Catch Restaurant and Lounge was named the top performer in Cayman’s food industry, earning Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year and Best Ambience awards at the Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards.

Also at the awards ceremony at the Marriott resort on Nov. 10, William Ashton Reid was honored for 25 years of outstanding service. Mr. Reid was the first person to bring 10 cases of The Best Dressed Chicken to Cayman and to its first customer, Foster’s Food Fair.

The awards were jointly presented by The Best Dressed Chicken. Its Lifetime Achievement Award went to Kirk Market.

More than 400 people gathered at the Marriott ballroom for the awards ceremony. An after-party with multiple food stations on the hotel’s veranda featured the talents, venues and people that enhance Cayman’s culinary experience.

The awards, determined by a panel of local food and wine professionals and aficionados, recognize excellence in the Cayman food industry, including Best Cheap Eats and Outstanding Service.

Christopher Levy, president and CEO of Jamaica Broilers, was host for the evening. He said since his company’s chicken product came to Cayman 25 years ago, it has been a phenomenal success story. “Every year we see the sales growing and we are getting more recognition,” he said.

As a travel destination, he noted, “Cayman is really the pinnacle of food in the Caribbean.”

Jamaica Observer Managing Director Danville Walker thanked The Best Dressed Chicken, Pinnacle Media and National Commercial Bank for help in putting on the awards.

There were 136 entries submitted by some 80 restaurants vying for the top honors across 16 categories, which called for local food businesses to showcase the success and innovation of their product and business.

Table talk award winners

Best Happy Hour: Anchor and Den

Best Wine Experience: Luca

Best Brunch: Seven

Best Happy Hour: Anchor and Den

Best Local Cuisine: The Kit-Chin

Best Signature Dish: Ristorante Pappagallo

Best Dessert: Calypso Grill

Best Ambience: Catch Restaurant and Lounge

Best Cheap Eat: Smoking Bros.

Best Hidden Gem: Smokies

Best Farm to Table: The Brasserie

Outstanding Service: Agua

Chef of the Year: Catch Restaurant and Lounge

Restaurant of the Year: Catch Restaurant and Lounge

Sister Islands Restaurant of the Year: Le Soleil d’Or.

Source: Cayman Compass