Independent restaurants at Festival Place are looking forward to building on the success of the popular Celebrating Hampshire event held earlier this month.
Festival Place is passionate about supporting local independent businesses, and firmly believes they have a place on the mainstream high street.
Independent restaurants at the Basingstoke shopping centre include Festival Street Kitchen, the Nigerian food hub Afrizi, the Indian restaurant Spicy Tadka, and the Homemade Brownie Company.
These businesses and other local growers, makers and producers were all given a chance to shine at the hugely successful two-day Celebrating Hampshire event.
Held in partnership with Hampshire Fare, the event kick-started the award-winning Hampshire Food Festival, which celebrates local food and farming with a summertime of more than 200 events held across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight running until August 31.
Top chefs from across the region Matt Whitfield, Executive Chef at Kimbridge Barn in Romsey, Lucy Parr, aka The Friendly Baker, a Hampshire-based recipe developer who trained at Le Cordon Bleu, Simon Hartnett, Executive Chef at The Queens Hotel in Southsea, Jacob Rowley, Head Chef from Oakley Hall Hotel in Oakley and Andrew Gault, Executive Chef from the Balmer Lawn Hotel in Brockenhurst.
Hampshire Fare’s commercial manager Tracy Nash said: “It was great to have a cookery theatre in Portchester Square showcasing our region’s great chefs and celebrating everything Hampshire has to offer.
“The Hampshire Food Festival has always been one of the most ambitious in the country in terms of scale and reach. However, this year we have decided to make it an even bigger celebration of food and drink running across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight throughout the summer.
“People love local! We have seen a growing interest in provenance and an increase in staycation experiences, which means that there is a huge hunger out there for food and drink events and experiences.”
Festival Place director Neil Churchill said: “We are passionate about food and drink, and also about championing our fantastic local producers and independent restaurants.
“By partnering with Hampshire Fare to host Celebrating Hampshire, we wanted to raise awareness of the people and talent behind the county’s top-notch food, by bringing the community together to enjoy it.”
Of course it’s not just independent eateries at FP, there is also a huge variety of choice from the likes of Tapas Revolution and BrewDog, to Five Guys and Cosy Club. For more details head to the dining page at www.festivalplace.co.uk
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