Leading food services provider Compass Ireland have announced the winners of the Best in Taste Awards at the iconic culinary event, Taste of Dublin 2023.
The summer’s not-to-be-missed foodie is currently taking place over four days from the 15th – 18th of June where some of the finest chefs, restaurants, artisan-food innovators, and local culinary heroes will showcase an array of gastronomical delights. The four-day event highlights Ireland’s booming food scene with local gourmet offerings, truly award-winning dishes and the finest of masterclasses, a true haven for any food-lover.
The award-winning dishes showcased during the foodie-fest are the crème de le crème of local cuisine. Compass Ireland alongside six of their talented culinary experts took to judging the awards on the 15th of June where the leaders were named in the various awards categories namely; Best Dish, Best Vegan Dish, Best Restaurant Front of House Dressing, Best Dressed Exhibitor, Best Dressed Feature, Best use of Local & Artisan Producers and lastly, the most Sustainable Event Build.
Shay Kendrick, Culinary Director at Compass Ireland who judged and presented the awards to this year’s winners said: “It was an honour to represent Compass Ireland, sponsoring this year’s “Best in Taste” award. We pride ourselves on our commitment to sourcing local ingredients, supporting our nation’s growers, and championing a more sustainable approach to food service. I found inspiration in so many of the plates I tasted, we truly have some of the most incredible artisans waving the flag for our unstoppable Irish food scene. Choosing just one team to take home ‘Best in Taste’ was extremely difficult: the quality on-show today was phenomenal.”
The award’s categories this year had one new contender: Best Vegan Dish, which was judged by Compass Ireland’s newest Vegan Ambassador Holly White. Holly White is working alongside Compass Ireland’s chefs to help develop an even more varied plant-based food offering. Compass Ireland is the first food service business to sign-up to the United Nation’s ambitious Net Zero Emissions programme, as well as Business in the Community Ireland’s Low Carbon Pledge with a focus on putting sustainability front and centre of everything they do. Targets include a 25% switch from animal proteins by 2025, increasing to 40% less by 2030.
“I had the absolute privilege of awarding the Best Vegan Dish at this year’s Best in Taste Awards. I have a deep-rooted passion for elevating people’s perceptions of plant-based food, constantly on the lookout to inject flavour and creativity into everything I make. Whether people choose to be vegan or not, my hope is that my dishes are loved by everyone. Wholeheartedly creating wholesome and tasty food that ultimately has a positive impact on the planet in terms of the food we are buying and eating every day. I am looking forward to working alongside Compass Ireland to craft and conjure up some of the tastiest and most sustainable plant-based food options for our Irish workforce.” Said Holly White, Vegan Ambassador at Compass Ireland.
Best Dish: 1st place: The Salt Project, 2nd place: Los Chicanos, 3rd place: Shouk
Best Vegan Dish: Dosa Dosa
Best Dressed Exhibitor: 1st place: Valentia Island Vermouth, 2nd place: Harry’s Nut Butter, 3rd place: Grá Chocolates
Best Dressed Feature: 1st place: Fercullen Irish Whiskey, 2nd place: London Essence, 3rd place: Schweppes Cocktail Bar
Best Restaurant Front of House Dressing: Bahay
Best use of Local & Artisan Producers: The Salt project
Most Sustainable Event Build: De'Longhi
Compass Ireland would like to congratulate all the winners and participants at the Best in Taste Awards, and a special thanks to all the vendors who made Taste of Dublin 2023 a memorable one.
