Devon’s best restaurants reveal full line-up of foodie events

A full line-up of special food and drink events being held during June to celebrate Devon’s finest restaurants has been revealed.

Nearly 40 eateries across the county will be getting behind ‘Devon Restaurant Month’ by organising their own unique event or promotion to raise awareness of award-winning food and drink and increase their custom in the process.

This year, the programme includes coffee roasting, cookery demonstrations, champagne dinners, a barbeque beach party and a house and garden open day, as well as British Tapas, local seafood menus, suppers and lunches and a wide range of one-off offers and discounts.

Gidleigh Park in Chagford - home to the two Michelin starred Chef Michael Caines, Magdalen Chapter in Exeter, Bovey Castle, the Barbican Kitchen and Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth, both owned by TV chefs Chris and James Tanner, will be getting involved.

Jeff Cooper, founder of ‘Devon Restaurant Month’ (pictured) says, “We were very keen to build on the success of last year’s event by encouraging businesses to be even more creative in 2013. This year there appears to be a fantastic emphasis on local ingredients – almost every event concentrates heavily on the use of local produce and this really has to be applauded. ‘Devon Restaurant Month’ is such a great platform for restaurateurs and food and drink producers to tell people about what they’re doing and in turn, raise the profile of their own business.”

The initiative, which is back for a second year, was launched in March at Exeter Golf and Country Club with ‘Food and Drink Devon’ as the main partner. The dedicated month-long campaign also has the backing of Taste of the West, Heart of Devon, Visit Devon and Visit South Devon.

Lucy Thomas, Tourism Promotion and Support Officer for the Heart of Devon adds, “The Heart of Devon is home to some spectacular landscapes and award winning attractions but the area’s food and drink really holds its own with some superb produce on offer. ‘Devon Restaurant Month’ is a brilliant way of show-casing the county’s edible delights and we’re sure 2013’s campaign will be a roaring success!”

One business based in North Devon has quite literally gone the ‘extra mile’ by branding its whole fleet of vans and trucks with the ‘Devon Restaurant Month’ logo and website throughout the next month (see attached picture).

Fitted with promotional posters, their fleet of vehicles will travel the length and breadth of the South West during June, servicing restaurants and hotels with table and bed linen.

John Varley, Sales Executive at Buckleigh Linen (also pictured) adds, “As the largest independent laundry in the South West, Buckleigh is delighted to invest in our customers’ success by helping promote this campaign to highlight Devon’s wealth of food destinations.”

Julie Leivers, Owner of the Horn of Plenty near Tavistock comments, “We’re delighted to be part of Devon Restaurant Month again this year.  We enjoyed a fantastic response from both locals and tourists to our “all Devon” menu last year, which was sourced entirely from local produce.  We are incredibly fortunate to have such a wealth of quality produce in this county; it’s great to have an opportunity to showcase it again this year.”

All of the events can be found by visiting www.devonrestaurantmonth.co.uk, as well as a Facebook page www.facebook.com/devonrmonth. Food and drink fans can also follow the campaign on Twitter @devonrmonth.