Culinary doyenne Norma Shirley’s ‘Norma’s on the Terrace’ copped the coveted Restaurant of the Year award at the 2004 Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards at Devon House Thursday evening.

The restaurateur’s recreation of her “baroque meets bamboo” dining experience also earned the Best Booth Display honour.

Norma’s on the Terrace emerged the judges’ choice over Toscanini’s the Sugar Mill at Half Moon Hotel, and Jasmine’s at the Ritz-Carlton.

Toscanini’s, the culinary adjunct to the renowned Harmony Hall gallery just outside Ocho Rios, did figure in the awards, taking Best Lunch Spot and Best Ethnic Restaurant. Another north coast diner, Cafe Aubergine, won the Most Romantic Restaurant Award.

Further afield, the recently opened Blue Beat Jazz and Blues Martini Bar in MoBay was a frequent visitor to the podium, taking three plaques: Coolest Watering Hole, Best Decor and Best Bar Concept.

The Best New Food Item category, another eagerly anticipated award, yielded two winners in Homestyles Stew Spicy Pork and Longville Park Farms’ Herb-Stuffed Tilapia in Banana Leaf. A new category, Total Shopping Experience, was presented to Sovereign Liguanea.

Lorraine Fong was recognized as Caterer of the Year, while in another new category, Ann Marie Wiese was named Event Stylist of the Year. The latter award was created to honour aesthetic contributions to culinary and other events.

Special awards were presented to KFC (Restaurants of Jamaica) in recognition of their 30 years as the most popular quick-service diner in the country. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Grace Kennedy for its eight-decade association with the food industry.

Legendary hospitality professional Peter Fraser, now the general manager at the Royal Plantation, received the Chairman’s award.

And Royal Plantation’s C-Bar also won Best Place to Eat When Someone Else Is Buying.

The Jamaica Pegasus Food and Beverage team were presented with a special award in honour of renowned caterer, the late Patsy Lyn, who passed on recently. Lyn was also remembered with a moment’s silence during the evening’s proceedings.

Specialty gourmet shop Rum Roast and Royals received the Editor’s Award for Great Idea. Other winners included Contemporary Cafe at the Liguanea Contemporary Arts Centre, for Best Kept Secret; Terra Nova for Best Sunday Spot; and Susie’s Bakery and Coffee Bar for Best Service.

Before a packed audience on the East Lawn, former Opposition leader Edward Seaga, who declared the proceedings open, congratulated the Observer on beginning and sustaining the annual awards ceremony. Honouring culinary practitioners, Seaga added, had its genesis in the JCDC Culinary Arts competition and it was heartening to see the practice taken to another level.

In his remarks, Observer general manager Mark Pritchett said the Food Awards was a further confirmation of the tremendous prowess of Jamaicans in the culinary arts.

“Jamaicans know their food and take the matter of good food very seriously,” he said. “We are proud to have been able to provide an outlet for this very valuable aspect of Jamaican creative expression and to support the culinary industry.”

The large gathering sampled fare from some 50 participants with food items ranging from meat, fish and poultry meals, to smoked meats, sandwiches, cakes, specialty chocolates, cakes and the perennial patty. A similarly wide range of spirits and other beverages was also on offer.

For the past seven years, the Observer Table Talk Food Awards has sought to identify and promote excellence in food creation, service and decor throughout the island.