Let The Judging Commence

The pitt — Edinburgh’s game-changing street food venue — has been manning the barricades since the beginning of the street food revolution. Street food markets and food halls are now popping up everywhere from Stirling to Aberdeen, but the pitt is still leading the way. Which is why we’re delighted they’re hosting the Scottish Street Food Awards – in partnership with Food Mutiny – for the SIXTH time. Kicking off this Friday night!

The general public are getting ready to Eat, Drink and Vote all weekend as they select the 2022 People’s Choice. But we’ve also got a mix of chefs and food writers with real street food expertise to choose our overall Champion. There’s Ailidh Forlan for a start – the blogger from Plate Expectations who wrote Street Food Scotland. She calls the Awards “the highlight of her year”. And she’s not joking.

She was due to be joined by Mathew Sherry from the Balmoral and Number 1. But the Edinburgh-born chef, who joined the Rocco Forte hotel from his role as head chef at Michelin-starred Northcote in Lancashire, has a chef emergency with a covid outbreak in the kitchen. So the inspirational Sam Yorke, head chef at the Michelin-tipped Heron, is stepping in at the last minute. And so is Kayus Bankole, the singer from Young Fathers, who is happy to take a break from writing the new album and renovating his house.

Completing our judging panel is comedian Jay Lafferty. “I am really excited to get to judge the Scottish Street Food Awards at The Pitt” she says. I am big fan of eating and judging, combing the two is a stroke of genius. See you on Sunday – I will be the one quoting Greg Wallace!” We’ve already had heats in the South of England, and Wales. Now the Scottish champion, and the People’s Choice, will go on to represent Scotland at the grand final of the British Street Food Awards in September. Maybe even the grand finale of the European Street Food Awards. So get involved!