Worksop's The School of Artisan Food wins at the first ever national Food and Drink Awards

Alison Swan Parente, founder of the S chool which can be found in Worksop’s historic Welbeck Estate, collected the award during a glittering awards ceremony that celebrated the very best of British gastronomy.

The awards, which were organised in association with Staysure and thefoodawards.com, wer e curated by a committee with a passion for fantastic British food.

Among the winners, The School of Artisan Food was recognised for its contribution to teaching all aspects of artisan food production.

Alison Swan Parente MBE said: “We are thrilled to receive this prestigious award.

“It is a real honour and we are proud to have been recognised for our dedication to the sharing an understanding and appreciation of quality, artisan food.

“As a not-for profit organisation whose strong values and ethics around sustainability, bio-diversity and simple, healthy food inform everything we do, we pride ourselves on our many training courses for people of all skill levels.

“We particularly welcome the award at a time when the School is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

“We felt thrilled to s hare a stage with such other winners as icon of the new British f ood scene Fergus Henderson of St John, and up-and-coming chef James Ferguson.”

The Food and Drink Awards 2020 was shown on ITV and some of the key awards of the night included the Heritage Award, Best Organic Producer Award, A Life with Food, Most Unusual Location in Britain Award and the Best Family Run Restaurant.

The programme also featured film clips of the winners as they told their stories of hard work, determination, willpower and success and, above all, the quality of their craft.

As part of a vibrant artisan food community on the Welbeck estate, the School often works in collaboration with its neighbours.

They each share a passion for upholding an artisan tradition and celebrate the heritage of their craft through the careful sourcing of ingredients.