Cambridge Regional College host the Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards national qualifiers
Cambridge Regional College (CRC) opened its doors on 25th September to host a prominent national Asian cooking competition. The Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards (ARTA) national qualifiers took place at CRC’s onsite eatery, the Park Restaurant, where seven popular restaurants’ chefs prepared their finest dishes for a panel of esteemed judges.
An annual event at the vocational college, the contenders are selected based on nominations by customers from across the UK, including over 750,000 customers from ARTA’s strategic partner ChefOnline. ARTA is the only official award that recognises, promotes, and celebrates the immense importance and popularity of the Asian catering industry in the UK, as determined by its consumers.
On the judging panel was CRC’s Head of Culinary Arts, Graham Taylor, who as an owner of a restaurant and a hospitality business, with 25 years of industry experience working in Michelin star and 5-star hotels, is well placed to make the final decision with his fellow judges on which restaurant will be victorious!
Graham says, “We saw an incredibly talented groups of chefs from across the country create beautiful tasting cuisine that blew us away. The contestants came in brave, ready to show us what they were made of and that is exactly what they did. Our final decision will not be made lightly, and we want to thank all of those that took part. What a qualifier it has been! Now for the award ceremony, aptly known as the Oscars of the Curry Industry, in London next month.”
In the first phase of the competition, the restaurants are judged collectively on their Customer Nomination Score, which includes quality of food, quality of service and value for money, and on their ARTA Score which includes TripAdvisor Reviews, Google Reviews and Food Hygiene Ratings. In the second phase, each shortlisted business is judged on its Regional Cook-Off Score which includes the product’s flavour, appearance, texture, aroma, and hygiene and how these qualities come together as a whole.
The top finalists from each respective region are invited to the grand award ceremony on the 8th of October 2023, in London at the Hilton Park Lane Hotel, where the winners will be announced, and awards handed out.
CRC is extremely proud to have hosted such a renowned industry event from its founding year in 2018 and applauds their catering and hospitality students for prepping the food stations ahead of the national qualifiers yesterday.
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