Michael was out of his comfort zone, ( but very comfortable yesterday) as you can see from the photos.
We were invited to the Eurotoques annual food awards, held at the Lodge in Ashford Castle, an annual event that gives special recognition to the best of the best of small artisan food producers.
This is not a competition you enter, you cant vote for your favourite, but instead producers are nominated by chefs who are members of Euro-Toques. So it is a very significant recognition, especially if you are starting out. Velvet Cloud were nominated in 2016 (ironically, it turned out by Phillipe Farniau who was the Executive Chef in Ashford Castle at the time). I remember being beyond excited and so so proud, it was our first proper award, and I credit that award with opening a whole network of high-end chefs, artisan producers and very important stakeholders in fine food in Ireland. Something that to this day is an imperative part of our business.
Thank you to Chefs Liam and Jonathan at the Castle and Lodge respectively, for hosting us and for all their hard work. To the always fabulous Euro-toques behind the scenes teams of Manuela and Kim, the committee of Euro-Toques chefs Conor Halpenny, Sham Hanifa, and Aishling Moore, to Aisling B in La Rousse Foods for comforting Michael out of his comfort zone 😊 . To Chef Shauna Murphy from The Pullman in Glenloe Abbey for helping Michael plate up our new Velvet Cloud sorbet to get a proper photo. To Caroline Hennesy for being a great MC and finally of course to the well deserved winners Ballylisk Cheese from Armagh, The Wild Irish Foragers, Salt Rock Farm, Moyhillfarm, Seagull Bakery and The Dingle Salt Company.
