South Devon's cafe-Ode shortlisted for Food Made Good Awards

ODE-true food in South Devon is vying with some of the UK’s best known restaurant and hospitality names to be a winner at the Food Made Good Awards 2016 – which reward the unsung heroes of hospitality who go way beyond just serving delicious food.

Its Cafe-ODE concept at Ness Cove, Shaldon and Gara Rock, East Portlemouth is on the shortlist in three award categories including best independent of the year, award for sourcing and food made good champion.

The diversity of eateries on the shortlist for the Food Made Good Awards, run by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) and sponsored by Nestlé Professional, reflects the hugely positive changes the industry has made in recent years to meet the dining public’s ever increasing appetite for food that’s delicious, ethical and sustainable.

A newly opened East London tapas restaurant, a fish and chip shop on the East coast of Scotland, one of the UK’s most popular high street restaurant groups, a boutique New Forest hotel and canteens at some of the country’s best known universities are just some of the extraordinary range of other eateries to have been shortlisted.

ODE – true food will discover if it has won at the Food Made Good Awards on 22 March at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Hall in London, where SRA President, Raymond Blanc OBE will be presenting the awards.

Named after its postcode ODE – true food is widely regarded as being at the forefront of the sustainable food movement in the UK. Between 2012 and 2014 it won a hat trick of sustainable restaurant of the year awards; ODE dining winning the inaugural award in 2012, and cafe-ODE winning back-to-back awards in 2013 and 2014. Last year (2015) ODE-dining in Shaldon shared the award for sustainable sourcing with Hugh Fernley Whittingstall’s River Cottage. Unsurprisingly, each of ODE true food’s businesses holds the highest SRA 3-star rating.

Commenting on its shortlisting Tim Bouget, Owner of ODE- true food and Director of Visit South Devon, commented: “The Food Made Good Awards are the pinnacle of what any restaurateur with a mind on sustainability should be aspiring to. For us, these are the stars that really matter. It’s not just about great food but working in tune with our environment, community and sourcing the finest ingredients that really counts.

“For 10 years our small family business has held sustainable principles at the heart of everything that we do. This has enabled the business to grow from a team of two to 40 part-time and full-time employees.

“Working with fantastic local producers such as Riverford Farm who provide vegetables and dairy products, Higher Hacknall Farm, which supplies beef and Duckaller Farm in Dawlish, which provides our pork, we are able to provide the very highest quality of sustainable food for our paying guests, while helping local producers to thrive. It’s an approach that we would recommend to any food-focussed business.”

Over the years Tim has expanded his sustainable approach to dining making his brand of food accessible to all. Cafe-ODE at Gara Rock and Ness Cove specialises in serving great family friendly food that doesn’t cost the earth. ODE dining in Shaldon prides itself on refined intimate dining. ODE on the ROAD offers sough dough pizzas, which Tim describes as “true food on the move”. The newest arrival of the ODE family will open in July 2016 at Coast View Holiday park, where ODE&Co will launch its “true pizza”, pasta, grill and bar.

Mark Linehan, Managing Director of the SRA, said: “Now in their fifth year, albeit with a new name, the Food Made Good Awards recognise the incredible achievements of restaurants and the wider hospitality sector that few other awards do. With a transformation in diners’ attitudes towards food and how it is produced, we believe these awards reward the unsung heroes of hospitality who go way beyond just serving delicious food.”