Phil Fanning, Head Chef at Paris House restaurant in Woburn picked up gold at this year’s annual Hi-Life Dining Awards, where he won the much sought after ‘Best Chef’ award sponsored by Dawnvale.

As Bedfordshire’s only Michelin-starred restaurant and set in 22 acres of stunning deer park on the historic Woburn Estate, the restaurant has won numerous awards and is a ‘must-do’ for food-lovers.

Phil went head to head in a final cook-off competition with Tom van Zeller, Enzo Mauro and Christopher Cleghorn filmed at Dawnvale’s recently launched North West Design Centre’s theatre kitchen.

Elizabeth Carter, Editor of the Good Food Guide and Food Writer and Restaurant Critic Matthew Norman from the Daily Telegraph were joined by Hi-Life member and Sponsor Denise Jones of Dawnvale.

This year’s Hi-Life Awards (www.hi-life.co.uk) or HILDAs as they are fondly known in the industry took place on Friday 3rd February, 2012 at The Midland Hotel, Manchester.

The Hi-Life Dining Awards are considered the leading food and drink awards in the industry, with nominees and winners voted for by the dining public.

Presented by TV presenter and journalist Paul Ross, guests enjoyed a champagne reception followed by a four-course dinner and a glittering line-up of first-class entertainment including American singing sensation Gwen Dickey of Rose Royce fame.

Stars from stage, screen and sport presented thirteen awards to some of the best restaurants and chefs in the UK and Ireland.

Said Lisa Lund, Hi-Life’s Commercial Director:

“Tonight was a fantastic showcase of the very best in dining excellence and congratulations to all our winners and short-listed entries.  The calibre of participants this year has been exceptionally high.  With more sponsors and partners than ever before this has been our most successful event to date and I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful support and enthusiasm, including, in particular, our loyal Hi-Life Dining Club members and restaurants.”

The 10 in 8 Fine Dining Group is celebrating three of our restaurants being voted in to The Sunday Times Food List published on the 30th October 2011. The list, compiled by The Sunday Times in partnership with Hardens restaurant guide is based on food quality alone and created from reports by over 8000 paying customers.

La Bécasse in Ludlow received the highest ranking of the 10 in 8 restaurants placed 24th. Sister restaurants L’ortolan in Reading and Paris House in Woburn were placed 57th and 54th respectively.

Alan Murchison, Executive Chef of the Group said “I am so pleased for the teams that their hard work is being rewarded. This is a great achievement and extremely important list to be included in because it is voted for by the general public.”

On Thursday 9th June 2011, Paris House Head Chef Phil Fanning formally opened the new Food Technology block at the Gilbert Inglefield Middle School in Leighton Buzzard.

During they day, Phil gave a talk to all the children in an assembly followed by two cookery master classes with some of our pupils at the school.

School Govenor Joanne Preston said “The Event was a fantastic success and the children enjoyed so much the talk that Phil gave them in Assembly and then the Masterclasses with them afterwards. The buzz in the school was fabulous. I do believe that it was something that they will always remember, and that it will inspire them for the future.”

To view the photos of the opening on the school’s website, please click here

The 10 in 8 Fine Dining Group is delighted with the announcement that Phil Fanning, Head Chef at Paris House Restaurant in Woburn, Bedfordshire has been awarded a coveted Acorn Award. This comes just five months after being awarded his first Michelin star in January of this year.

The Acorns identify the brightest talents in the hospitality industry, and acknowledge flair and reward good work. Each year, thirty people under 30 are nominated by their peers and colleagues for having made an impression in their field, and have done for the past 25 years.  Previous winners include Marco-Pierre White, Marcus Wareing and Michael Caines, all of whom have gone on to become major figures within the industry.

To read the full press release, please click here.

The team at Paris House in Woburn is today celebrating their inclusion in the 100th edition of The Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland having been awarded a prestigious Michelin-star. Paris House is one of only five new additions to the list of one star restaurants outside London.

To read the full press release, please click here.

Paris House is extremely proud to be an official sponsor of Woburn ARTBEAT 2011.

The non-profit event which runs from 15th April to 2nd May 2011 sees the traders of Woburn and Woburn Abbey join together to promote high quality original art by turning the village of Woburn into an art gallery with a sculpture exhibition.

During this time, Paris House is housing the “Torso of The Onyx Queen” in Red Iranian Onyx by celebrated artist Paul Vanstone.

The 2011 celebration of art was launched last Friday with a Champagne & Canapés reception in the gardens of Woburn Abbey.  We were delighted to join the festivities and provided all the drinks and canapés for the occasion.

To visit the Woburn ARTBEAT website, please click here.

In January 2011 The 10 in 8 Fine Dining Group will rename the Michelin-starred restaurant as “Angélique”. When the group acquired The New Angel, Alan Murchison announced their intention to revitalize and re-establish it as one of the UK’s original fine dining destinations. The group employed the imagination of the residents of Dartmouth to inspire the new name and Murchison said “we were delighted with the hundreds of ideas that we were presented with and are really pleased with this new name”

Richard Pursey, Chairman of 10 in 8, said on announcing the name this week “Angélique has obvious origins to the restaurant’s past but also has a more subtle link to the fine dining industry as Angélique is a type of herb. We all feel this new name is fitting and continues with the French theme of our other restaurants including the Michelin-starred La Bécasse, L’ortolan and Paris House.

Angélique and its new brand and logo will appear for the first time at a grand opening on the 13th January 2011.

The new website for the restaurant will be www.angeliquedartmouth.co.uk

Paris House Executive Chef Alan Murchison is writing a weekly blog about his new healthy living lifestyle which has seen him lose several stone over the past year. To read his blog please click here.

The 10 in 8 Fine Dining Group, spearheaded by Michelin Starred Chef Alan Murchison, is set to acquire The New Angel Restaurant in Dartmouth along with its supporting small hotel’s business. This will be the fourth restaurant in the group’s collection.

To read the full press release, please click here.

During September and October 2010, The 10 in 8 Fine Dining Group’s restaurants will participate in the UK’s leading foodie campaign Fight Hunger Eat Out and invites their customers to fight hunger simply by eating out. For further details, please click here.