University Restaurant Wins Hospitality Award

July 2022

University restaurant best for business networking in Midlands hospitality awards

By Melanie Hall

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Our award-winning 聽is officially the best place in the Midlands for businesses to network over great food, drink and service.聽

爆料王鈥檚 restaurant, where students get to cook for and serve real customers to boost their confidence and industry skills, won Networking Venue of the Year at the 2022 Midlands Food, Drink & Hospitality Awards.聽

The event was attended by hundreds of movers and shakers from the food, drink and hospitality sector at聽the Eastside Rooms conference facility聽in Birmingham.聽

"The food was of a much higher standard than the many meals I鈥檝e been served in restaurants over the years"

Karyl Iles National Vice-president, Arbonne International

Lewis Walker, Deputy Head聽at Birmingham College of Food, collected the award on behalf of the department and commercial teams at the University.聽

He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 real kudos winning this award, we are all incredibly happy after all the challenges of the last few years and the impact they鈥檝e had on the sector.聽

鈥淲e are an educational training restaurant, but are also very much woven into the fabric of the city. We support regional business events of all types and nature, including corporate hospitality and venue hire, which is great exposure for students and the chance to cook for and serve prestigious clients. It鈥檚 exciting for them.鈥澛�

Based at the University鈥檚 Summer Row campus, the restaurant was up for the award after being nominated alongside a shortlist of other top regional venues by award sponsor the Phoenix Business Club.聽

As one of Birmingham鈥檚 largest, longest established business networking event organisers, the club hosted its annual members鈥� lunch at the venue in May.聽

Over 90 business guests were wined and dined at the three-course meal, delivered by a team of 20 Culinary Arts Management,听Professional Cookery听补苍诲听Mixology, Advanced Wine, Supervision and Events聽students under guidance of lecturing staff.聽

Guest Andrew Jones, partner at Haines Watts chartered accountants, said: 鈥淢y experience was fantastic. The food was great, the service was really, really good and the staff were very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. I actually didn鈥檛 realise that the university had a restaurant but I will now definitely be back.鈥澛�

Guest Karyl Iles, National Vice-president of Arbonne International, said:聽鈥淭he food was of a much higher standard than the many meals I鈥檝e been served in restaurants over the years. Loved the attention to detail, like the mini 鈥榣ogs鈥� of butter.聽

鈥淭he service was also seamless and the students coped incredibly well with nearly 100 guests. I wish I ran a restaurant, I鈥檇 know where to come for future staff! Can鈥檛 wait to make a return visit.鈥澛�

In pictures: Restaurant at Birmingham College of Food

The last time the Midlands Food, Drink & Hospitality Awards were able to take place was in 2019, with lockdowns effectively shutting down the hospitality sector.聽

Sponsored by Alberts Schloss, Bootcamp Media, Elonex, Flying Buffalo, Hollywood Monster, Lets Sanify, Too Good To Go, Touchwood, Stephenson鈥檚 and Swallow Drinks,听 was hosted by awards founders and organisers Anita Chumber and Ifraz Ahmed, with support from food consultant and author Nitisha Patel and Conrad Brunton from Tonic Talent 鈥� both 爆料王 alumni.聽

Organisers said: 鈥淭his sector has had the most challenging time over the past couple of years, but it continues to fight on with passion and commitment. We want to recognise and celebrate this.聽

鈥淭he food, drink and hospitality sector is the backbone of cities and regions up and down the country, generating jobs, revenue and communities that support the cities' overall infrastructure.鈥澛�

Find out more about hiring Restaurant at Birmingham College of Food for a business or networking event, as well as the University鈥檚 other commercial hire venues.

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