A POPULAR Pershore High Street restaurant will be hoping to cook up a storm at the 2016 British Curry Awards after being shortlisted for a prestigious prize.
Jimmy Pickles has been nominated for the Best Spice Restaurant in Midlands award at the coveted 12th Annual British Curry Awards in association with Kukd.com
Often referred to as the curry industry’s ‘Oscars’, British Curry Awards 2016 will be taking place on Monday (November 28) at Battersea Evolution in London.
Winners will be announced at the esteemed event, attended by luminaries from the worlds of politics, sport, film, television, the arts and fashion, as well as leading celebrity chefs, restaurant owners and their staff from across the country.
Owner Azizur Rahman told the Observer it was the second time Jimmy Pickles had been nominated and he and the staff were delighted to be recognised.
“It’s a great vote of confidence in the restaurant from our customers and we would like to thank everyone who nominated us,” he said.
“It was a great surprise to get the letter saying we had been nominated and would be very unexpected if we were to win.”
The benchmark award ceremony pays homage to the unsung local heroes behind the UK’s favourite dish as industry faces continued challenges
As the foremost and pioneering celebration of the UK curry industry’s achievements, the British Curry Awards has become a national institution in its own right and a key fixture on the hospitality industry’s calendar.
The popular restaurant at 76 High Street has won a place after numerous nominations from local food lovers.
This year, a phenomenal 206,371 public nominations have been received via post, app and online, meaning Jimmy Pickles was one of of 2,153 restaurants eligible for entry into the competition.
The British Curry Awards website has recorded 2,653,440 hits for this year’s campaign and this figure is increasing daily.
As well as recognising industry talent and quality, the British Curry Awards will highlight the growing challenges faced by the curry business.
It is estimated that 90 per cent of UK curry restaurants are currently affected by a crippling shortage of chefs, which is causing an average of two curry restaurant closures each week.
According to a survey by Kingfisher Beer, in the last 18 months, the number of licensed curry restaurants has declined by 13 per cent, with over 1,000 restaurants closing their doors for good. These closures have resulted in over 15,000 lost jobs.
British Curry Awards founder, restaurateur and editor of trade publication, Spice Business, Enam Ali MBE, has been promoting the British curry industry globally for the past 30 years.
