Everything That Went Down at Last Night’s Young British Foodie Awards

For the past few years, British food been slowly but surely shedding its reputation for overboiled vegetables and vaguely phallic-sounding desserts. Nowadays, you can’t swing a foraged fennel root without hitting a recently Michelin-starred restaurant or culinary boundary-breaking chef. We’ve even learned not to deep-fry chocolate bars anymore!

The Young British Foodie Awards is all about celebrating the British food renaissance. Since 2011, the annual awards event has championed the country’s best new chefs, bartenders, and producers. Categories range from front-of-house to food writing and baking, with judging duties undertaken by food industry titans like Yotam Ottolenghi, Marina O’Loughlin, and Nuno Mendes.

This year, MUNCHIES partnered with the YBFs and joined the awards ceremony at a three-storey townhouse in London’s Knightsbridge.

The night began with guests gathering in the grandiose foyer to hear the winners being announced. Richard Falk of The Dairy in Clapham, South London scooped this year’s coveted Chef award, The Clove Club’s Rob Simpson took Alcohol, and MUNCHIES’ fave Freddie Janssen was awarded Street Food.

The 2016 YBFs also saw the introduction of a brand new Food Sharing category for innovators in food social media, which was judged by Melissa Hemsley, Instagram OG Clerkenwell Boy, and MUNCHIES’ own Phoebe Hurst. Check out the full list of categories and winners here.

Awards took, it was time to hit the MUNCHIES Punchbowl Terrace, a hidden rooftop bar decked out with retro furniture and a multi-tiered punchbowl. Guests enjoyed Johnnie Walker whisky cocktails with raspberry liqueur and ginger syrup and ate brisket tacos among the palm trees.

Laura Jackson and Alice Levine announce the winners of the Young British Foodie Awards, London. All photos by Jake Lewis.

Cake created by baker and YBF founder Lily Vanilli.

MUNCHIES UK editor Phoebe Hurst and Melissa Hemsley announce the winner of the Food Sharing category.

The MUNCHIES Punchbowl Terrace.

All photos by Jake Lewis.