The National Burger Awards is the a world away from the usual formal black-tie award events of the foodservice calendar. Held at The Islington Metal Works it was a smoky, boozy, bustling, celebration of burgers in all their wonder – our kind of food and drink awards. And with burgers topping the charts at lunch according to the MCA’s latest report and increasingly their already strong share of dinner, this is a trend that looks set to stay with burger concepts popping up on high streets all over the country, many of whom were represented at the awards.

The competition attracted some of the most creative chefs from across the UK in the hope of being crowned champion. Sixteen talented finalists made it to the daytime cook-off, where they were pitted against each other in the mystery box, technical and signature burger rounds. The evening saw the gathered crowd indulge in burgers and sausages from our lovely client Danish Crown (cooked by, friend of the beans, Steve Munkley and team) as well cocktails featuring Buffalo Trace Bourbon – a winning combination!

Editorial Director, Tristan O’Hana of H20 Publishing (the NBA’s media partner) took to the stage to introduce DJ BBQ who presented each of the awards to the following…

Mystery Box Winner – Wayne Pike of Youngs Burger Shack
Technical Winner – Christopher Bartlett of BeefBoxx
Signature and Overall Winner – Sammy Ayjkac of Cut and Grind Burgers

The most heart-warming moment was definitely when winner of the coveted Signature Burger Award and overall winner of the National Burger Awards, Sammy Ayjkac’s Mum joined him on stage #ProudMum. I for one will be heading to Cut and Grind to try one along with many others I am sure. Well done to the team at H20 on another great event which has helped put ‘better burgers’ well and truly on the map.

—

Keep reading? Read our blog on Harnessing the PR power of Food and Drink Awards