2 weeks Ago By Rosalind Erskine
Home Food Restaurant Reviews Recipes Drink Distilleries Whisky Gin Craft Beer Locations Scran Podcast An island business has been named restaurant of the year, and it’s well worth a visit. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on WhatsApp Share on Email Earlier this month the winners of the Highlands and Islands Food & Drink Awards (HIFAD) 2024 were announced, with a Hebridean restaurant being named restaurant of the year. Once again supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, these awards celebrate the talent, quality and diversity across food, drink and hospitality in the Highlands and Islands .
With a total of 16 award categories recognising a range of diverse businesses from best products to food and drink experiences to outstanding retailers and more, these winners represent some of the best from our region. One of the biggest awards, restaurant of the year, was awarded to ‘interactive fine dining’ spot, Flavour, which is located on the isle of Harris. Flavour is the brainchild of wife and husband team, Nicola and Chris Loye, and was established, first as a series of pop-ups, before opening their restaurant in 2021 in Tarbert.
Diners can look forward to eight courses in a chef’s table setting (there’s only 20 covers) where guests can observe the cooking and plating of each dish. The interactive element is this, plus Chris will take diners on a ‘culinary journey’ as he describes how he has sourced, grown, prepared, cooked and presented each dish. Other awards on the night were: Ambassador of the Year, sponsored by Saffery, was awarded to Fraser Campbell from Cobbs Group, and Elliott Sabor from Orrin Restaurant in Elgin, was awarded the title of Young Ambassador of the Year, sponsored by Scotland Food & Drink.
Other awards included Best Food & Drink Tourism Experience won by Islay Sea Adventures; Best Drink won by Downpour Coast & Croft Gin from North Uist Distillery; Independent Retailer of the Year, won by Brodie Countryfare near Forres; Restaurant of the Year sponsored by Highland Industrial Supplies won by Flavour on the Isle of Harris; Best Eatery sponsored by Highland News and Media was won by IV10 in Fortrose; and Best Street food went to Lochmaddy Bay Prawns 2GO. Miele’s Gelateria from Inverness took the prize of Primary Producer, sponsored by Salmon Scotland; Best Start Up, sponsored by Be Personnel, was awarded to Oban based Tiny Fish Ltd; and the Innovation Award, sponsored by Food & Drink TechHUB, went to Hawthorne Dairy, also from Inverness. The Best Food award, sponsored by Seafood Scotland, went to the Isle of Skye Sea Salt Company; and the Best Marketing Award went to Great Glen Charcuterie.
The Supply Chain Award was won by Aquascot Ltd and the Sustainability Award, sponsored by Wester Ross Fisheries went to Threaplands Ltd. Due to a standout performance the judges decided this year to award a Judges Award to Island Larder in Shetland for their dedication to quality, sustainability, and community engagement and their performance across the board in a number of categories. The full list of winners BEST DRINK North Uist Distillery – Downpour Coast & Croft Gin BEST EATERY AWARD sponsored by HIGHLAND NEWS & MEDIA IV10 BEST FOOD & DRINK TOURISM EXPERIENCE Islay Sea Adventures BEST FOOD sponsored by SEAFOOD SCOTLAND Isle of Skye Sea Salt Company BEST STREET FOOD AWARD Lochmaddy Bay Prawns 2GO INDEPENDENT RETAILER OF THE YEAR AWARD Brodie Countryfare INNOVATION AWARD sponsored by FOOD & DRINK TECHHUB Hawthorne Dairy BEST MARKETING AWARD Great Glen Charcuterie BEST START UP sponsored by BE PERSONNEL Tiny Fish Ltd PRIMARY PRODUCER AWARD sponsored by SALMON SCOTLAND Miele’s Gelateria RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR sponsored by HIGHLAND INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES Flavour SUPPLY CHAIN BUSINESS AWAD Aquascot Ltd SUSTAINABILITY AWARD sponsored by WESTER ROSS FISHERIES Threaplands Ltd YOUNG AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by SCOTLAND FOOD & DRINK Elliott Sabor, Orrin Restaurant JUDGES AWARD Island Larder AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR AWARD sponsored by SAFFERY Fraser Campbell, Cobbs Group Commenting on the awards, Jonathan Farmer from Wester Ross Fisheries, one of this year’s judges, said: “It was an absolute pleasure to be involved in the judging process which saw a high level of entries across all categories.
“Myself, and my fellow judges really had our work out to select the winners, as many categories were very tight and hard fought. We hope we have done justice to everyone who entered in our decisions.” Chair of the judging panel, Laura Robertson from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, said: “Huge congratulations to all the winners and finalists.
“It is fantastic to see the passion and commitment each and every one of you puts into this sector and we hope this recognition will help your businesses continue to grow and flourish.” Food Drink Recipes Producers Whisky Gin Craft Beer Vodka Rum Announcements Jobs Public Notices Must Read Buy a Photo Directory Reader Shop Conferences The Scotsman Archive.
