confirmed for this year’s Brigade of Chefs at the prestigious HEART of ENGLAND fine foods (HEFF) Diamond Awards Gala Dinner.
The Diamond Awards celebrate the fantastic food and drink available in the heart of England region which includes Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Birmingham and The Black Country.
The Diamond Awards Gala Dinner and awards ceremony will be held on Saturday 21 May at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole where around 250 guests will be treated to a six course dinner prepared by the Brigade of Chefs using some of the region’s finest produce.
The brigade will be headed up by HEFF’s Development Chef Ed Warren who has devised the mouth-watering menu. Ed is chef at the TASTE kitchen at Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre, HEFF’s head office, where only local produce is used on the menu. He will be working alongside Paul Taylor, Executive Chef at Hilton Birmingham Metropole and three chef lecturers from University College Birmingham; Mathew Shropshall, Bernhard Schumacher and Paul Russell.
Karen Davies, HEFF Chief Executive, said: “We are very excited to be able to have our own chef take the lead at this year’s Diamond Awards. Ed works with the finest regional products daily in the TASTE kitchen and has relished the challenge of devising the menu for the Gala Dinner which is always a highlight of the evening. We are also delighted that Bernhard, Mathew and Paul from UCB are joining us once again along with the team at the Hilton headed by Paul Taylor who has given Ed tremendous support in planning the Gala Dinner.”
More than 230 products were entered into this year’s awards in the 10 product categories of Bakery, sponsored by Asda; Condiments and Preserves, sponsored by Aardvark Illustration & Design; Confectionery, sponsored by Hilton Birmingham Metropole; Dairy, sponsored by Food & Drink Expo 2012; Desserts sponsored by Hatchers Solicitors; Drinks, sponsored by HEART Distribution; Fresh Produce, sponsored by Whittingham Riddell; Meat, sponsored by EBLEX & BPEX; Poultry and Game, sponsored by The Belfry; and Prepared Foods, sponsored by RDW Exhibitions.
In addition there are the Special Diamond Awards of GROW, sponsored by Federation of Small Business, INNOVATE sponsored by Shropshire Council, and EXCEL, sponsored by Graphics & Print, along with this year’s new award, The Midcounties Co-operative Award for New Business. The Special Diamond Awards recognise business achievement rather than a product.
The winners will be revealed on the night with each product category winner then going head-to-head to win the highly coveted Special Diamond Award for TASTE, sponsored by Musgrave Retail Partners GB, which will be the final award to be presented on the night.
The evening will be hosted by BBC Midlands Today’s Suzanne Virdee and will come to a close with music from The Right Stuff. Tickets to this glittering event are just £65. Call the HEFF office to book on 01743 452818.
