Plymouth restaurant is one of the best in the South West

A Plymouth restaurant has been selected as the 'best South West restaurant' at the Taste of the West awards. Owners of the Fig Tree @ 36 are over the moon to have scooped the prestigious award.

While the Stonehouse restaurant, run by Ryan and Tanya Marsland, has received a 'gold' award seven years in a row since joining Taste of The West, it has never won an overall category award - until now.

However, the Admiralty Street restaurant is no stranger to big awards. It has been in the Michelin guide on multiple occasions, has an AA rosette and has also featured in the Trencherman's guide.

Tanya and Ryan were at the award ceremony at Westpoint Arena in Exeter on Tuesday, along with 500 others from the region's food and drink industry, to receive the award.

Posting on Instagram, Fig Tree @ 36 said: "Wow wow wow. A little bit of a pinch us moment. So we’ve won consistently with Gold since becoming a Taste of the West member.

"Always watching the awards…. but to be part of such a prestigious event this year with passionate likeminded individuals about putting the South West on the map just highlights and celebrates everything we do here at the fig!

"Supporting local from the very beginning has been very important to us and even more so as we continue year to year. Thank you to all our customers who believe in us to continue supporting us and most importantly we could not do what we do without our team!

"These guys are front and center. Give them a massive well done when you see them next."

The Taste of the West Awards have been running now for over 30 years and the annual programme rewards the very best food and drink from across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. They continue to be regarded as a benchmark for excellence across the South West region.

Due to a record number of product entries this year, the preliminary judging period was extended to 7 months (sampling took place from November 2023 to May 2024) and a huge number of hospitality and retail establishments have been visited and judged throughout the year. At a special awards ceremony on Tuesday 12 November, the overall winners of each of the 13 hospitality and retail classes were announced, followed by the champion products from each of the 26 product categories.

John Sheaves, Chief Executive of Taste of the West, said: “To see so many businesses represented in one room from our sector makes me feel incredibly proud of what this industry has achieved in recent years. This was the largest gathering of the South West regional food and drink awards to date in the history of the programme and our sincere congratulations go to all the finalists and overall champion winners. Celebrating with so many businesses and supporters, including our sponsors, is particularly special and unique since it comes from the industry itself, and demonstrates the power and value of a close-knit business network.”

This year’s awards programme is title sponsored by Trowers & Hamlins LLP and Bishop Fleming, who share Taste of the West’s passion for supporting local food and drink businesses from the West Country. Fleur Lewis, Partner at Bishop Fleming, said: “We are delighted to once again support Taste of The West in recognising and celebrating the success of so many of our outstanding food and drink businesses in the South West. Congratulations to all the food and drink producers, hospitality and retail establishments who work so hard to put our region on the map as a leading destination for quality food and drink products.”

Stuart Mathews, Partner at Trowers & Hamlins LLP, commented: “It has been a pleasure to partner with Taste of the West again throughout this year and we are very proud to work with John and the Taste of the West team to support and advise the fantastic food and drink businesses that we have here in the South West. The Awards Ceremony just gets bigger and better each year, and what worthy champion winners we have for 2024!”

You can find the full list of hospitality winners below.

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